ARMENIAN YOUTH IS UNITED
Norair Hovsepian

Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Sept 25 2006

On September 16 and 17, on the eve of the third Armenia-Diaspora
forum the founding meeting of the Association of Youth Organizations
of the World Armenian Congress took place in Yerevan. The chair of
the World Armenian Congress Ara Abrahamian, other persons in charge,
the president of the Academy Radik Martirossian were also present
in the meeting, which was held at the Armenian National Academy
of Sciences. The representatives of 11 organizations forming the
association, 59 out of the invited 63 delegates were present. These
are youth NGOs of Yerevan and the regions of Armenia, Artsakh and the
Armenian community of Georgia. There were two NGOs from Artsakh, Haik’s
Generation and Unity. The president of the World Armenian Congress
Ara Abrahamian pointed out the importance of this initiative and
assured that today’s challenges are equally important. The president
of the WAC believes that the idea of uniting the youth is highly
important. He also called for considering pros and cons before taking
a step. The second part of the meeting was full of heated debates
and discussions. The array of challenges the new association faces
requires flexibility of organizing the work of the association.

Every structural problem was discussed separately. A board of 11
members was elected, one from each NGO. The board elected Atom
Mkhitarian president of the association. It was decided that the
president with his two assistants and the secretary will carry
out the leadership of the association for the time being, later
structural changes are possible. The draft bylaws of the Association
were presented to the members of the association to come up with
proposals within 10 days. The association is open to everyone and
calls the Armenian young people all over the world for cooperation.