Information Package - FIND

15-18 April Yerevan, Armenia

Welcome to FIND

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Call for Delegates

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The European Youth Parliament and EYP Armenia

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Topics

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EYP Forum Methodology

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Dress code

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Venues of the Forum

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Agenda

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Welcome to FIND Meet the Organizing Team!

Sue Avetyan

Greg Torosiants

Gevorg Hayrapetyan

Alexander Yeghiazaryan

Kรกrin Gevorgian

Alexandra Banna

Sos Badalyan

Anita Ayvazyan

Ivane Yesayan

Satineh Harutyunyan

Inna Devkanc

Dav Kochar

Yura Shakhnazaryan

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Welcome to FIND Dear participants, Have you ever had a "turning point" in your life? Or is there a specific moment you can point out and say:"That's when it all changed"? Let me share an experience of mine, that will, hopefully, make you understand my passion for EYP and this forum in particular, a little better. 2 years ago EYP was about to hold the IEFA 2014 International Forum. I clearly remember applying to it with no expectations of passing. Nor did I have any idea about what EYP was, how it operated and so on and so forth. I did get selected, that much is clear. I found out about it a day before the actual forum. I remember having so many things to do that day. I was too busy, had a number of things on my to-do list for the day, and at some point I thought I'd never manage to figure all of them out. I was ready to just abandon the thought about my participation.

Back to the EYP, back to that crucial choice of stepping back. Not knowing anything or anyone, I just, basically, jumped into the water.

Does this bring you any closer to my idea of the moment, when everything changed and the plot got twisted? My point is, don't ever let lack of information, awareness or courage prevent you from trying something that could be so life changing. Was it 2 years ago, when I took my first step in EYP? Or 2 months ago, when I made it my goal to hold this event? Whichever it is, I never once regretted turning EYP into an important part of my life. A little step that I had no idea would make such a drastic and significant change in the future. I promise you will FIND so many amazing people who you wouldn't get to meet otherwise. People, who will later become your EYP family, whether it's to organize an event, participate together, chair or else.

These people will impact your life immensely.

My advice? Don't think, just jump, in order to FIND that turning point.

Sue Avetyan Head Organizer

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Welcome to FIND Dear participants Recently I’ve got the chance to experience what it means being a Head Organizer, and now I am thankful for the given opportunity. I’ve been an organizer for several times at several forums of EYP Armenia and in each one of them I’ve always been amazed of how the Head Organizers managed to take care of so many things at the same time and stay calm and focused. I’ve been trying to put myself in their position, and I couldn’t imagine me there, but, it is what it is, now I am here, one of the Head Organizers of the upcoming Forum of EYP Armenia – FIND. I would like to try to make you understand how important it is for me to be a Head Organizer of any event, specially my lovely EYP Armenia. The responsibility an organizing team has on it before, during and after any session or event is tremendous and being a Head Organizer means a lot to me. I, specifically talking about myself, don’t think that there is any difference between being an “Organizer” or a “Head Organizer”, organizing team is a team, which I am a member of. For me, an organizing team is the whole group of really precious people, who I am sure, are sort of interesting people for you, and if not, for me they are, there were times where I would sit and think about why would I want to spend my free time on organizing an event for any sort of organization, for example I would think why would I miss classes because of that or spend any time on that, and at those moments, my dearest friends, a lot of amazing memories were passing through my mind, I remembered how good and comfortable I felt when I was participating at an EYP forum as a delegate, how important was the organizing team existence, how much they’ve supported me and how friendly they were to me.

Hope, after the FIND forum, you’ll have the same memories that have passed through my mind, and, maybe apply as an organizer for the next session you’ll be able to participate in…

Me and my amazing organizing team did, are and will try to do everything perfectly so that all of you guys enjoy it the way you should and will make sure that you’ll #FIND it amazing!

Greg Torosiants Head Organizer

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Welcome to FIND Dear Participants, I'm RafďŹ Elliott a canadian-born hiberno-armenian and have been living and working in Yerevan since 2011. Initially a research fellow for the Brussels-based think-tank, European Friends of Armenia (EuFoA), I have since founded my own technology startup, GetTreated.co and completed a Masters in Political Science from the American University of Armenia (AUA) in 2015. I have been a participating member of EYP Armenia since the beginning, and represented Armenia as a delegate at the 75th International Session in Riga, Latvia. I have also served as President for the PRESS regional session in Dilijan, Committee Chair at IEFA 2015. Most recently, I accompanied the Armenian delegation to the 81st International Session in Belfast & Dublin.

