In 2022, we took a moment to reflect on our work. Despite the challenges in our society, we found inspiration and fresh ideas that kept us moving forward. This Annual Report showcases our dedication, creativity, and teamwork during this year.

Improving Communication and Trust

EPF worked on enhancing the capacities of the Constitutional Court of Armenia through the “Enhancement of the Communication Strategy and Professional Media Relations Capacities of the Constitutional Court of Armenia” project, supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The project aimed to strengthen the court’s communication abilities and build public trust in the judiciary.

As part of this effort, we developed sustainable and long-term visibility products, including video content and a brand book. We also crafted a comprehensive communications strategy. Moreover, the project focused on enhancing the professional capacity of the Constitutional Court’s staff, involving the Justices and key personnel in training activities covering public relations, communication, and the application of international court precedents. It also welcomed experts from the Netherlands who shared their experience with the Judges of the Court.

Non-violence

Over the years, EPF has developed many signature products that distinguish the organization and make it unique. Among these products, we can highlight not only the trainings, workshops, and social innovation camps with a unique methodology developed by the organization’s team, but also a series of publications under the EPF University heading.

Among these publications, we want to make special mention of the “Dictionary of Criminal Speech.” This publication is the first of its kind that addresses this issue in Armenian. It was important because, in today’s Armenia, the language of criminals, inherited from the times of the Soviet Gulag camps, has been shown to affect the behavior of our society.

This dictionary helped us understand where these words and expressions come from, their history, and how they affect and influence behavior. As the authors, human anthropologists Aghassi Tadevosyan and Nikol Margaryan explain, learning of and research on criminal culture may reduce or prevent violence in society, including in schools and the military, as well as instances of domestic violence. The dictionary can be accessed via the EPF website. The publication is in Armenian, with a brief English abstract.

Strategy building

In October 2022, we reached an important milestone by completing development of our strategy for the years 2023-2027 and sharing it with our major partners, donors and policy contacts. We remain committed to addressing issues that no other organisation addresses, connecting people who otherwise wouldn’t meet, working on policy changes to make Armenia more just and developed, assisting communities which are in duress, and promulgating critical thinking across society.

Empowering Networks

In December 2022, we concluded the year by organizing a meeting where people from various civil society groups in Armenia came together. These were civil society organizations supported by our subgrants from the project we implemented, funded by Swedish Sida. We supported 48 subgrants over a two-year period. Participants all shared a common goal of encouraging societal changes through civil society efforts. They engaged in productive discussions, which generated new ideas for the next periods of their activities. As one attendee stated, “I felt the need to think, analyze, and only then propose new actions.”

The projects we undertook had tangible impacts and influenced decisions and policies at various levels. Civil society groups in Armenia became stronger and brought about positive changes. As we compile this Annual Report, we are reminded that our work is not merely a series of events but a collective endeavor to create a more peaceful and inclusive future. We express our gratitude to everyone who supported us in our endeavors in 2022, and we eagerly anticipate new achievements in 2023.

Cross-border

EPF’s experience in cross-border and peacebuilding work spans more than two decades and includes larger-scale peacebuilding and conflict transformation initiatives between Armenia and Turkey and between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. The 2nd Karabakh war demonstrated, on one hand, the insufficiency of these and similar efforts given the absence of will of the governments involved to cooperate; and on the other hand, the war also emphasized the importance of focusing on the conflict, increasing conflict sensitivity in the relevant communities, and breaking stereotypes. EPF’s programs adjusted to the new reality and included several components related to addressing the crisis situation.

Under its EU-funded ATNP-3 program, EPF and its partners in Armenia and Turkey continued collaborative work throughout 2021, which resulted in a fruitful collaboration between municipal and semi-governmental libraries, a performance of a play “Gomidas” by a Turkish theater in Yerevan, as well as in solid local and international participation in EPF’s “Think Future” Event, which was devoted to the discussion on the possibilities for actions that can contribute to resolving the issues between the two states.

One among many important results of the ATNP program in 2021 was the publishing and presentation of the Armenian translation of the book “Armenian within us” written by 35 distinguished contemporary Turkish writers in commemoration of the centennial of the Armenian Genocide and in memory of Hrant Dink. The original was published in Turkey in 2015 by a writer and literary translator Yegit Bener, while the translation was initiated by PEN Armenia’s Armen Ohanyan and the Antares printing house. The book is of particular value as it shows that Turkey is not homogeneous, and there are people who think differently.  

