KOCHARIAN RECEIVES EURASIAN FOUNDATION REPRESENTATIVES
ARMENPRESS
Nov 15, 2007
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS: President Robert Kocharian received
today President of Eurasia Partner Foundation (EPF), George Zarubin,
President of Eurasia Foundation, Horton Beebe-Center and EPF Country
Director in Armenia, Gevorg Ter-Gabrielyan.
Kocharian’s press office said President of Eurasia Foundation, Horton
Beebe-Center, spoke on the official launch of Eurasia Partnership
Foundation (EPF), the local legacy institution of Eurasia Foundation
(EF) in the South Caucasus.
Kocharian welcomed the objectives of EPF saying Armenian government
and non-government agencies are willing to continue cooperation with
the Foundation.
EPF will begin official operations as a local foundation on February
1, 2008, when EPF will take over EF’s programs, tools and approaches,
staff and financial management systems.
With offices registered in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, EPF will
inherit the key resources that have made Eurasia Foundation a leading
innovator in civil society development in the region. At the same time,
the new Foundation will re-emphasize local decision making as the
driver of positive social change. This will be accomplished through
a strengthened governance system driven by experts whose guidance in
programmatic planning and long term institutional development will
ensure that EPF is acting on behalf of needs that are defined locally.
The Board of Trustees will be made up of international figures with
expert knowledge of the region, including Kenneth Yalowitz, former U.S.
Ambassador to Georgia, and Dieter Boden, former German Ambassador
and OSCE representative. The Board members’ expertise in business,
finance and law will ensure that the new Foundation is accountable and
fiscally responsible: Margaret Richardson is the former Commissioner
of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Andrew Coxshall is the Managing
Partner of KPMG in the South Caucasus and David Lee is the Director
of MagtiCom, Ltd., Georgia’s largest telecommunications service.
The Board’s guidance on strategic and financial decisions will be
complemented by guidance from local Advisory Committees, composed of
local experts who convene to provide guidance and expertise on the
new Foundation’s programmatic decisions.
The Advisory Committee members are Nouneh Sarkisian, the Managing
Director of Internews Armenia, Artashes Terzyan, a major shareholder
of Investment Bank Trust and National Bank Trust in Russia, Margarita
Piliposyan, the Deputy Country Director of the Fund for Armenian
Relief, Professor David Hovhannisyan, the Director of the Center
for Culture and Civilization with Yerevan State University, Ara
Hamazaspyan, the Manager of the Yerevan office of Izmirlian Foundation,
and Arsen Ghazaryan, the President of the Union of Manufacturers and
Businessmen in Armenia.
According to George Zarubin, President of EPF, "The new foundation
will also begin an important collaboration between U.S. and European
partners. In addition to core support from USAID, the Swedish
International Development Agency plans to support EPF for three
years. Many other European, North American and corporate donors will
support EPF."
"The Eurasia Foundation has contributed greatly to the building
of a strong civil society in the South Caucasus, and to enhancing
cross-border dialogue throughout the region. The U.S. government
is pleased to have assisted in that effort. The new structure being
unveiled today should serve to enhance these efforts by facilitating
greater local input in the design and implementation of their
programs," states Joseph Pennington, Charge d’Affaires of the
U.S. Embassy in Armenia.
Supported by the United States Agency for International Development and
other public and private donors, EF has invested nearly $70 million
in the South Caucasus through more than 1,700 grants and programs
since 1992.