I have dedicated a lot of my time to EYP and have been inspired by the creative and determined nature of Armenia's youth. I welcome the chance to work with young future-leaders of Armenia once again this April.

RafďŹ Elliott President of the Forum

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Call for Delegates We are thrilled to inform you that the Financial Innovations for National Development (FIND) EYP Forum will take place on 15-18th , April 2016 in Yerevan, Armenia. The forum will be organized in cooperation with Central Bank of Armenia in the scope of "My Financial Month" project. Around 60 delegates from 6 Universities of Armenia will gather together to brainstorm, discuss diverse topics in their respective committees, challenge each other and themselves, get to know various perspectives and see matters a bit differently. It is our pleasure to open the call for the delegates from the Yerevan State University, American University of Armenia, French University Foundation in Armenia, Armenian State University of Economics , Russian-Armenian University, Armenian National Agrarian University.

Apply to the Forum to: Meet awesome and creative enthusiasts; Get the chance to be selected to participate in the EYP International Forum in July and further more represent Armenia in International Session of Rennes, France; Have the chance to meet professional experts and listen to their opinion; Get practical knowledge in the ďŹ eld you study; Give your vote to the resolutions and bills you are supporting.

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The European Youth Parliament and EYP Armenia

The European Youth Parliament (EYP, www.eyp.org) is a non-partisan and independent educational project which is tailored speciďŹ cally to the needs of the young European citizen. The EYP encourages independent thinking and socio-political initiative in young people and facilitates the learning of crucial social and professional skills. Since its inauguration, in 1987, tens of thousands of young people have taken part in regional, national and international sessions, formed friendships, pondered over urgent issues of Europe, proposed solutions, made international contact across and beyond borders. Today the EYP is one of the largest European platforms for political educational work and the exchange of ideas among young people in Europe and has been granted patronage from Thorbjorn Jagland (Secretary General of the Council of Europe), Martin Schulz (President of the European Parliament), Jose Manuel Barroso (President of the European Commission), and many other outstanding ďŹ gures in the European politics. The EYP consists of a network of more than 41 European associations and organisations which target to empower the young people through the involvement in the decision-making process.

The EYP Armenia has been established and recognised as a full member of the European Youth Parliament network in December of 2012. Since then our delegates have taken part in numerous regional sessions, international forums, and got involved in various projects with the most recent being 2nd Edition of International EYP Forum in Armenia, DECODE International Forum of EYP Armenia on "Democratic Citizenship: Obtaining, Developing, Empowering", 2nd National Selection Conference, etc. Overall, EYP Armenia has implemented 25 projects which involved around 3000 young people, hosted 400 foreign students from 68 countries of Europe, Asia, Africa, Americas and Australia and 45 volunteers from Armenia, Georgia, Sweden, Romania, Austria, Czech Republic.

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The European Youth Parliament and EYP Armenia The 2nd International EYP Forum in Armenia (IEFA) on “Democratic Citizenship Obtaining, developing, empowering”, which took place on May 21-28 and gathered 250 participants from 52 countries of 5 continents.

IEFA launched by Opening Ceremony at Municipality of Yerevan on May 21st.

Furthermore, it comprised Euro Village, Committee Work in 10 committees, Euro Concert, General Assembly, Committee Tours, visiting Wings of Tatev, etc. In the scope of IEFA 7 Armenian Delegates were recognized the best and will represent us at Leipzig 80th International Session of the European Youth Parliament. Also a delegate from Bosnia & Herzegovina has been recognized the best international delegate and received travel reimbursement.

Dilijan Academic EYP Forum (DAEF) on «The Eastern Partnership and EU On the way to a deeper integration» (DAEF) , under the motto «Initiate. Debate.

Empower. Advocate. Leverage» (I.D.E.A.L.) Dilijan Academic EYP Forum was a forum by the European Youth Parliament – Armenia taking place October 8 – 14 in the beautiful city of Dilijan. 120 participants from 20 countries of Europe got together in this small, yet historically rich city to discuss the respective topic of EU-Armenia further integration in 6 committees of Foreign Affairs, Legal Affairs, Economic & Monetary Affairs, Civil Liberties, Environment & Public Health.

The Academic Forum was organized with the support of German Federal Foreign Office, in the frames of BASES (Building a Strong European Society) project.

International EYP Forum on “Activate Youth for sustainability: obtaining & rebuilding” (AYSOR) AYSOR took place November 19 – 25 in Yerevan and gathered 150 participants from around 30 countries of Europe. The Forum lasted 7 days and comprised of Teambuilding, Committee Work, Cultural Dinner, Euro Village, Euro Concert, Trip to Zvartnots Cathedral, General Assembly. The Forum was organized in the scope of the BASES project (Building a Strong European Society) funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.