In the context of the EU-funded “PeaCE/Crisis Response” program, EPF supported 19 projects by Armenia- and NK- based civil society actors in 2021. The projects addressed the consequences of the trauma of the war as well as the pandemic. An unprecedented number of 11 projects were implemented by NK-based civil society organizations, many of which were formally registered after the war, thereby strengthening the civil society sector in NK and creating conditions for successfully addressing the consequences of the war on one hand, and for making NK into a more viable entity which increases its agency, on the other. This will allow for the NK population to be more capable of addressing their issues of concern if and when peace talks proceed. Also, throughout this time EPF continued organizational capacity building and the provision of critical thinking skills to its beneficiaries in Armenia and NK.

Civil Society

When CSOs engage in advocacy processes, some steps in the chain of the policy improvement journey require close collaboration and synchronized actions from the very beginning: identification and analysis of the problems and the needs of the target groups involved, researching and generating evidence or refutation of the assumed problems, discussing issues and possible solutions with various stakeholders and decision makers, and finally developing policy recommendations and advocating with central or regional governments towards their implementation. For this to be effective, CSOs need to cooperate with grassroots organizations, think-tanks, research groups, and the media, as well as the government and legislators. This complicated process requires a cultural shift; from acting on assumptions into generating evidence-based and implementable policy recommendations.

EPF’s flagship program in 2021 was the Swedish Government funded Civil Society Support that promoted human rights, good governance, and community development particularly through its grant-making scheme. Approximately 40 CSOs were funded, promoting reforms in various sectors of public life and governance. The “Disability Rights Agenda” NGO, in consultation with stakeholders, developed and submitted the National Comprehensive Program on the Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities for 2021-2026. This was reviewed and accepted by the Ministry of Social Affairs as an official action plan. The Dilijan community Council approved the Youth Cooperation Center of Dilijan NGO’s recommendation to create a consultative body adjunct to the municipality for coordinating urban development. The body will engage civil society and business representatives, experts, etc., to discuss Dilijan’s development in a participative way for the first time in history, and will exist permanently. The “Right and Freedom Center” NGO applied to the Court of Appeal with 31 cases and to the Court of Cassation with 25 cases, appealing the verdicts issued against persons subjected to criminal prosecution due to their political views after 2008. As of the end of 2021, five cases were vindicated, others were under further consideration. The hopes that existed after the 2018 April change of power that this will be done by the State did not materialize, but thanks to this work justice is being restored, at least partly. The “Mission Armenia” NGO helps the Department of Migration with digitalizing tens of thousands of the case files of the refugees from Azerbaijan, which is still working on the first wave of the cases from the 1988-1994 period. The “Birdlinks Armenia” NGO developed an exam course for hunters in Armenia and actively advocated for making the exam mandatory for them. An article entitled “Revision of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas of Armenia” developed by “Birdlinks Armenia” was published in the peer-reviewed International Journal of Zoology and Animal Biology.

The USAID-funded Data for Accountable and Transparent Action Program (DATA) helped five Network Consortia (NC) including 19 organizations, to practically engage in policy generation in specific fields. The NCs comprised CSOs, research, media, grassroots organizations and think tanks. NCs developed policy recommendations for legislative improvements in the fields of labor rights, state procurement, mental health management, as well as for the local government (LG) strategy improvements in the fields of communities’ social-environmental strategies, and measures for human security solutions’ integration in borderline communities. EPF and DATA partners developed a series of training modules, multimedia resources, instruments and texts to facilitate the projects, addressing effective policy change and dialogue with the State and stakeholders for targeted advocacy. The projects should result in policy recommendations and changes, as well as higher capacities of CSOs and their partners to translate societal problems into policies that address and resolve them. The results will be reported in 2022.

EPF’s InfoTun network continued actively working at community level in several dimensions: participatory policy making at local level, active citizenship, community initiatives etc. One of the major achievements was the recommendations’ package developed by Martuni InfoTun and submitted to the Martuni municipality was partly included in the Community Development Five-year plan.

