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1st Convention of the Future Armenian: Over 200 participants defined their vision of future and unity

Posted on June. 2. 2023

YEREVAN, ARMENPRESS. The Future Armenian has recapped its 1st Convention which took place in Yerevan earlier in March.
Over 200 participants from around the world had participated in the Convention.
The Convention of the Future Armenian is based on the internationally recognized and widely used “citizens’ assembly” model of participatory democracy. 200 participants were selected from a pool of pre-registered citizens by a transparent lottery drawing with a representative sampling method to ensure the representation in the Convention of gender, age and educational groups in society, as well as the participants’ countries and places of residence.
On March 10-12, the participants discussed three of the 15 stated goals of the Future Armenian – “Historic Responsibility”, “Armenia-Diaspora Unity” and “Growing Population”. They then voted for proposed policies and priorities regarding the items.
Summarizing the 1st Convention, Noubar Afeyan, co-Founder of the Future Armenian initiative, highlighted the urgent need to discuss and picture the future – “which can belong to all, and which is worth investing and working for”, or else, he said, “we will stay in the present”. “More precisely, we will go back to the past [in that case]. While our past, with the exception of a few bright moments, isn’t the kind we’d want to go back to, I believe,” Afeyan said.
Future Armenian co-founder Ruben Vardanyan said that the issues related to Artsakh will greatly impact not only Armenia but the entire “Armenian world”.
“And we are sure that we must go through this path together because protecting Artsakh’s security and independence isn’t only an issue for the Artsakhians themselves,” Vardanyan said.
Future Armenian co-founder Richard Azarnia emphasized that implementing the 15 goals is the initiative’s mission.
“In my opinion what matters now is unity,” Azarnia said, adding that the ideas that were adopted during the convention must be followed because they are “collective ideas”. “Now we must walk together hand in hand. The goal of the Future Armenia is to make this path easier and faster.”
From March 10-12, the first pan-Armenian citizens’ Convention in Yerevan brought together Armenian representatives from all over the world in one hall. The 200 participants of the Convention were selected through a transparent lottery and representative sampling method from among thousands of pre-registered compatriots from the Republic of Armenia, Artsakh, and the Diaspora according to gender, age, education, and place of residence. Unfortunately, some of the selected participants did not have the opportunity to participate in-person due to the ongoing crisis in Artsakh.
Three of the 15 defined goals of The FUTURE ARMENIAN initiative were discussed during the Convention: “Historic Responsibility,” “Armenia-Diaspora Unity,” and “Growing Population.” More than 100 representatives from the Armenian expert community from various countries spent five months developing the scenarios and programs presented for discussion.
Numerous guests and representatives from partner organizations attended the opening ceremony of the Convention. Noubar Afeyan, co-Founder of the FUTURE ARMENIAN initiative, delivered the opening speech, while fellow co-Founder Ruben Vardanyan addressed the audience via video. Next, His Eminence Archbishop Nathan Hovhannisyan presented the Patriarchal message of His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians.
Discussions on the first day were dedicated to the goal of “Historic Responsibility.” The head of the Expert Committee was Pontifical Legate of Western Europe and Representative of the Armenian Church to the Holy See Archbishop Khajag Barsamian.
The second day‘s discussions were devoted to the goal of “Armenia-Diaspora Unity.” The head of the Expert Committee was public speaker and Editor-in-Chief of “Aravot” newspaper Aram Abrahamyan.
Discussions on the third day were dedicated to the goal of “Growing Population.” The head of the expert committee was Armine Hovannesian, founder of the “Orran” charitable non-governmental organization and executive director of the “Youth Achievements of Armenia” organization.
On the second day, the participants visited the Yerablur Military Pantheon to pay their respects to and honor the memory of the Armenians martyred for the motherland.
The Convention ended with the official closing ceremony, during which speeches were delivered by High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Zareh Sinanyan and co-Founders of the FUTURE ARMENIAN initiative Artur Alaverdyan and Richard Azarnia. The ceremony was concluded by Artak Apitonyan, executive director of the FUTURE ARMENIAN Development Foundation, who emphasized the importance of each compatriot’s active participation in future activities of the initiative.
Each day of the Convention closed with votes on priorities for policy proposals and initiatives. They were conducted by the Voting Committee, which was selected by the participants on the principle of self-nomination. Particularly noteworthy were the results of the votes regarding pan-Armenian responsibility toward Artsakh (Day 1) – (92,71% voted that Artsakh is an issue for all Armenians around the world), the main agenda for Armenia-Diaspora cooperation (Day 2), the policy for organizing immigration (Day 3), as well as prioritizing the various initiatives.
Throughout the three days of discussions, the Convention participants came up with over 2,000 recorded observations and concerns, proposed dozens of public initiatives and programs, and voted on priorities for their implementation.
Thus, The FUTURE ARMENIAN established a platform through which representatives of various groups of Armenians around the world studied, discussed, and selected scenarios and programs which passed expert evaluation, thereby defining their vision for the future through a united force.