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YOUTH; THE DESTINY OF ARTSAKH
http://russellpollard.wordpress.com/2012/07/16/youth-the-destiny-of-artsakh/
The Youth of any country is its lifeblood, none more so than in
Artsakh.
I remember when I first arrived in Shushi a few years ago, and I
walked around the streets with my Armenian friend, just talking to
each other, camera over my shoulder. There were a number of youths
sitting by the mosque shouting over to us; my initial impression
from my experience in the UK was that they were being troublesome. We
walked closer, and my friend entered into dialogue with them, I was
anxious but everything seemed ok, but I wasn't sure. When we left,
I asked her what they wanted, and she replied " They just wanted to
know if they could help". That simple anecdote started my journey of
realising that the youth of Artsakh were perhaps different to what
I had experienced before.
During that first visit it was with great sadness that I walked round
the shell of the old University in Shushi. One could imagine the noises
from many years ago as the rooms and corridors would have bustled with
the activities of the students. In contrast, I had the privilege,
recently, to visit the Artsakh State University in Stepanakert ,
an impressive establishment, with an interesting history and to see
how the government was investing in the education of the students. I
read, on the occasion of the 40th Anniversary celebrations in 2009
a quote from the President, Bako Sahakian, "The University serves as
one of Karabakh's key educational establishments. The college is at
the forefront of educating and preparing younger generations, laying
the groundwork for a healthy and civil society and democracy". I
was surprised and pleased to find out during my meeting with the
Rector, Stepan Dadayn, that despite Artsakh's unrecognised status, the
qualifications from the University were recognised, internationally,
under the Bologna agreement, and so the students were able to
participate with other establishments beyond the borders of Artsakh,
and Armenia. (This seems like a small slither of recognition by the
international community that Artsakh has an independent identity). It
was only during my interviews with the Rector, and a number of the
senior Heads within the University, including Arzik Mkhitaryan,
Rudolf Israelyan, Gagik Baghunts, and Valery Avanesyan that it
became clear how much of a link there is between the people who were
actively involved in the original independence initiatives in 1988,
as well as the subsequent liberation struggle, and the education and
development of the young people of Artsakh. This connection is a key
part of nurturing the national identity, and preserving the strong
sense of purpose that they acted on 25 years ago.
In the UK, Youth affairs is left to charities and non-Governmental
organisations , with there being little by way of central policy
on this level of issue except in so far as it directly relates to
education. I was interested to discover that Artsakh has a Ministry
of Culture and Youth Affairs, and the fact that the two are linked
is pertinent to how the government views the relevance of promoting
youth development. One of the Ministry's objectives sums this up
"ensuring favourable conditions and possibilities for physical, mental
and professional spiritual development of the coming generation". This
is a unique and important objective for Artsakh.
The Artsakh Youth Development Center, formed recently by Susanna
Petrossian, which builds on the governmental aims, also provides an
opportunity for the youth to be involved in broader aims - "enhancing
the role of the youth in building civil society" , "building bridges
to the rest of the world", "peace building" and "professional human
development". Events over the recent weeks have included hosting a
group of French students, IT training, a representation to the BarCamp
in Yerevan, Pilgrimage to Spitakavor, as well as receiving Lady
Cox at her last visit in May. It will undoubtedly go from strength
to strength as it establishes itself, locally, and through social
networking, and blogging which in turn will provide the group with
a much broader, international, and relevant voice.
The event which brought many of the strands together on the Youth
policy was the walk remembering the 20th Anniversary of the Liberation
of Shushi. An event which attracted many of the young people from
the University and AYDC, as well as a few visitors from Georgia,
and, of course , England. The whole occasion was a poignant way of
emphasising the iconic nature of the original mission, as well as,
symbolic of the involvement of the University in the independence
movement, and the Youth, who 20 years ago would have participated
in the Liberation. On this occasion, the Remembrance was for the
heroic acts of the past, but also, a glance at the future, as these
people, who mostly were not born when the war started, represent the
inheritance of the struggle of their forebears and are the ultimate
protectors of Artsakh's uncertain destiny.
Such is the importance of the Youth to Artsakh.
