MISSION ARMENIA NGO
Background

In 1988 a group of volunteers united to help the victims/refugees of the disastrous earthquake and war. Within more than 20 years the spontaneous humanitarian activities have grown into a powerful non-governmental structure, which due to its experience and knowledge has gained a special place in the social support sphere of Armenia.
In the hardest times for Armenia, Mission Armenia created, implemented and developed a comprehensive system for providing community-based social-healthcare services, which up to now have no parallels in either state or public sectors. This system enabled the elderly, the disabled, refugees, temporary asylum holders and other vulnerable groups to access a variety of social and healthcare services in their homes and communities according to their personal needs and abilities.
Today, Mission Armenia has founded about 50 infrastructures that provide a comprehensive set of community-based services to over 8,000 beneficiaries in 22 cities/towns in 8 regions in the Republic of Armenia (RA).
The services are provided through the community-based social-healthcare model developed by Mission Armenia, which has traditional social work at its base. From 2007 to 2010 the model was licensed by the international ISO 9001-2000 Quality and Administrative Management System, as well as in 2008 RA Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs granted license to Mission Armenia for social service provision.
Having adopted a systematized approach of assisting the vulnerable groups the organization not only provides services to beneficiaries but also strives to contribute to the overall improvement of social policies and the development of social partnership.
Mission Armenia's community-based model has found wide recognition not only in Armenia but also in the whole Caucasus region, having been introduced in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Dagestan.

A high estimation of the Mission Armenia activities can be considered its accreditation to the Second World Assembly on Ageing in Madrid, April 2002, where all the UN member states were gathered to approve International Action Plan on Ageing and Political Declaration with the motto “Society for All Ages”.
Again in 2002, in Berlin, at the Ministerial Conference on Ageing held for 55 European Countries, where European Regional Strategy was to be approved, Mission Armenia was unanimously selected as a keynote speaker by the NGOs of the participant countries to present the comments and suggestions made by NGOs on Strategy.

Mission Armenia is also:
• Founder of International Union of Black Sea NGOs comprised of 50 NGOs from 12 states of the Black Sea region, the secretariat of which is permanently based in Armenia and is headed by the Mission Armenia NGO.
• Founder/member of different local, regional and international networks dedicated to poverty reduction and social reforms for the elderly, disabled and refugees.

Mission Armenia Funding
Mission Armenia realizes its activities collaborating with the Government of Armenia, local self-governing bodies, USAID, UNHCR, a number of other international organizations as well as the Mission Armenia branches in Australia and the United States.

Since 2007 a portion of funding necessary for the realization of Mission Armenia activities has been provided by the Armenian Government's Medium-Term Expenditures program as well as by local self-governing bodies through cost-sharing agreements.

Strategic objectives

• To ensure conditions necessary for vulnerable people to live an independent and fulfilling life without segregating them from their familiar environment and communities;
• To address their multifaceted social and health needs through community-based services (health, care, food, social assistance, consulting, household repair etc);
• Promote the formation and operations of self-help groups among the elderly/vulnerable and initiate public awareness and advocacy campaigns;
• Help vulnerable locals and refugees to escape their status as passive recipients of humanitarian aid and the hopelessness of such a situation;
• Ensure different income-gaining opportunities for them and provide the means for competitive participation in the current conditions of market economy (vocational training, consulting, interest-free micro loans, temporary employment opportunities, etc);
• Lobby for national strategies and legislative frameworks to tackle core issues of poverty;
• Always consider the preferences of the beneficiaries regarding the provision of services and prioritize those activities that are considered most important and beneficial for them.