Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
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PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 17, 2006
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]
FOREIGN MINISTER VARTAN OSKANIAN ADDRESSES ASSEMBLY’S NATIONAL CONFERENCE IN WASHINGTON
Minister Welcomes Signing of MCC Compact & Announces Rural Poverty Plan
Washington, DC – During a major speech at the Assembly’s National
Conference last month, Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian
thanked the U.S. for including Armenia in the Millennium Challenge
Cooperation (MCC) Compact, a five-year $235 million agreement which
will help the country reduce rural poverty.
Oskanian, who joined Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for
the signing of the Armenia Compact on March 27, told Conference
participants that that Armenia will launch a rural poverty plan that
builds on its partnership with the MCC. The Foreign Minister urged the
Armenian Diaspora to join this effort and help eradicate poverty in
the homeland. He also thanked the Armenian Diaspora for its efforts
in strengthening the U.S.-Armenia relationship and said Armenia is
fortunate to receive
The National Conference, a three-day advocacy push led by the
community’s major non-partisan organizations – the Armenian Assembly
of America, the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) and the
Eastern and Western Diocese of the Armenian Church – brought hundreds
of committed Armenian activists to the nation’s capital to advocate
on behalf of community issues.
Below is the full text of Foreign Minster Oskanian’s prepared speech:
I want to thank you for the invitation to speak here today. I
especially appreciate the fact that in this hall are members and
activists from the Assembly, the Armenian Church, the AGBU, and
individuals – all of whom are here to plan together, to work together,
to register successes together.
Since independence, we have indeed registered successes together –
significant US assistance to Armenia, trade privileges, military
assistance parity, progress in genocide recognition and education
efforts, a better understanding by opinion and policy makers of
Armenia’s geographic, historic and economic limitations.
If I think back, I don’t know where Armenia would have been without
the Diaspora. The dedicated, focused efforts of the Armenian Assembly
of America have resulted in a support base that is essential for
Armenia. We know we can always depend on the real, sincere, deep
commitment of the Assembly leadership and the dedicated work of the
Assembly staff.
In Yerevan, we are very aware that for you to be able to promote
Armenia, its policies, its future, Armenia must be the kind of
place that you can and want to promote. The Diaspora will promote
and support an Armenia that reflects its own best dreams, values and
ambitions. The Armenian-American Diaspora will promote and support
an Armenia that is a friend of the United States.
And we are. Despite the huge geographic distance between Yerevan
and Washington, we are partners in the war on terror, in supporting
the non-proliferation of weapons, in searching for global peace thru
regional security, in supporting the rule of law, as well as democratic
and economic freedoms.
Not only are we ideological partners, but we share the values that
have made America. We want those values to be not just aspirations
for the citizens of Armenia but solid realities, to be comfortably
taken for granted.
The US is the country that makes it possible for individuals to
reinvent themselves – to relocate, to take on new careers, to pursue
new challenges and new directions.
Armenians have been a people who have reinvented themselves throughout
the centuries on every continent. The challenge in this century is:
for the first time in history, will we be able to reinvent ourselves
on our own land?
Do we want to become a country where every man and woman assumes
they have a right to speak their mind, to cast their vote, to affect
change? Of course we do.
Do we want to become a country where we can take the impartiality
of judges, the decency of policemen and the ethics of teachers for
granted? Of course we do.
Do we want to become a country where you pay taxes to the system
rather than fees to the official? Of course we do.
Do we want to become a country where the difference in rich and poor
is only a matter of time and not a matter of destiny? Of course we do.
Do we want to become a country where each person believes that he or
she can individually reinvent themselves? Of course we do.
That is the Armenia we want. That is the Armenia you want.
How do we get there? You are blissfully unaware of the difficulties
and travails of the process of becoming a democracy because Americans
live in the only country to have been born democratic. America was
built from the ground up, democratic institutions were defined and
created as you went along. As such, you have the good fortune to be
able to take this system for granted.
The entire process of nation-building has been different for us,
since we had to undo an existing system and build a new one. That is
why we have welcomed the various US programs which have supported our
institutional, democratic and economic reforms. We also appreciate that
in anticipation of the elections of 2007 and 2008, the US has proposed
additional, targeted assistance so we can hold normal elections and
rise to the next level of democratic development.
But democracy is more than elections. Democratic institutions and
processes are not just ends. They are also means to creating the
necessary political and economic environment which lead to distributed
growth and dignified development. The cruelties inherent in the process
of massive economic readjustment which we have been making have led
to a sense of powerlessness on the part of ordinary citizens. So,
democracy is a tool for development, just as economic development is
a facilitator of democratization.
This afternoon, I will be attending the signing of a
visionary instrument that drives both economic development and
democratization. The Millennium Challenge Compact is intended to
bolster development in countries where the society and leadership
comprehend their political responsibility to nurture and sustain
democratic practices. This is the single largest government investment
in Armenia’s economy. It consists of $235 million over 5 years. Before
I tell you what we’re going to do with the money, let me tell you
why we were fortunate enough to receive this grant.
The US government chose Armenia as one of the potential recipients
because Armenia is needy. That’s no secret. But there are lots of
needy countries in the world. Why Armenia? Because the US government
determined to contribute to the budgets of those countries that are
themselves attempting to grow in the right direction – to govern
justly, to encourage economic openness and to invest in people.
Armenia is. And being made eligible for the MCC is evidence of
this. Simply put, Armenia is a part of the MCC because not only is
there plenty about our society that needs to be put right, but because
we are on a path that is right. This farsighted program provides a
generous push in the direction that we have chosen for ourselves.
