Aurora Humanitarian Initiative to honor Armenian Genocide, recognize humanitarians

YEREVAN – The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative will organize a series of events in April 2021 to honor the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, recognize this year’s Aurora Humanitarians and further contribute to the resolution of the humanitarian crisis in Artsakh. The events will bring together both local and international stakeholders and will help them join forces, maximizing the impact.

Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex, April 24, 2019 (Photo provided by Aurora Humanitarian Initiative)

On April 24, 2021, representatives of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, including Aurora Prize Selection Committee chair Lord Ara Darzi, will participate in a flower-laying ceremony at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex in Yerevan, Armenia to pay tribute to those who perished during the Armenian Genocide in 1915-1923 and to express their gratitude to those who helped the persecuted to survive.

Later that day, the names of the 2021 Aurora Humanitarians will be announced during a special event at the Matenadaran, the national repository of ancient manuscripts. The nomination process for the 2021 Aurora Prize lasted from April 24, 2020 until October 31, 2020, yielding hundreds of submissions featuring 585 unique candidates. In accordance with the tradition, the names of the 2021 Aurora Humanitarians will be inscribed in Chronicles of Aurora, a unique 21st century manuscript containing the depictions of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative activities.

On April 25, 2021, the Aurora Dialogues event titled “Partnership for Artsakh” will take place at UWC Dilijan. It will bring together the Initiative’s partners from the Aurora for Artsakh program, representatives of local and diaspora organizations, NGOs and charity foundations, Artsakh officials and the media.

The event will feature several workshops focused on healthcare, education, culture, economic development and social issues. The sessions will be moderated by Ara Babloyan, Scientific Director and chairman of the Management Board of the Arabkir Joint Medical Center-Institute of Child and Adolescent Health; Narine Aghabalyan, head of Aurora for Artsakh program and former Minister of Education, Science and Sports of the Republic of Artsakh; Vahe Keushguerian, advisor to the President of Artsakh for Development Programs and co-founder and chairman of the Board of Impact Hub Yerevan; and Mira Antonyan, chair of the Armenian Association of Social Workers and executive director of the Children Support Center-Foundation, Fund for Armenian Relief.

The participants will have an opportunity to contribute to insightful discussions which will address the humanitarian crisis caused by the 2020 Artsakh war, analyze the primary needs of the affected people, exchange the best practices of acting in an emergency and join forces for an efficient partnership. Since its launch, Aurora for Artsakh has already allocated almost $1.7 million to support 75 projects implemented by local and international partners and intends to expand the program.

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