SOAR Stockholm Chapter is part of Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief (SOAR) Global Non-profit organization primarily aimed to DRIVE through:
1) Donations: We receive charitable donations that allow us to provide our target population with necessary goods and services.
2) Research: We conduct primary research and implement research-focused projects that ultimately improve the lives of our targ
et population.
3) Inspiration: We inspire Armenians, both in Armenia and in the Diaspora, to embrace our mission and join the SOAR family in our humanitarian efforts.
4) Volunteering: We coordinate Mentoring, Tutoring, and Volunteer Programs that connect orphaned Armenian children to Chapter members throughout the world.
5) Education: As the only international organization whose singular mission is to provide humanitarian relief to orphaned Armenians throughout the world, we provide education and mentoring through a distance learning environment. In July 2005, George Yacoubian traveled to Armenia to help with the Our Lady of Armenia Center Summer Camp. While there, he saw Liliana for the first time and began the process to adopt her shortly after returning to the United States. The process continued through the spring of 2006, and Liliana arrived on American soil on April 23, 2006! After having seen the conditions of the orphanages in Armenia, George founded the Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief (SOAR). Our journey has been an amazing experience and one that we hope will ultimately have a monumental impact on these children for many years to come. Poverty in Armenia, still pervasive today two decades after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, is rooted in both external and internal factors, including widespread government corruption, poor state governance, an unresolved conflict with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno Karabakh territory, economic blockades by Turkey and Azerbaijan, and an outdated technological base and labor force. Children in Armenia are more vulnerable to the consequences of poverty than any other age or social group, resulting in increasing numbers of orphans, institutionalized children, and children living on the streets. There are nearly 1,500 children living in Armenia's 16 state- and privately-funded orphanages, and government expenditures on social services are very low and offer little in the way of a social safety net. Armenia remains a source and, to a lesser extent, destination country for men, women, and children subjected to s*x and labor trafficking. Armenian women and children are subjected to s*x and labor trafficking within the country as well as s*x trafficking in United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Turkey. Chinese women have been subjected to s*x trafficking in Armenia. Armenian men are subjected to forced labor in Russia and, to a lesser extent, in Turkey. Armenian women and children are vulnerable to forced begging domestically. Some children work in agriculture, construction, and service provision within the country, where they are vulnerable to labor trafficking. Men in rural areas with little education and children staying in child care institutions remain highly vulnerable to trafficking. Conflict-displaced persons, including Syrian Armenians, living in Armenia are at risk of exploitation and have been subjected to bonded labor. SOAR together with all its Chapters spread all around the world aims to be part of Children Rights protection through various activities conducted with generous resources of volunteers, not only members of Armenian Diaspora, but also foreigners, who have expressed the will to do so! We are all proud to contribute by even smallest means.