The Opening Ceremony of AYSOR 2015 took place on 21st of November at the Komitas Museum-Institute. It was attended by Dr. Martin Galstyan- Head of Research Center of Central Bank in Dilijan, H.E. Ambassador Mr. Piotr-Antoni Switalski- Head of EU Delegation to Republic of Armenia, Chairman of Schwarzkopf Foundation- Dr. Andre Schmit-Schwarzkopf and many other prominent guests. After the official Opening Ceremony of AYSOR a panel discussion was held on “Challenges of sustainable development in the EU and Eastern Partnership countries” moderated by Hovsep Patvakanyan- President of EYP Armenia where the youth actively took part with interesting and thought-provoking questions directed to the speakers.

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Topics Committee on ECON I (RAU) According to the survey entitled “Financial capabilities of the Armenian population”, conducted in 2014, above 21% of the population prefers getting information on financial services referring to their neighbors and friends rather than to specialists, and around half of the respondents prefers borrowing money more from informal sources.

What are the underlying reasons for this behavior and what actions should be undertaken towards the improvement of the people`s financial skills in terms of shopping around (information gathering, comparing and decision making on financial services).

Chairperson: Rima Sargsyan (Vice-President)

Committee on REGI (ATC) Provision of financial services can significantly support regional development, particularly in the villages. Nevertheless, financial institutions and services are not always physically accessible for people in the regions (for example, a branch of any bank is located in the capital of Marz, rather than the village itself). According to data from a research project "Financial abilities of Armenian society" conducted in 2014, 33% of respondents mentioned the issue of accessibility as the main reason for not putting their savings as a deposit. What kind of new methods, techniques and instruments for provision of financial services could the financial organizations use in order to increase the financial involvement of regional residents?

Chairperson: Bella Baghdasaryan Co-chair: Rozalina Monjian (Vice-President)

Committee on JURI (UFAR) In modern life, financial fraud and irregularities (e.g. pyramid schemes) carried out against citizens are common and they threaten society's financial welfare. It is often difficult to spot and prevent such incidents. According to the results of the "Financial capacity of Armenian population" 2014 survey, 87% of the society does not have the appropriate knowledge and skills. Moreover, there are also some technical, administrative and other issues. Given the relevance of the topic, what measures can be taken to develop the knowledge and skills of the society in order to prevent financial fraud and irregularities in time?

Chairperson: Hovhannes Hovakimyan

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Topics Committee on IMCO I (AUA) The loan agreement procedure is stipulated by numerous factors. Irresponsible behavior (such as not reading the contract) of the consumers, as well as the marketing campaigns implemented by the financial corporations often bring to over borrowing and extensive indebtedness, which negatively impacts the financial well-being of the consumers, hence the financial stability of the country.

Having all this in mind, what can be done to understand the causes of such irresponsible behavior and promote more mature financial performance of the consumers?

Chairperson: Ashot Khudgaryan (Vice-President)

Committee on IMCO II (YSU) Insurance is the best way of fighting risks that affect personal and family budgets. A survey of 2014 on “Financial skills of population” has shown that only 16% of responders have used any type of insurance at the moment, and the most popular type of insurance among the population was the insurance of vehicles ( ): How to promote the usage of insurance among the population (e.g. health, property, etc.) and what new approaches and tools can the insurance companies implement to increase the involvement of people in the insurance field?

Chairperson: Armenuhi Hovakimyan

Committee on ECON II (ASUE) According to a survey of Armenian households published in 2014, only 40% of respondents answered that long-term (defined as 5 years or more) planning is important for them. Additionally, most respondents do not plan, or do not have the financial means to save for retirement, and other unforeseen events. Despite this, most banks and other financial institutions only offer assistance in the form of long-term ( 7 years or more) commitments, in the form of loans and mortgages. What are the causes for the preference of short-term financial planning over long-term amongst Armenian households, and what can be done in order to promote responsible financial planning habits amongst the population?

Chairperson: Areg Badalyan Co-chair: Raffi Elliott (President)

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EYP Forum Methodology EYP Session follows a similar program and is based on the same methodology of teambuilding, committee work and General Assembly (GA) synthesised with the evening activities.

