On June 2 the Armenian Red Cross Society (ARCS) hosted the final meeting of the Steering Committee of the Increased Resilience of Syrian Armenians and Host Population” (IRIS) program during which the results of the 2018-2021 program were summarized.
The meeting was attended or joined online by representatives of the implementing organizations: ARCS Secretary General Anna Yeghiazaryan, Austrian Red Cross South Caucasus Program Coordinator Gerlinde Astleithner, Executive Director of the Armenian Caritas Benevolent NGO Gagik Tarasyan, President of SME Cooperation Association NGO Ruben Osipyan, IRIS Overall Programme Manager of Austrian Red Cross Michael Grabner, representatives of the European Union and the Austrian Development Agency.
"We are pleased to state at the final meeting of the program that the program has been accomplished and our achievements have exceeded the indicators and expectations we set three years ago when launching the IRIS program," said ARCS Secretary General Anna Yeghiazaryan. “This program was the first that we implemented with a consortium and I thank all our partners for effective cooperation.”
IRIS overall program manager Michael Grabner then presented the activities carried out during 3 years, their results, achievements and challenges.
During Q&A discussions the participants stated that the approaches aimed at the integration of Syrian-Armenians have generally been effective and the involvement of locals in the programs has had a positive effect.
Speaking about the continuity of the program all the organizations stated that, despite the successes, there is still much to be done in the field, and the need for programs aimed at the integration of Syrian-Armenians remains relevant.
