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I think that the experience and knowledge gained here will be the right start in the future career and a great incentive to visualize the activities of the legislative body objectively: the President of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan mentioned, congratulating the graduates of 2022 parliamentary internship and fellowship Program of the National Democratic Institute (NDI).

The President of Parliament expressed his gratitude to the National Democratic Institute for giving opportunities to young people and for their consistent work, as well as to the deputies and employees of the National Assembly, through whose efforts the young people discovered the National Assembly for themselves.

“It is always pleasant to see bright youths who are interested in the future of their country and are able to motivate others. In any case, those gathered here have succeeded, and I consider the 4-year-old idea turned into a reality successful,” Alen Simonyan said.

The Chief of NA Staff-Secretary General  Davit Arakelyan also congratulated the graduates of the Program, expressing confidence that many of them are entering a new stage of professional activity. The Chief of NA Staff-Secretary General  highlighted the cooperation with international partners and noted that as a result of the traditional cooperation with the National Democratic Institute, the beneficiaries of the program undergo professional internship in parliament for about ten months.

“This cooperation creates fertile ground for young specialists, not only from the viewpoint of introduction and training of the work of the NA staff, but also from the viewpoint of getting involved in the work, and later, making job recommendations to the best ones”, Davit Arakelyan mentioned. He informed that this month the training process of new interns and fellows of the National Democratic Institute has been launched.

The Program lasting 10 months is financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and is implemented as a result of the cooperation between the National Democracy Institute (NDI) and the National Assembly.

In the last 4 years, the participants of the Program were given the opportunity to get acquainted with the parliamentary work and get engaged with them. They supported factions and Standing Committees, the MPs and the NA staff by conducting research, legislative analysis, press monitoring. The interns also prepared press releases, helped manage social platforms, as well as participated in Committee and the NA plenary sittings. They also supported the organization of community meetings.

The Program helped young people improve their professional skills. Most of them accepted the job offers from the National Assembly.

“This important phase of life has given you a number of opportunities to be competitive and successful in your career. Dear young people, be brave, creative, improve yourself a lot in the professional field. May your work experience gained during these ten months lead you to achieve greater heights,” the USAID Armenia Mission Deputy Director Rebecca White said.

At the end of the event, the Chief of NA Staff-Secretary General  Davit Arakelyan, and the USAID Armenia Mission Deputy Director Rebecca White handed in certificates to the graduates of the Program.