Armenian Progressive Youth helped over 6500 Armenian families with humanitarian needs amidst the pandemic
Armenian Progressive Youth (APY) played an important humanitarian and psychological role within the community, although the original mandate of the Yerevan-based CSO is to develop educational programs for youth’s empowerment in the civic debate. Thanks to financial support from the European Union, APY provided basic and essential items to the most vulnerable groups in its community, and to those who were not eligible for public assistance. Volunteers played a crucial role in the distribution of the products.
“The funding under the ‘COVID‐19: Civil Society Resilience and Sustainability’ project was instrumental in relieving the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the overall operations of APY. By May-June 2021, we could say that the economic crisis was in the past.”
Grigor Yeritsyan, President of Armenian Progressive Youth
At the very beginning of the pandemic, APY launched the “COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Initiative” to support vulnerable groups in Yerevan, and across the country, with basic needs and humanitarian assistance. The main beneficiaries of the support funded in the framework of the European Union financed “COVID-19: Civil Society Resilience and Sustainability” project were single mothers, victims of domestic violence, people with disabilities, youth, and those individuals not eligible for state subsidies. Over 6,500 families and 25,000 beneficiaries were assisted through the project.
Volunteers play a crucial role within the CSO. In total, 500 of them have been helping to run APY’s warehouse, first storing, and then distributing packages containing essential items for the beneficiaries. A basket with basic needs contains facemasks, hand-sanitizers, and food. The volunteers contributed also to raise public awareness on the dangers of the virus by informing the beneficiaries about how COVID-19 is transmitted, it’s symptoms and the best protection measures.
The mandate of APY is focused on education. The NGO was founded in 2009 with the aim to support and motivate young people from Armenia to embrace their civic responsibilities and to promote a vibrant public debate in the community. Over the last couple of years, APY has organized hundreds of activities and events to foster both teenagers and adults’ social leadership skills in Armenia and in neighboring countries.
Taguhi Galstyan is a volunteer at APY
At the height of the pandemic, APY went through unprecedented challenges. APY’s main donors cut their funding, even as their costs increased due to the war in Nagorno-Karabakh. APY provided support both to those directly affected by the economic consequences of the conflict, as well as to those fleeing the conflict. Funding under the COVID project arrived at just the right time. Thanks to the European Union’s funding, APY has been able to keep its operation going, providing emergency support for the most vulnerable individuals while still running educational programs for Armenian youth.
COVID-19: Civil Society Resilience and Sustainability is a 48-month regional project funded by the European Union and implemented by ERIM, the Black Sea Trust, Human Rights House Foundation, Human Rights House Tbilisi and Human Rights House Yerevan. The project is working to foster the resilience and sustainability of civil society and independent media in Eastern Partnership countries, enabling them to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.