Open Society Foundations–Armenia (OSFA) () is the

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

n branch of

Open Society Foundations Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is an American grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with the s ...

(OSF). Open Society Foundations–Armenia was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

. The foundation seeks to support local partners working to promote and protect

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

, the

rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...

, justice, accountability, and transparency in Armenia.

History

Open Society Foundations–Armenia began its operations in 1997 shortly following the collapse of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War was an ethnic conflict, ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nag ...

. The foundation responded with supplying

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and Humanitarian Logistics, logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homelessness, homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Th ...

, equipment, and technology to Armenia's schools, universities, libraries, and healthcare facilities that were struggling to adapt to the new economic pressures. To date, OSF has provided over $63 million to Armenia since 1997.

Activities

Between 2000 and 2005 the foundation assisted with the automation of Armenia's libraries and digitalized information across 10 main libraries which contain over 1.2 million bibliographic records. Beneficiaries of OSF funding include the

National Library of Armenia The National Library of Armenia () is a national library, national public library in Yerevan, Armenia. It was founded in 1832 as part of the state gymnasium-school of Yerevan. It is the official cultural repository for the entire republic. Histor ...

and the

Matenadaran The Matenadaran (), officially the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, is a museum, repository of manuscripts, and a research institute in Yerevan, Armenia. It is the world's largest repository of Armenian manuscripts. It was establ ...

. On 3 November 2005, OSF Armenia organized the "International Experience of European Integration and the Perspectives of the European Neighborhood Policy for Armenia" conference in Yerevan. Topics of discussion included Armenia's

European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...

perspectives, developing economic and political association with the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, and Armenia's participation in the

European Neighbourhood Policy The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) is a foreign relations instrument of the European Union (EU) which seeks to tie those countries to the east and south of the European territory of the EU to the Union. These countries include some who seek ...

. After the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

, the foundation assisted over 65,000 Armenian families facing severe economic hardship. In 2012, the foundation helped

universities in Armenia A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

to implement educational reforms. From 1998 to 2014,

Yerevan State University Yerevan State University (YSU; , , ), also simply University of Yerevan, is the oldest continuously operating public university in Armenia. Founded in 1919, it is the largest university in the country. It is thus informally known as Armenia's ...

has received 32 grants from OSF, amounting to a total of $770,267. On 22 October 2013, the foundation organized a presentation of the "European Integration Index for Eastern Partnership Countries" report that OSF Armenia had conducted. The goal of the European Integration Index is to measure and compare the pace and progress of European integration reforms of the

Eastern partnership The Eastern Partnership (EaP) is a joint initiative of the European Union, together with its member states, and six Eastern Europe, Eastern European countries. The EaP framework governs the EU's relationship with the post-Soviet states of Armen ...

countries. The index is intended to be a valuable tool for

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an and national policy makers for evaluating their European integration progress and create an atmosphere of competition among Eastern partnership countries for properly fulfilling their reforms obligations. The foundation has worked closely with the Ministry of Health to train specialists and improve

palliative care Palliative care (from Latin root "to cloak") is an interdisciplinary medical care-giving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating or reducing suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Man ...

standards. The foundation has also supported community-based mental health institutions and improving conditions within prisons, psychiatric wards, and old-age homes across the country. During the COVID-19 pandemic in Armenia, OSF Armenia provided over $1 million in emergency support (food packages, hygiene supplies, heating) to vulnerable groups in society including elderly persons, persons with disabilities or chronic illnesses, persons with mental health issues, victims of domestic violence, persons living with

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

, refugees, ethnic minorities, children with special needs and socially vulnerable families. Following the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding occupied territories. It was a major escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, involvi ...

