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AFA-Supported High School Training Held in Stepanakert

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  • AFA-Supported High School Training Held in Stepanakert

    AFA-Supported High School Training Held in Stepanakert
    Students Learn about International Affairs, Gain Conflict Management Skills

    PRESS RELEASE
    July 26, 2006
    AMERICANS FOR ARTSAKH
    Contact: Hrant Jamgochian
    [email protected]
    www.AmericansForArtsakh.org

    Washington, DC - Seepan Parseghian of the Stanford University has just
    successfully completed a peace education course for Nagorno Karabakh
    (Artsakh) high school students. Based on an Armenian-language
    curriculum Parseghian himself designed, the training course held in
    Stepanakert built on a pilot project conducted in 2005 and supported
    by the Americans for Artsakh (AFA) organization.

    The summer 2005 pilot program, created in collaboration with the
    Stanford University's Haas Center of Public Service, School of
    Education, Institute of International Studies, and Center on
    International Conflict Negotiation, and organized through the
    Association of International Diplomacy in Artsakh (AIDA) established
    by Parseghian, involved thirty students from Stepanakert's Eighth High
    School. The students learned international relations theory and gained
    conflict management and resolution skills. The program concluded with
    a simulation conference of the Karabakh peace talks.

    On the basis of the successfully completed pilot program, Parseghian
    won the Donald A. Strauss Foundation Scholarship in Political Science,
    expanding the summer 2006 program with the objective of promoting
    leadership and understanding of international affairs among Armenian
    youth living both in the homeland and Diaspora.

    `I wanted to express my appreciation for AFA's encouragement and
    support for the AIDA project,' said Parseghian. `The program has
    already benefited dozens of bright young people in Artsakh, inspired
    their interest in international relations, and I hope will encourage
    them to pursue careers in public service and contribute to
    strengthening Artsakh's civil society.'

    This summer twenty students were selected on a competitive basis from
    all of Stepanakert's high schools to participate in the program. From
    June 19 through July 17, the students practiced team cooperation and
    exercised individual initiative on case studies such as Rwanda,
    Bosnia, Kosovo, and Northern Ireland. They also had an opportunity to
    meet and communicate with senior government members, academics and
    civic activists. Parseghian is working with Artsakh educators to
    establish permanent student clubs focusing on international affairs
    that would organize discussions, simulation conferences and other
    similar activities.

    `I had learned so much and Seepan presented the material in such an
    enjoyable way that made it easy for me to participate alongside my
    classmates,' said one of the program participants Tigran Grigoryan. `I
    am very happy that I chose to participate in the AIDA program with
    Seepan, and I will definitely be continuing these activities with my
    friends in the future.'

    `With Seepan and the success of his AIDA program, Karabakh's civil
    society has taken another promising step forward towards becoming more
    conscious of diplomacy and its power in defending the interests of our
    people through peaceful means,' commented the Nagorno Karabakh
    Republic (NKR)'s Deputy Foreign Minister Masis Mayilian.

    The project is set to continue this year and into 2007, with a series
    of information sessions at university campuses throughout the United
    States and concluding with the AIDA Youth Conference to take place
    next spring.

    `We are very excited about the AIDA project's potential to contribute
    to Artsakh's education system and, over long-term, to NKR's civil
    society and diplomacy,' said the AFA President Zaven Khanjian. `We
    congratulate Seepan on his achievements and hope he continues his
    efforts while encouraging many more Armenian Americans to contribute
    to Artsakh's development and continued success.'

    Americans For Artsakh is a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
    organization established to preserve freedom, strengthen democracy,
    foster economic development, protect the cultural identity and promote
    the heritage of the people of Artsakh. The founding Board of Directors
    include: Zaven Khanjian, President; Dr. Hratch Abrahamian, Vice
    President; Savey Tufenkian, Treasurer; Rita Balian, Secretary; and
    Edward Chobanian.

    To contact Seepan Parseghian about the AIDA project, e-mail him at
    [email protected].
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