SDGS and ArmeniaCorps
LOCAL TIME: ...
Period: Aug, 2022 – May, 2023
Geography: 26 villages and Masis city, Ararat region, Armenia
Co-creators of development: 54 local people
Sub-awards Direct Recipients: 1500
Indirect Recipients: 4500+
In 2021, the Masis community, Ararat region, underwent a major transformation. Through a government-led consolidation, 26 villages and Masis City were unified into one administrative unit, home to over 92,623 people. While the map had changed, real connections between these diverse populations had yet to form to unlock the potential that now existed under one umbrella.
In 2022, ArmeniaCorps launched an initiative designed to bridge this gap—one that would promote collective action, foster local leadership, and strengthen social cohesion across the newly formed Masis community.
Over the course of 2022–2023, ArmeniaCorps identified, mobilized, and built the capacities of 54 individuals from across the 26 villages—schoolchildren, university students, teachers, librarians, community workers, and village leaders.
The program built and improved the capacities of these individuals by utilizing Asset-based Community Development (ABCD) and participatory community development mechanisms.
Simultaneous to the workshops, participants were engaged in practically applying their newly acquired knowledge, designing grassroots initiatives, and collaboratively implementing projects that met local needs.
Every project was led, managed, and executed by the community members themselves. Each implemented project was heavily focused on identifying, mobilizing, and utilizing local resources, including human, physical, financial, cultural, spiritual, and natural assets to solve shared challenges, proving that sustainable change begins from within. Most of the programmatic purchases relied on the services of local vendors to support the local economy.
What began as a fragmented region emerged as a more connected and capable community—one that contributes to Armenia’s progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals, such as Sustainable Cities and Communities, Quality Education, No Poverty, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Gender Equality, Reduced Inequalities, Responsible Consumption and Production, and Climate Action Goals.
Impact:
Through ABCD and participatory community development mechanisms, ArmeniaCorps enabled the local population to drive locally-led development across 18 rural communities. The results include
Partners: Masis city municipality; village administrations of Arbat, Arevabuyr, Argavand, Azatashen, Darakert, Geghanist, Getapnya, Ghukasavan, Khachpar, Hayanist, Hovtashat, Marmarashen, Norabats, Ranchpar, Sis, and Sipanik; elementary schools at Arbat, Arevabuyr, Azatashen, Hayanist, Hovtashat, Marmarashen, Norabats, and Nizami villages; kindergarten at Hovtashat village; libraries at Norabats and Ghukasavan villages; music school after Arno Babajanyan in Masis city; and Innovation and Technologies school in Ghukasavan village.
Funding Sources: USG Alumni Outreach Grants Program; Cultural Vistas Muskie Alumni Small Grants Program.
Sustainability:
Media Coverage:
Period: October, 2024 – June, 2025
Geography: 18 villages and Masis city, Ararat region, Armenia
Co-creators of development: 36 local and displaced youth
Sub-awards Recipients: The full scope of direct beneficiaries will be identified and detailed as the program progresses.
Indirect Recipients: The full scope of indirect beneficiaries will be identified and detailed as the program progresses.
Between September 24 and October 4, 2023, a total of 101,848 ethnic Armenians, forcibly displaced by hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh (NK), sought refuge in the Republic of Armenia. The displaced population was located in various regions across Armenia, with the highest numbers sheltering in Yerevan, Kotayk, and Ararat.
Within the Ararat region, out of the 18,234 NK displaced persons identified, 10,000 found shelter in the Masis community, formed through consolidation in 2021. Comprising 26 villages and a city, with a total population of 92,623, the Masis community has emerged as a pivotal hub for refugee resettlement.
While humanitarian aid played a critical role in addressing urgent needs, emerging assessments raised an alarm: dependency on aid was rising, especially among the displaced. The path forward demanded more than emergency support—it called for strategic investment in self-reliance and social inclusion.
Responding to this challenge, ArmeniaCorps Development Initiative designed the Rapid Social Inclusion through Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) program.
The program’s focus was utilizing interconnected mechanisms of participatory development and local integration for refugees, by turning displaced and local youth of the Masis community from “recipients of aid” into active contributors to sustainable community-driven development.
Through capacity building, asset mapping, community volunteering, project design, and advocacy, the youth collaborated to:
By shifting youth from aid recipients to community contributors, ArmeniaCorps is invested in utilizing Asset-based Sustainable Livelihoods Development to create a local model where social cohesion is built through shared leadership, local assets, and collective action—turning a crisis into a foundation for resilient, inclusive development.
Impact: The full impact of the program will be assessed upon its completion.
Partners: Masis city municipality.
Funding Sources: USG Democracy Commission Small Grants Program
Sustainability: A comprehensive sustainability plan will be developed and implemented as the program approaches its conclusion.
Media Coverage: Media coverage and public outreach efforts will be evaluated and summarized once the program has been fully executed.