, OSF Armenia provided over $535,000 of humanitarian aid to support the civilian population of Artsakh affected by the war. The foundation also supported the key human rights defenders and lawyers to pursue access to justice for the victims of

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

. In addition, the foundation pledged to bring international attention to the ongoing Azerbaijani aggression towards Armenia and Artsakh. To date, the foundation has invested over $1.5 million to support the work of various women's rights organizations, including the provision of emergency services to victims of

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

. The foundation continues to support free media in Armenia and has provided $5 million to support journalists, fight

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

, advocate for the

freedom of assembly Freedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right or ability of individuals to peaceably assemble and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their ideas. The right to free ...

and

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

. On 22 November 2022, EU Ambassador to Armenia Andrea Wiktorin and Open Society Armenia held a forum on the current status of

Armenia–European Union relations Armenia and the European Union have maintained positive relations over the years. Both parties are connected through the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement, Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which ...

, the implementation of the

Armenia–EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement The Armenia–EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement or CEPA is a partnership agreement between the European Union and Armenia. The agreement advances the bilateral relations between the European Union and Armenia to a new, partners ...

, and on strengthening Armenia's

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

Recent developments

On 5 June 2019, a group of almost 70 civil societies and NGO's signed a memorandum supporting the activities of OSF Armenia. The memorandum praised the efforts of OSF Armenia and its many contributions. The coalition supported the results of the

2018 Armenian revolution The 2018 Armenian Revolution, most commonly known in Armenia as #MerzhirSerzhin (, meaning "#RejectSerzh"), was a series of anti-government protests in Armenia from April to May 2018 staged by various political and civil groups led by a member ...

and called for increased freedom of expression and human rights protection. Meanwhile, some

Pro-Russian Russophilia is the identification or solidarity with, appreciation of, or support for the Russia, country, Russians, people, Russian language, language, and history of Russia. One who espouses Russophilia is called a russophile. Its Opposite ...

political parties in Armenia like the Constitutional Rights Union accused organizations run by

George Soros George Soros (born György Schwartz; August 12, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist. , he has a net worth of US$7.2 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundat ...

to be behind the 2018 revolution. Fringe parties like Voice of the Nation and the Towards Russia Party accused Prime Minister

Nikol Pashinyan Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan (born 1 June 1975) is an Armenian politician who is serving as the 16th and current Prime Minister of Armenia, prime minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018. A journalist by profession, Pashinyan founded his own newspaper in ...

of being controlled by George Soros. On 29 January 2020, former director of OSF Armenia, Larisa Minasian accused radical anti-government forces of conducting an "unprecedented" smear campaign against OSF Armenia and its local partners. Minasian stated, "A large-scale counterpropaganda and an unprecedentedly aggressive information campaign, accompanied by hate speech and often overt calls for violence, is waged against the foundation and our partners for quite some time" and "the effort is aimed at preventing OSF from supporting various reforms announced by the Armenian government. They also seek to target public trust in our country's democratic institutions, the legitimately elected

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

and the government formed by it." Following the smear campaign,

Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...

called on the Armenian government to protect democratic institutions and civil society in Armenia, including OSF Armenia. Prior to the

2021 Armenian parliamentary election 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, the opposition

Armenia Alliance Armenia Alliance (, HD) is an Armenian political alliance. It was founded in 2021 and is currently led by former President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan. History During the 2020–2021 Armenian protests, Robert Kocharyan endorsed the Homeland Salv ...

announced support for banning or severely restricting the activities of non-governmental and humanitarian organizations in Armenia that receive foreign funding. Several other

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

and extremist groups, like the Adequate Party have opposed all operations of OSF in Armenia. On 5 July 2021, members of the

European Party of Armenia The European Party of Armenia (EPA) () is a Pro-Europeanism, pro-European political party in Armenia. It was founded on 6 November 2018 by Tigran Khzmalyan. The party supports Armenia's Accession of Armenia to the European Union, accession process ...

(EPA) held a meeting with OSF Armenia in Yerevan. Members of the EPA thanked OSF for their contributions to advancing democracy in Armenia. In June 2022, Armenian lawyers Tigran Atanesyan and Margarita Gyulumyan asked a local court to shut down OSF Armenia citing the office's operations as a "threat to national security and public order".

References

External links

Open Society Foundations–Armenia
on Facebook {{DEFAULTSORT:Open Society Foundations-Armenia Civic organizations Human rights organizations Human rights in Armenia Organizations established in 1997 1997 establishments in Armenia George Soros

History

Activities

Recent developments

See also

References

External links