Ashot Hovakimian participated in the International Conference on Higher Education in Emergencies held in Lisbon.

On April 5, International Conference on Higher Education in Emergencies was held at the Conference Hall of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon. The conference was held under the patronage of the UN Secretary General and the President of Portugal, and was attended by high-level officials from numerous countries as well as heads of international organizations. Armenia was invited to the conference as a special guest and was represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Ashot Hovakimian.

The main topic of the conference was to address, In light of Higher Education Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and fundamental UN documents on migrants and refugees, the issues of integration and of setting up a Rapid Response Mechanism for Higher Education in Emergencies. It concerned, first of all, the Syrian refugees who found shelter in European countries, as well as other conflict zones.

In his remarks Deputy Foreign Minister Ashot Hovakimian presented the programmes of the Government of Armenia aimed at integrating refugees from Syria and, in particular, the possibilities of obtaining or continuing higher education.

Referring to the main motto of the UN Sustainable Development Goals - "Leaving No One Behind", as well as the provisions of the fundamental human rights convention, Ashot Hovakimian stressed that young people living in conflict zones should also have the right to receive higher education without any discrimination.

Within the framework of the conference, the Deputy Minister had a meeting with Isabel Mota, the President of the Board of Trustees of Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and visited the Armenian Communities Department.

Numerous speakers in their remarks at the conference emphasized the role of Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation with regards to implementation of educational programmes in various countries, as well as the foundation's support for refugees affected by the Syrian crisis.