I said to Ambassador Danilovich when the decision was made, and I say
this to you now, Armenia has the honor and the obligation to build
on the confidence that has been placed in our government and our
people. And so, even as we spend these funds to turn mud into asphalt
and to give farmers the irrigation water that is their lifeblood,
we will work to make sure that good governance and the principles of
an open and fair society take root in our homeland.
In the 21st century, philanthropy is more than charity. It is
about finding lasting solutions to deep-seated social and economic
problems. That is what the MCC intends to do. And so I am going to
use this opportunity to say to the Diaspora loudly and clearly that
that is what the Diaspora should do as well.
Before I ask you to do more, and I’m going to do just that, let
me thank you for all that you have done. The Armenia – Diaspora
collaboration has been invaluable in this decade and a half of
upheaval, confusion and learning. The value of the Diaspora is in
its ingenuity, non-conformity, its belief in a dream, its access to
networks, its ability to be international and national all at the
same time, and its tremendous resources.
I am now going to ask you to partner with Armenia – even more deeply
and broadly and seriously than you have already done -in addressing
Armenia’s domestic and international challenges.
Look, most of you have been to Armenia. It is clear that not all
Armenians have been able to share in the double digit growth of which
we are justifiably proud. As soon as one leaves Yerevan, the statistics
become reality: One out of every two Armenians still lives in poverty,
mostly in Armenia’s rural areas. Half of those living in poverty,
live on less than one dollar a day. Yet, these rural men and women
represent a critical portion of Armenia’s economy.
If we want to ensure that these rural communities are not destined
to remain stagnant, permanent pockets of poverty, that Armenians are
not born into a cycle of poverty, then we cannot allow development to
simply take its course. Even at this current fast pace, it will take
decades before we reach the average European level of prosperity. We
must take practical steps to intervene, to take a short-cut towards
an improved quality of life for our rural citizens.
This is the first time that I am announcing from a podium that at the
next Armenia Diaspora Conference, we will be launching a Rural Poverty
Eradication program – a kind of Diaspora Marshall Plan for Armenia.
The Millennium Challenge Account has indeed taken on the renovation
or construction of two of the most expensive infrastructure sectors –
roads and irrigation canals.
Imagine that a village will, in a few years, have irrigation water
and roads.
But imagine that there will be no drinking water, no health care,
no school, no gas or electricity in that village.
Imagine children growing up in a 21st century rural community without
access to telephone, television or internet.
Now imagine what we could do together if the Armenian government,
Armenia’s business community, international organizations, and you,
the Armenian Diaspora came together to leverage the MCC contributions
and to build on the MCC momentum. Imagine a country where development
is comprehensive, even, fair and just.
Imagine an Armenia whose borders are secure because its border
communities are stable, where cross-border interaction is possible,
where out-migration is minimal. Imagine a day in the village filled
with pride and satisfaction, rather than tears and frustration.
As investments and growth spread through Yerevan, this program will
coordinate information about the many wonderful, generous programs
that are already being implemented in rural Armenia by Armenian
and international organizations and individuals. This program will
work to remove the real and artificial obstacles to productivity,
and will help identify access to markets and finance to make the
village economically sustainable.
If you are wondering whether those with personal interests will allow
this kind of access and transparency, join me in challenging those
who obstruct. Rally the forces of the diaspora and the international
community and see if we can’t replace obstacle with opportunity.
Through this program, we will approach every individual, organization,
parish, family and business in the Diaspora and will solicit your
participation. Your time, your money, your expertise, your contacts
– they are all needed so that the infrastructure is rebuilt and a
village is reinvented. This program will strive to bring a new look,
a new ethic, new hope to each rural community in Armenia, starting
with the border villages first.
In plain language, by eradicating poverty you will be eradicating
hopelessness. You will bring prospect and possibility to
the most vulnerable in our society. Hope, faith and confidence
transform economically empowered citizens into politically empowered
citizens. And it is they who will be the best defenders of their votes,
their voices and their rights in meetings, elections and throughout
the governing process.
These are the major domestic challenges that Armenia faces
today. But our foreign policy challenges are no less difficult and
complicated. Fundamental among them are relations with our neighbors,
transportation, energy diversification and conflict resolution.
Our agenda with the US today is very broad and diversified. We have
transcended from being a one issue country and our relations today
are built on mutual respect and interest. Armenia needs America. And
America needs Armenia as a reliable partner in the region.
This year we’ll be celebrating the 15th anniversary of Armenia’s
independence. 15 years of independence,15 years of statehood, 15 years
that Armenians around the world have had an Armenia that is theirs,
to which they belong, that they represent.
No longer are we just Armenian-Americans, but now, we are, whether we
want it or not, whether we feel it or not, perceived as being piece
of that country, that place. Our identity has changed.
The Diaspora exists, it will continue to exist, and you will need
Armenia, not to substitute but to complement what you have.
The Republic of Armenia exists, it is independent, and it is ours. It
still needs its Diaspora, more than ever. We must cooperate, not
compete, in order to turn the Armenia of our dreams into the Armenia
of our future.
The Armenian Assembly is the largest Washington-based nationwide
organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian
issue. The Armenian General Benevolent Union is the world’s largest
philanthropic organization devoted to education, cultural and
humanitarian efforts. Both are 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership
organizations.
The Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) is the
spiritual and administrative head of the Armenian Apostolic Church in
the Eastern United States. The Eastern Diocese and its counterpart,
the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, exist under
the authority of the ancient Mother See of the Armenian Church in
Holy Etchmiadzin.
NR#2006-033
Photographs available on the Assembly’s Web site at the following link:
/2006-033-1.jpg
Caption: Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian addressed Armenian activists
at the Assembly’s National Conference last