CRS History in Armenia

The people of the former Soviet countries of the South Caucasus — Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan — have experienced a disproportionately large amount of human suffering since the transition from communism.

In 2000, CRS started handing projects over to national partners. This started with the founding of a new independent microfinance institution called MDF-Kamurj, which was born out of the merger of CRS' and Save the Children's microfinance programs.

In 2001, the CRS program took significant steps to strengthen its relationships with existing partners, and to start relationships with new partners in the entire South Caucasus region. After several years of planning, CRS launched its outreach program in Azerbaijan in November of that year, and has simultaneously increased dialogue with the Catholic authorities in Georgia. CRS currently has seven international and 71 national staff working in three offices in the Caucasus: Yerevan (Armenia), Vanadzor (Armenia), and Baku (Azerbaijan).