On the 19^th of July Youth Leadership Training Program in the Armenian community of Georgia was completed. The youth department of the “Hayartun” Cultural Center at the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia (head of department Deacon Gevorg Antonyan) initiated the program, with financial assistance from the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, RA Ministry of Diaspora and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. 32 people from the capital and different Georgian regions participated in the program. With the blessing of the Head of Roman Catholic Church in the Caucasus Bishop Giuseppe Pazotto, the program was organized in a country estate of Catholic Church in Tserovani settlement.

Within the framework of the program participants had the opportunity to examine issues related to the history of the Armenian people and the Armenian Church (Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan) , Armenian historical and cultural monuments in Tbilisi (the Coordinator of the “Hayartun” Cultural Center at the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia, Levon Chidilyan), civic education ( a doctoral student at Montana State University in the USA and a lecturer at the University of Georgia, Milena Oganesyan), the rights of ethnic and religious minorities (Adviser to the Head of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia, the Head of the Legal Department of the Diocese, Levon Isakhanyan), leadership in modern society (the representative of Grant Thornton in Georgia, Nelson Petrosyan).

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Armenia to Georgia Hovhannes Manoukian, Georgia`s State Minister for Reintegration Issues Paata Zakareishvili, Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council of Georgia Tamar Kintsurashvili, Deputy Chairman of the Parliament's Committee on Human Rights and Civil Integrity Gedevan Popkhadze and Deputy Chairman of Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee Ruslan Poghosyan, Head of the Tolerance Centre at the Public Defender's Office, Beka Mindiashvili, Professor Richard Hovannisian from the University of California, Los Angeles participated in the program as invited guests.

The participants received the course completion certificates, after that they paid a visit to the Tbilisi Pantheon of the Armenian Writers and Public Figures “Khojivank” and planted a tree there. In conclusion the Armenian youth visited the “Hayartun” Center and prayed in Tbilisi Surb Etchmiadzin Church.