Human Rights and Justice Reform

As a result of studies carried out through the provision of 16 small grants, fundamental problems in the field of justice reform were identified and solutions proposed. The problems concerned restrictions of access to justice, obstacles related to the maintenance of reasonable time requirements for court hearings, shortcomings in the implementation of the European Court of Human Rights judgments, overload of the courts, gaps in the human rights section of the Armenian Constitution, etc. EPF and its partners worked with decision makers to provide reasonable and timely solutions to these issues and produced some successes. The program contributed to the involvement of civil society in the ongoing processes of justice reforms, and also played a significant role in raising the problems and shortcomings in this sphere. Three hundred and forty young people, journalists, and civil society representatives from across the whole of Armenia participated in trainings on court monitoring, and the interested participants observed court sessions in the 10 regions of Armenia.

In cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, EPF created a concept paper and a legislative package in order to establish an Arbitration Center in Armenia. The package has been approved by the Ministry and serves as the basis for the ongoing legislative amendments. As a result of a sub-grant project, the “Your Defender” law firm achieved the inclusion of important modifications in the Penitentiary Code., e.g. amends were adopted to grant the right to the convict to reinstate the appeal period if missed for a good cause, which ensures protection of the right to effective remedy. The “Law Development and Protection Foundation” carried out an in-depth analysis of the execution of ECHR judgments, and a number of recommendations contained in this research were accepted by the Government of Armenia.

Democratic Governance

As a part of the USAID-funded Civic Engagement in Local Governance (CELoG) project (lead partner Community Finance Officers Association - CFOA), EPF developed a Municipal Capacity Enhancement Tool (MCET). This is a unique tool that assesses the capacity of municipalities and provides recommendations on how to effectively identify community needs and priorities, define strategies for further development and involve community actors and stakeholders in these processes in a participatory manner. The MCET evaluates the LG capacities in three dimensions: 1) Policies and Procedures, 2) Human Resources and Structure, and 3) Management of daily routine. The assessment report serves as a basis for boosting the community development agenda based on identified priorities. The EPF team successfully conducted several assessments using the tool. EPF and CFOA also pioneered the use of local referenda in two communities, and achieved the inclusion of a budget line of grants for NGOs in one consolidated local community’s budget. Next steps require EPF training the LG on proper and fair grant-making procedures.

In February, the English-language book Armenia 3.0 was published online, authored by EPF Director and with the participation of a number of team members; the book discusses the history and social processes of Armenia in the 20th century. It was created in 2016-2017 based on a series of 9 video lectures, and targets foreigners or diasporans who want to get to know Armenia better, understand the country and participate effectively in – or organize – reforms. “Consequence: Artefact”, a film and spatial exhibition of photographic art and sculptures about the aftermath of the Artsakh wars, which were presented in Artsakh at the end of last year, were presented in Yerevan; many guests were present at the opening, including Armenia's international partners and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia.

At the beginning of the year, it was not known what impact the pandemic would have on the world and Armenia. The lockdown policy went into effect in mid-March. EPF faced a number of questions: how to continue working under lockdown conditions in such a way that the quality of work does not suffer. EPF developed a number of rules on new working conditions, adopted the means and methods of working remotely, and made these recommendations widely available within civil society. The new situation demanded a change in tactics from face-to-face contact with beneficiaries to more research-based and textual approaches; EPF organized or conducted several studies, in particular on the status of illegal migrants in the pandemic, commissioned by the International Organization for Migration. Additional advantages were found, such as the fact that remote meetings allow people from different geographical locations to connect online, something that is not fully possible with physical meetings. The rapid change in tactics allowed EPF to maintain its momentum and quality. By autumn, a number of high-quality research and studies undertaken by EPF partners were published, such as “Firdus: The memory of a place” and “Fragments of Armenia’s Soviet Past”, etc.

On the occasion of the Day of Remembrance of the Oppressed during Stalinist purges, on June 14, EPF organized a competition, which enabled the collection in one place of a number of creative works on the repressions of the 20th century - texts, photos, videos, other materials; this collection will be of great importance for all those who want to understand the 20th century in Armenia, in order to properly understand how to work on development issues today. In the summer, EPF acquired consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UN ECOSOC). This success would have been impossible without the trust and support that EPF has from the international community concerned about Armenia.

