News - United States Ambassador Ordway Meets With Board Members and Staff of Armenia Fund USA 

January 13, 2004  

New York City, NY -- Ambassador Ordway accompanied by Mr. Keith Simmons, Mission Director of USAID, Raffi Kojian, Program Coordinator and Mr. Arman Manoukian of Armenia Marriot Hotel, met with the board and staff of Armenia Fund USA today at the organization’s midtown Manhattan office to discuss the activities of Armenia Fund USA and exchange views about the development assistance to Armenia.

After introducing the members of the board, Mr. Kevork Toroyan the Chairman, gave a brief presentation of the mission and the recent activities of Armenia Fund USA listing the various projects being funded and supported by the Fund. The Fund focuses on funding infrastructure projects that benefit an appreciable sector of the community, such as the North South Highway of Karabakh, The Polyclinic and Diagnostic Center of Stepanakert, and The Spyurk Center of Yerevan. The Chairman emphasized the involvement of its board members to directly oversee the transparency of procurement and the supervision of quality control of the projects it funds. The Fund is also actively involved in supporting the training and future sustainability of the projects it completes, such as the program to support the administration of Vanadzor School Number 1 that the Fund sponsored.

The Chairman cited the efforts of Dr. Alina Dorian, a health care specialist, in organizing extensive training to all levels of staff of the Polyclinic in preparation for the anticipated completion of the project by the end of 2004.

Ambassador Ordway briefed the board about the various economic, educational, and humanitarian projects that USAID and various other US government agencies are undertaking in their effort to assist the development of the various sectors for the economic welfare of Armenia.

Mr. Simmons gave the board members examples of various programs sponsored by USAID in democracy and governance, economic reform, support to small businesses, civic education and agro business support.  He also mentioned that USAID is implementing humanitarian assistance activities in Nagorno-Karabagh such as rebuilding houses, health posts, schools, de-mining, and micro-credit programs for small entrepreneurs.

The Ambassador mentioned that Armenia is the only country of the Europe-Eurasia region that presently meets the requirements to be considered for the Millennium Challenge Account program of the U.S. Government.

The board of Armenia Fund USA was very thankful for USAID’s agreement to fund $200 000 of medical equipment for the Stepanakert Polyclinic project, as part of their Humanitarian assistance program to Karabakh.

Board members expressed interest to sponsor future village water rehabilitation projects in Armenia and Karabakh and it was agreed that the Fund could benefit from an exchange of information with USAID to benefit from their experience and data on similar projects USAID have executed.

Armenia Fund USA has the mandate to serve the East Coast of the USA and is the major contributor to the Hayastan All Armenia Fund.