Harold Takooshian, Fordham University, takoosh@aol.com
“How are Armenians involved with the United Nations today?” This question was the focus of an unusual forum held on May 15, 2026 at Fordham University in New York City, with 30 Armenians who serve in diverse parts of the United Nations.
Based on this, 25 Armenians met for a forum #2 on June 15 to address a follow-up question: “How can Armenians become more involved with the UN?” The UN itself benefits from a Diaspora of talented Armenian professionals scattered throughout the global UN system, who have little contact with each other. This forum #2 was in three parts.
First, two community leaders spoke. Paruyr Hovhannisyan, spoke about the Armenian Mission to the UN. As Armenia’s Ambassador, he noted these are challenging times for the UN itself as well as the Armenian Republic, yet his small and high-energy Armenian Mission is fully involved in UN projects—like the COP17 Biodiversity Conference in Yerevan this October. He welcomed more contact with the “diaspora” of talented Armenians scattered throughout the UN system. Bryan D. Ardouny, Executive Director of the Armenian Assembly of America in Washington DC, noted the Assembly’s important new role in 2026 as the first elected Armenian board member of CoNGO, the Conference of NGOs in consultative status with the UN. Bryan also welcomed more cooperation with other UN Armenians during his four-year term with CoNGO from 2026-2030.
Second, one hour of roundtable discussion raised several possible ways for Armenians to become more involved in important UN activities:
(1) Individuals. Compile a global roster of Armenian professionals scattered throughout the UN system. We currently have a partial list of 115 professionals, primarily in New York.
(2) NGOs. Compile a roster of Armenian NGOs registered with the UN. We currently have a list of only 7 Armenian NGOs out of the 24,000 NGOs registered with ECOSOC.
(3) Coalition. Form a coalition of these existing Armenian NGOs at the UN, to work more closely with CoNGO and others.
(4) Workshop. Shall we offer a workshop for many Armenian NGOs like the Armenian Jewelers Association, on how they can register with UN ECOSOC—a long process that typically takes about one year?
(5) Articles. Can we engage a few students to help write a series of brief “temk” articles for the Armenian media, to profile the remarkable work of specific Armenians within UN agencies, NGOs or the Mission?
(6) Coping. How can we best cope with unfriendly behaviors of a few nations with a record of attacking Armenian and pro-Christan groups within the UN?
(7) Gatherings. Continue to host quarterly gatherings of UN Armenians in the New York area.
Third, there was a one-on-one conversations over refreshments, in a reception kindly by the Armenian Assembly.
A team will meet this July to arrange forum #3 this fall, to further plans to promote Armenians at the UN. The team includes: Emma Arakelyan, Houry Geudelekian, Souren A. Israelyan, Ani Kalayjian, Arpine Korekyan, Harold Takooshian.
The forum was organized by seven community associations: The Armenian Assembly (AAA), Armenian Bar Association (ArmenBar), Armenian Behavioral Science Association (ABSA), Armenian International Women’s Association (AIWA), Armenian Relief Society (ARS), Meaningful World, and Orion Worldwide Innovations. For any inquiries or suggestions, contact
takoosh@aol.com.