On September 27, the 44-day war broke out, which had a catastrophic impact on the region, Armenia, Artsakh and on Armenians. EPF continued its work during the war, making changes where necessary. EPF undertook activities to explain the realities to the international community, and participated in the activities of the charitable front both as an organization and through its individual team members. In the aftermath of the war, as the pandemic continued, EPF took a number of steps to clarify its strategies in the new situation. First of all, EPF feels responsible to those of its beneficiaries who were directly targeted by the war: the people of Artsakh and others whom the war did not spare. At the same time, it became clear that Armenian statehood has received a strong blow. All the errors that had accumulated during the decades of independence, above all as a result of the activities of corrupt governments, appeared at once, threatening to lead to the collapse of the state. At the same time, the deep imperfections of the new, inexperienced populist government were completely exposed. Before the war, the current government was  not able to prevent it, nor to stop the hostilities quickly during the war, nor to effectively reorganize the state after the war. This places even greater responsibility on civil society, and EPF bears that responsibility to the best of its ability. One of the highlights was the fact that the Swedish Development Agency, Sida, signed an agreement with EPF to assist civil society. The agreement was signed while the war was ongoing. The activities of Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, the United States, the European Union and other states and organizations in Armenia have shown that the international community is not going to back down from its strategy of supporting reforms, is ready to support the strengthening of Armenia's sovereignty and address new challenges via civil society efforts as well. Adding to the consequences of the war - military, political, social, economic, personal - was the widespread social trauma and post-traumatic stress, which became one of the most important targets for EPF to address. In addition to supporting civil society initiatives, EPF also completed and published a number of methodological approaches, namely its approaches to education and gender issues, thus supplementing its range of theoretical and methodological tools, which include its activities in the fields of culture, urban planning, the study of the 20th century, as well as research on values: expressions of democracy and tolerance in the Armenian literature.

Updated on 26 June, 2021

The operation of the new government after the revolution enabled EPF to be included in the reform agenda even more vigorously; the law on equality had not been adopted yet, there was a need to continue working in that direction. At the same time, EPF’s DePo program for civil society development was coming to an end. It was necessary to develop a new program according to new priorities. USAID offered EPF a new method - co-creation; thus, the new DATA program was developed in collaboration with EPF, its partners and USAID. The focus of this program is to build the capacity of civil society so that it can advocate to the state properly and successfully. The other emphasis is on knowledge: the development of fact-based, knowledge-based, evidence-based policies.

At the same time, one of the new opportunities that arose through the revolution was the in-depth addressing of the manifestations of violence in Armenia, which EPF undertook through its research project “Culture of Violence in Armenia” with the support of the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation. The research focused on the socio-historical basis of violence (Soviet era, “Gulag culture”), violence at school, in the army, and in the family. This study complemented EPF’s research and methodological activity, one of the important parts of which was the publication of the booklet “Critical thinking; logical fallacies and misleading rhetorical Tricks”, the first publication in Armenia and in Armenian on critical thinking.

In the general context of the reforms, the fact that the Prime Minister of Armenia delivered an opening speech at the international conference on religious tolerance organized by EPF was of great importance. It was the first time that the country’s leader had participated in an EPF event. Another highlight was the expansion of the EPF Human Rights Program to include extensive judicial reform activities, such as work on supporting alternative dispute resolution methods, to decrease the workload of the justice system. The EPF team continued its consulting activities in a number of government agencies: education, culture, police, etc.

Updated on 26 June, 2021

In April this year the non-violent revolution took place. Given the inefficiency of the pervasive corrupt state system of previous years, the lack of democracy, and the partial, often inconsequential nature of reforms, EPF participated in the popular movement, believing that the changes would help Armenia emerge in a new direction of development. Upon the formation of the new government, EPF took a number of actions within the framework of its programs, aimed at helping the new government to create a more effective public administration and to reform state institutions. EPF participated in various consultative frameworks set up by the government and attached to agencies and the government. In August of 2018, EPF organized a major event dedicated to dialogue between the new government and civil society, with several discussions on how to implement organizational reform, particularly in the public sector.

The revolution created a need for civil society to clarify its position and strategies in a new situation, and created new opportunities for new ventures. Conditions were created for more effective cooperation of the state with civil society, in particular between the EPF and its stakeholders and the government. For the first time in its history, EPF received a grant from the Government of Armenia to collect, as an intangible culture, oral stories about Yerevan in the 20th century, in partnership with Hazarashen organization. Another program addressed the problems of book sales and distribution in Armenia.

At the same time, many of the gaps that had accumulated in the past became even more apparent, creating the need to re-address the reform agenda and the way it is done.