From: Baghdasarian
http://russellpollard.wordpress.com/2012/07/16/youth-the-destiny-of-artsakh/
The Youth of any country is its lifeblood, none more so than in
Artsakh.
I remember when I first arrived in Shushi a few years ago, and I
walked around the streets with my Armenian friend, just talking to
each other, camera over my shoulder. There were a number of youths
sitting by the mosque shouting over to us; my initial impression
from my experience in the UK was that they were being troublesome. We
walked closer, and my friend entered into dialogue with them, I was
anxious but everything seemed ok, but I wasn't sure. When we left,
I asked her what they wanted, and she replied " They just wanted to
know if they could help". That simple anecdote started my journey of
realising that the youth of Artsakh were perhaps different to what
I had experienced before.
During that first visit it was with great sadness that I walked round
the shell of the old University in Shushi. One could imagine the noises
from many years ago as the rooms and corridors would have bustled with
the activities of the students. In contrast, I had the privilege,
recently, to visit the Artsakh State University in Stepanakert ,
an impressive establishment, with an interesting history and to see
how the government was investing in the education of the students. I
read, on the occasion of the 40th Anniversary celebrations in 2009
a quote from the President, Bako Sahakian, "The University serves as
one of Karabakh's key educational establishments. The college is at
the forefront of educating and preparing younger generations, laying
the groundwork for a healthy and civil society and democracy". I
was surprised and pleased to find out during my meeting with the
Rector, Stepan Dadayn, that despite Artsakh's unrecognised status, the
qualifications from the University were recognised, internationally,
under the Bologna agreement, and so the students were able to
participate with other establishments beyond the borders of Artsakh,
and Armenia. (This seems like a small slither of recognition by the
international community that Artsakh has an independent identity). It
was only during my interviews with the Rector, and a number of the
senior Heads within the University, including Arzik Mkhitaryan,
Rudolf Israelyan, Gagik Baghunts, and Valery Avanesyan that it
became clear how much of a link there is between the people who were
actively involved in the original independence initiatives in 1988,
as well as the subsequent liberation struggle, and the education and
development of the young people of Artsakh. This connection is a key
part of nurturing the national identity, and preserving the strong
sense of purpose that they acted on 25 years ago.
In the UK, Youth affairs is left to charities and non-Governmental
organisations , with there being little by way of central policy
on this level of issue except in so far as it directly relates to
education. I was interested to discover that Artsakh has a Ministry
of Culture and Youth Affairs, and the fact that the two are linked
is pertinent to how the government views the relevance of promoting
youth development. One of the Ministry's objectives sums this up
"ensuring favourable conditions and possibilities for physical, mental
and professional spiritual development of the coming generation". This
is a unique and important objective for Artsakh.
The Artsakh Youth Development Center, formed recently by Susanna
Petrossian, which builds on the governmental aims, also provides an
opportunity for the youth to be involved in broader aims - "enhancing
the role of the youth in building civil society" , "building bridges
to the rest of the world", "peace building" and "professional human
development". Events over the recent weeks have included hosting a
group of French students, IT training, a representation to the BarCamp
in Yerevan, Pilgrimage to Spitakavor, as well as receiving Lady
Cox at her last visit in May. It will undoubtedly go from strength
to strength as it establishes itself, locally, and through social
networking, and blogging which in turn will provide the group with
a much broader, international, and relevant voice.
The event which brought many of the strands together on the Youth
policy was the walk remembering the 20th Anniversary of the Liberation
of Shushi. An event which attracted many of the young people from
the University and AYDC, as well as a few visitors from Georgia,
and, of course , England. The whole occasion was a poignant way of
emphasising the iconic nature of the original mission, as well as,
symbolic of the involvement of the University in the independence
movement, and the Youth, who 20 years ago would have participated
in the Liberation. On this occasion, the Remembrance was for the
heroic acts of the past, but also, a glance at the future, as these
people, who mostly were not born when the war started, represent the
inheritance of the struggle of their forebears and are the ultimate
protectors of Artsakh's uncertain destiny.
Such is the importance of the Youth to Artsakh.
From: Baghdasarian