YEREVAN, JULY 30, NOYAN TAPAN. The five-day retraining course that started on July 29 in Lusakert is aimed at enlarging and developing abilities of young leaders of Armenia's national minorities. 25 young people from 11 national minorities registered in Armenia (Assyrians, Belarusians, Georgians, Germans, Greeks, Jews, Kurds, Poles, Russians, Ukrainians, and Yezidis) take part in the retraining. It has been organized by the World Independent Youth Union with the support of the OSCE Yerevan Office. "Protection of minorities' rights, in particular, rights of people representing national minorities, has always been in the focus of attention of our office. It includes three directions of activity, legislative sphere, cultural programs, and education," Marc Bojanich, the Deputy Head of OSCE Yerevan Office, said. According to the report of OSCE Yerevan Office, experts of the World Independent Youth Union, Council of Europe, Department on Issues of National Minorities and Religion attached to the RA government will acquaint training participants with the basic principles of human rights, issues regarding citizenship, and role of non-governmental organizations in development of a community. According to Tatevik Margarian, the Chairwoman of the World Independent Youth Union NGO, program's main goal is to develop leaders skills among national minorities' youth and to create conditions for their participation in discussions regarding their rights.

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