Updated on 26 June, 2021

2017 was blessed with a wealth of successes. EPF Human Rights Program Director Isabella Sargsyan was awarded the Freedom Award by the international community working in Armenia in recognition of her dedicated work in the field of religious tolerance and the protection of other rights and freedoms. EPF published a collection of studies on "Manifestations of Tolerance and Intolerance in Armenian Literature", continuing its efforts to motivate the public to pursue discussions concerning values at the crossroads of international and national values, and not to get caught up in one or the other vortex. This year, for the first time, EPF partnered with the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), the world's largest non-governmental organization of Armenians, to implement a European Union-funded civil society development program. This program, like all previous EPF programs, introduced a methodological innovation in our approaches to civil society development, addressing specific professional groups through so-called “vertical” specialized trainings. Museums, authors and e-book creators engaged, environmental, women's rights, cultural issues and other initiatives were addressed. Contacts were established between Diaspora volunteers and NGOs in Armenia.

The attempted military coup in Turkey in 2016 allowed the Erdogan government to launch a massive crackdown on civil society and journalists. Thousands were imprisoned, some fled the country. EPF's work with Turkey-based civil society was affected by these events: many partners became targets of persecution. Alas, in the fall of 2017, EPF's crucial partner Osman Kavala, the head of Anadolu Kultur, one of the charismatic leaders of Turkey's civil society, was imprisoned. Despite international protests, Osman remained in prison. However, even in that situation, he encouraged his organization and partners to continue dialogue programs with Armenia, so that Armenia- and Turkey-based societies could continue the difficult process of getting to know each other and clarifying the issues of the past.

Updated on 26 June, 2021

GOOD GOVERNANCE: Two new InfoTuns were opened in Ararat and Vayk within the scope of CELoG, program, supported by the USAID. InfoTuns are resource and training centers for local population. EPF organized study visit to Estonia to learn best practices of local governance. Moreover, EPF produced two educational cartoons, on local governance.

MEDIA: Within the MICE, program, supported by the USAID, EPF organized Mardamej Social Innovation Days in 8 InfoTuns situated in 8 regions of Armenia. As a result around two dozens of projects were funded. The projects focused on bettering local governance, transparency and solving community issues. Only in six InfoTuns more than 250 events (trainings on media literacy, capacity building and debate skills) were organized with the involvement of more than 4000 participants. Within the scope of the program local media organizations were supported to develop policies on fact checking and news verification, as well as to make media production.

PEACEBUILDING: EPF began implementation of ‘Support to the Armenia-Turkey Normalisation Process: Stage Two’ program, funded by the European Union. A group of Armenian and Turkish architects visited Artvin to map Armenian cultural heritage. The group will prepare a report mapping all the cultural sites and providing recommendations concerning possible renovation works. Young YouthBankers from different regions of Armenia and Turkey gathered in Armenia to discuss future joint projects to improve not only relations between Armenians and Turks, but also raise community issues and find solutions.

HUMAN RIGHTS: EPF in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice developed a draft law on Equality. After discussions with the Armenian civil society organizations and considering the feedback they provided, EPF provided the final draft to the Ministry of Justice. The law is expected to be adopted in 2017. The development of the law is supported by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Armenia.

EPF developed a toolkit, and organized training for CSOs on how to work with UN Human Rights bodies which is a part of the project ‘Raising Awareness of UN Human Rights Mechanisms among Armenian Civil Society Organizations’, funded by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). EPF was able to invite Morse Flores from OHCHR, who provided extensive two-day pro bono training for the Armenian civil society representatives.

EPF organized annual media award for journalists covering religious tolerance issues. Around 10 journalists received prizes for the best stories.

CIVIL SOCIETY DEVELOPMENT: Within the scope of CSO DePo program, EPF started organizing CSO Management School for Armenian Civil Society organizations. The School aims at developing sustainable organizations through providing training on financial, strategic and programmatic management.

Online platform for CSOs, www.hkdepo.am, was launched. The portal provides job and donor announcements, information on training courses, projects and workshops, as well as news and resources (research, templates of policies and procedures).

An Armenian-language Capacity Enhancement Tool (CET), was developed to identify and measure the Organizational Development achievements and gaps and enhance organizational capacity of CSOs.

PEACEBUILDING: EPF organized Media Bus Tour for Armenian and Turkish journalists as part of EU-funded “Support to Armenia-Turkey Normalization Process”,program. As a result more than dozen of stories and reports were produced by participating journalists.

