PEACE CORPS MARKS 15 YEARS IN ARMENIA

armradio.am
30.10.2007 10:20

US Peace Corps Armenia held an Open House to welcome Mr. Ronald
Tschetter, Director of the Peace Corps’ operations worldwide, and
Regional Director Jay Katzen; and to celebrate the 15th anniversary
of the program in Armenia.

Tschetter came from Washington to recognize Volunteers’ service and
to meet with Government of Armenia Ministry representatives to express
his thanks for the support of the Peace Corps Program during the past
15 years.

US Charge d’Affaires Joseph Pennington and Armenian Ministry
representatives, including Minister of Education and Science Levon
Lazarian, Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Armen Grigoryan
and his Deputy, Artur Poghosyan, Minister of Nature Protection Aram
Haroutyunyan and his Deputy Hakob Matilyan, Deputy Minister of Health
Care Tatul Hakobyan were invited and present at the event.

At a press conference following the reception, Tschetter acknowledged
the importance of promoting volunteerism among the youth of the
world. A Memorandum of Understanding between the Peace Corps and
Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs was signed to strengthen the idea
of developing volunteerism in Armenia and also to make sure that Peace
Corps Volunteers’ activities continue to align with Ministry efforts.

A Memorandum of Understanding between the Peace Corps and Ministry
of Nature Protection was also signed to collaborate and cooperate on
environmental education activities in Armenia.

Since the time frame of the Action Plan of the Memorandum of
Understanding between the US Peace Corps and Ministry of Education
and Science having been over, a new 5 – year Action Plan was sighed.

Peace Corps Armenia was established in 1992 at the invitation of the
Government of Armenia. Since that time, 574 Peace Corps volunteers have
served in Armenia. Tschetter currently oversees 74 Posts worldwide. The
US Peace Corps was founded in 1961 by United States President John
F. Kennedy.

The organization has three goals: to provide trained assistance
to people of other countries as requested, to promote a better
understanding of Americans by the people of the countries in which
they serve, and to promote a better understanding of other cultures
by Americans.