On February 13, the Feast of the Holy Candlemas was celebrated at the Gyumri Elderly Day Care Center of Armenian Caritas. The holiday was honored by Father Mashtots Zahteryan, who explained the meaning of the holiday. After the Lord’s Prayer the beneficiaries circulated around and sang songs. In the end the center’s beneficiaries, volunteers and staff jumped over the bonfire. Later everyone was expecting a feast. All beneficiaries, volunteers and staff were happy and enjoyed the days. According to the Center’s beneficiaries, the center allows not only spend fine time in the center but also to memorize and celebrate such national and religious holidays.

July 13 was a very memorable and heart-touching day for “Armenian Caritas.” It was a day when “Armenian Caritas” received Mr. Norbert Mathis and Mr. Martin Hagleitner Huber, the Head of Department of Caritas Austria to honor one of its most dedicated and devoted friends, a volunteer from Caritas Austria, Mr. Norbert Mathis whose decades-long friendship planted seeds of faith in all “Armenian Caritas” projects and beyond. As the Executive Director of “Armenian Caritas” Gagik Tarasyan mentioned “all these years have been symbolizing not only a response to the needs presented, but a heartfelt initiative to change the lives of people.” Mr.

June 30 was a special day for “Armenian Caritas.” The initiating founder and Board Member of “AC” Mrs. Zevart Nadjarjan was awarded a Gold Medal of the RA Ministry of Diaspora. To acknowledge the efforts and dedication of Mrs. Nadjarian, the RA MoD convened a ceremony in honor of Mr. and Mr. Nadjarian awarding also a prominent journalist Mr. Nadjarian whose contribution to the newly independent Armenian can hardly be overestimated. The MoD Minister Mrs. Hranush Hakobyan highly appreciated the contribution this family made during all these years and mentioned that “our country has been developed by genuine efforts and profound contribution of such people as Nadjarian family.” The decision of the Nadjarians to enter Armenia in mid-1990th was based on the insupportable socio-economical and living conditions of the people after the Independence,

On April 28, within the framework of the cooperation between State Employment Agency and “Armenian Caritas” Benevolent NGO, a training- discussion on labor migration took place in Gyumri. Employees of State Employment Agency regional centers, some community heads from Shirak Province, labour migrants and other people actively involved in the sphere of labor migration took part in the training-discussion. The meeting aimed to update the participants on the latest regulation in the sphere of labour migration. As a result of the meeting, effective tools for targeting the upcoming meetings as well as the module of training session were elaborated.

“Armenian Caritas” Benevolent NGO organized an “Advocacy forum of the organizations dealing with children’s issues in the RA” in the city of Dilijan on February 21-22. The Forum aimed to bring together about 25 officials of the organizations implementing advocacy in the field of social protection of children in order to present and exchange the best practices in child rights protection processes. During the forum, the approaches of the UN Children’s Fund, World Vision Armenia, Child Protection Network, “Oxfam” Office in Armenia, OxYGen Fund, Maternal and Child Health Alliance and “Armenian Caritas” on advocacy implementation were presented by reports. Group presentations gave a chance to the participants to get acquainted with the approaches and organizational resources of “Save the Children International”