Teambuilding

Young people coming from very different backgrounds and having never met before will gather in committees. They need to function as a close-knit team working together and respecting each other. The preparation for this challenge is the aim of the teambuilding activities. In conjunction with the committee chairperson, the delegates in committees engage in a variety of indoor and outdoor activities. Some of these are physical, others creative or problem solving, and all of them are designed to get the group of people working as a team, creating the basis for an open, productive and fair political discussion in an atmosphere of trust among the participants.

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EYP Forum Methodology Committee Work

Committee work is the central part of any session of the European Youth Parliament.

The delegates of the committee come together after the teambuilding to work on the particular topic allocated in the scope of the general topic which will result in a resolution. Resolution itself includes introductory and operative clauses: identiďŹ cation of the existing problems and the ways to solve them. The principle of consensus is central to the EYP method and it can be a huge challenge for the group to reach a compromise in the end. The Chair is facilitating the group discussion and gives the insight into the speciďŹ cs of the discussed topic.

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EYP Forum Methodology The General Assembly (GA)

The General Assembly reunites all the participants of the session in order to consider the results of the committee work. Each committee presents a resolution, which furthermore is defended, attacked, debated and, ultimately, voted on based solely on the personal conscience of each delegate.

The Resolution is successfully passed if more than half of delegates voted in favour. At the end of the GA, a university will be chosen to participate at the International EYP Forum of Armenia (IEFA 2016) based on the voting of the jury and the delegates themselves.

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Dress code SMART During Committee Work you will be required to follow the smart dress code. You will not be expected to wear your suit, but worn-out jeans with sneakers or flip-flops don't quite fit the smart clothing requirements either - preferably you wear something in between.

For example, trousers with a shirt or a blouse will fit perfectly for Committee Work.

CASUAL This dress code applies to Teambuilding, where you will be doing various activities, both indoors and outdoors, depending on the weather conditions. You are free to wear any type of clothing you feel comfortable in, as long as you are able to move around actively.

FORMAL During the Opening Ceremony and the General Assembly you will be expected to dress formally. This means suits with ties for the gentlemen, and suits, dresses or skirts of an appropriate length for the ladies.

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Venues of the Forum Opening Ceremony Komitas Museum Institute stands for the unity and rebirth of the Armenian nation. Komitas Vardapet Joined together the spiritual and worldly, noble and peasant, Western Armenian and Eastern Armenian. It is the ďŹ rst newly established museum in independent Armenia.

Teambuilding The English Park is a public park in Yerevan, Armenia, which lies just to the south of the Republic Square. English Park is one of the oldest parks in the city of Yerevan, dating back it the 1860s. The Sundukyan Academic Theatre, the French and Italian embassy in Armenia and the Best Western Congress Hotel of Yerevan are located in the English Park.

CW The 2-day committee work will be held in American University of Armenia. Founded in 1991, AUA provides a high-quality, graduate and undergraduate education that encourages civic engagement and promotes democratic values.

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Venues of the Forum EuroConcert The building was built in 1916. The hall was ofďŹ cially named after Arno Babajanyan on December 25 2005. It is situated on the ground oor of the house of Culture, presently the Museums building(Republic Square). The Concert hall can host up to 300 guests.

Special Dinner Special Dinner in a surprise location with an amazing view over the city.

GA General Assembly will be held in DoubleTree By Hilton in Yerevan, Armenia, which is an international business center chain. It is next to the Yerevan state Circus building. DoubleTree is the perfect place for the General Assembly.

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Paparazzi Club

Welcome Party

Farewell party

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Session Preliminary Agenda 15 April 16:00 - 19:00 Teambuilding 19:00 - 20:00 Free Time 20:00 - 23:00 Welcome Party

16 April 09:30 - 10:00 Registration 10:00 - 12:00 Opening Ceremony 12:00 - 12:30 Reception 12:30 - 13:00 Transfer of Participants to Committee Work venue 13:00 - 16:00 Committee Work 16:00 - 16:30 Coffee break 16:30 - 18:30 Committee Work 18:30 - 19:30 Free Time/ Concert Preparations 19:30 - 22:00 Concert

17 April 09:00 - 13:00 Committee Work 13:00 - 14:00 Lunch 14:00 - 16:00 Committee Work 16:00 - 16:30 Coffee break 16:30 - 20:00 Committee Work 20:00 - 20:30 Free Time 20:30 - 23:00 OfďŹ cial Dinner

18 April 10:00 - 14:00 GA 14:00 - 15:00 Lunch 15:00 - 17:00 GA 17:00 - 17:30 Coffee Break 17:30 - 19:30 GA 19:30 - 20:30 Free Time 20:30 - 00:00 Farewell Party

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Just #FIND up with us

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www.eyparmenia.org Financial Innovations for National Development