Company:Children of Armenia Fund

Children of Armenia Fund (COAF)
	File:COAF logo.JPG
Type	Charity
Founded	2000
Headquarters	New York City , New York Yerevan, United States Armenia
Key people	Garo H. Armen (founder)
Website	Children of Armenia Fund

Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) The Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that employs community-led approaches aimed at improving the quality of life in rural Armenia, with a particular focus on children and youth. COAF’s target development areas are education, healthcare, social and economic development. COAF launched its programs in 2004, starting in one village and expanding to 44 villages in Armavir, Aragatsotn, Lori, Gegharkunik, Shirak and Tavush regions, impacting over 75,000 people.

History

From 2000 – 2004, the organization provided funding for philanthropic activities in Armenia, including a partnership with the U.S. State Department to fund the deployment of bomb-sniffing dogs to the site of the former Nagorno-Karabagh Conflict.

In 2004, COAF launched ground operations in Armenia. The organization currently employs a staff of about 70, with headquarters in New York City and Yerevan, Armenia. While COAF now works to both fund and implement projects, the organization originally provided funding for philanthropic programs benefitting Armenia.

COAF's mission is to “secure a future for children in Armenia’s impoverished rural villages through improved education, health care, community life and economic conditions.” COAF’s community-based, comprehensive approach to reducing rural poverty has helped Armenian village youth access the resources to achieve and in turn, give back to their communities and the world. COAF has invested $40 million dollars in development projects in Armenia since 2004.

Rural Development

COAF acts at the grassroots level, working directly with community leaders and local government officials to understand the issues facing their communities, and begin developing projects and programs to address their needs. COAF staff and over 300 local contractors in 6 marzes work side by side everyday with village residents in the change-making effort.

COAF first introduced the Model Village Project, a form of integrated rural development in 2004 in the village of Karakert, located in Armenia’s Armavir province. The program launched with financial backing from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) district of Armenia.^[1] It focuses on addressing issues affecting everyday life in rural Armenia, seeking to provide long term, sustainable solutions to those problems.

Since 2015 COAF has developed and started implementing a new vision – COAF SMART Initiative. COAF SMART is designed to advance a generation across the rural world through education that will benefit individuals, societies and the environment. COAF SMART will become an exemplary model of development and will be replicated in other regions and communities throughout Armenia.

Villages and Programs

COAF serves (in various capacities and intensity) 75,000 people in 44 villages in 6 regions (marzes) in Armenia: Armavir, Aragatsotn, Lori, Tavush, Shirak, Gegharkunik.