Gyumri, November 3, ArmenPress: On November 2nd new Community Center opened in Gyumri. The Norwegian Refugee Council has financed the complete renovation of the 3-building community center complex. Mission Armenia and Douleurs Sans Frontieres will be providing social services to the local populations that include refugees, earthquake victims, and local residents. These services will include different facilities for youth and elderly persons, such as soup kitchen, health post, hairdressing room, bath and laundry, library, conference room, counseling and advisory services, and trauma healing. The Center will also have a Kindergarten for around 20 children.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a non-governmental, humanitarian organization that has worked actively for more than 50 years to create a safer and more dignified life for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), regardless of their race, religion, nationality or political convictions. We work for the rights of refugees and IDPs, assisting with food, shelter and education - and offering counseling on repatriation.

In Armenia, NRC has invested more that 10 million USD in refugee-targeted projects since 1995. These include primarily housing construction, but also school construction and rehabilitation, construction of drinking and irrigation water pipelines, as well as human rights education and an IDP mapping survey. So far, NRC has provided new homes for over 600 refugee families in Armenia.

Mission Armenia was registered in 1993, though its founding members started their activities since 1988 assisting those suffered from the earthquake and the refugees.

The mission of the organization is to work for the interests of the elderly, refugee and other vulnerable groups of population promoting their active, healthy and dignified life and increasing the quality of their life continuously advancing its model of community-based assistance.

Currently about 6,500 single older persons and 10,000 refugees residing at 250 temporary shelter benefit from Mission Armenia community-based socio-healthcare and community development programs.

Douleurs Sans Frontiers (DSF, Pain Without Borders) is the only NGO dedicated specifically to pain relief. Since 1995, Douleurs Sans Frontiers has advanced the mission of helping those in pain. Based in Europe, DSF is a non-governmental organization that has brought educational and clinical pain treatment programs to developing countries. Since November 2001 DSF is providing a medico-psychological assistance for mothers and children mostly in Gyumri and partially in Yerevan.

The priority is given to increasing the competence and educational level and strengthening the capacities of Armenian professionals.