HUMAN RIGHTS: A study, on cases of discrimination against children from ethnic and religious minority groups was conducted by EPF, supported by the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Recommendations on how to fight discrimination and promote tolerance were presented, as well.

EPF became a USAID implementing partner in 5-year-long CSO DePo project, which aims at developing the organizational capacities of civil society organizations in Armenia. EPF implements this project with five other partners from Armenia.

EPF acquired its own premises – a guarantee for sustainability.

The EPF affiliate CRRC became an independent Foundation.

The Support to Armenia-Turkey Normalization Process (ATNP) project started, funded by EU, implemented by EPF with seven other partners, three in Armenia and four in Turkey.

EPF obtained support from the Kingdom of the Netherlands for its Human Right Program’s Promoting Religious Tolerance in Armenia project.

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) supported EPF’s core operation in October 2010-March 2012 with a grant of one million Euro. 

The USAID-funded Alternative Resources in Media (ARM), a 4-year-long project kicked off. EPF implemented the project in cooperation with Internews (from USA, lead), Internews Media Support NGO and Yerevan Press Club.

Implementation of the USAID-funded Support to Armenia-Turkey Rapprochement (SATR) project started with EPF as the lead partner of a consortium with three other Armenia-based organizations.

EPF started implementing its first ever Freedom of Expression project with the support of United Kingdom Human Rights Fund.

Eurasia Partnership Foundation, serving Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, is launched.
East Europe Foundation, serving Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, is launched.

The Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia is launched in Bishkek and Osh (Kyrgyz Republic), Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Dushanbe (Tajikistan).

EF assists the U.S. State Department in designing and launching a new foundation for the Middle East.

Celebrations are held in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia to mark ten successful years of the Eurasia Foundation in the region.

EF’s Russian Far East office in Vladivostok officially becomes part of the New Eurasia Foundation.

Since 1992, the Eurasia Foundation has invested nearly $275 million through more than 7,700 grants and technical assistance projects.

The New Eurasia Foundation is launched in Russia as a joint Russian-American-European partnership.
The Izmirlian-Eurasia Universal Credit Company makes its first loan in Armenia.

The Economics Education and Research Consortium (EERC), a project incubated by EF, becomes an independent, non-profit organization. EERC maintains a research program in Moscow, Russia, and an advanced-degree education program at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine.

EF reaches the $50 million milestone in private funding.

With funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, EF establishes the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC) to support researchers in the social sciences in the work and contributions to public policy.

The office in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan begins operations.

The Foundation is awarded the Yusus Mamedaliev Award in Azerbaijan for its significant contribution to the development of education and culture in the region.

The Foundation establishes the Municipal Workers Training Center in northern Tajikistan to train government employees in best practices.

The Foundation funds the first independent higher education institution in Uzbek history: the Kelajak Ilmi International Business School.

Former Secretary of State and current Eurasia Foundation Advisory Council Member James A. Baker III is honored with the Eurasia Leadership Award.

EF’s regional office in Almaty, Kazakhstan begins operations.

In northern Russia, the Eurasia Foundation creates the St. Petersburg School of Management offering an MBA-style program.

EF’s Board of Trustees directs the Foundation to open an office in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Eurasia Foundation establishes the South Caucasus Cooperation Program (SCCP) to increase cooperation between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

The Azerbaijan office begins local operations in Baku.

Eurasia Foundation implements the Media Strengthening Program in Armenia, which liberalizes newspaper production and distribution in the country and breaking the monopoly on newspaper printing.

The Foundation develops BASA Press, the only independent news agency in Moldova.

EF’s Board of Trustees directs the Foundation to create the first independent loan program in Armenia, the Small Business Loan Program, which later becomes the Izmirlian-Eurasia Universal Credit Company, and the Media Viability Fund for Russia and Ukraine.

EF leads a donor consortium in the creation of the Economics Education and Research Consortium (EERC), a program that supports contemporary economics education and research across the former Soviet Union.

EF’s Board of Trustees directs the Foundation to open offices in Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.

Local offices is Armenia and Georgia begin operations.

Eurasia Foundation makes its first grants from its Washington, DC office benefiting local organizations in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

EF’s Board of Trustees directs the Foundation to open offices in Yerevan, Armenia; Tbilisi, Georgia; Almaty, Kazakhstan and Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Eurasia Foundation makes its first grants from its Washington, DC office benefiting local organizations in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgzstan, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Eurasia Foundation is founded and incorporated as a non-profit organization in Washington, DC.