Armenian General Benevolent Union
 |
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| Formation | April 15, 1906 |
|---|---|
| Type | NGO |
| Headquarters | New York City, New York |
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Membership
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22,000 |
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Official language
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Armenian, English, French, Spanish |
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President
|
Berge Setrakian |
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Founder
|
Boghos Nubar |
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Budget
|
$36 million (annual) |
| Website | http://www.agbu.org/ |
The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU, Armenian: Հայկական Բարեգործական Ընդհանուր Միություն, ՀԲԸՄ, Haykakan Baregortsakan Endhanur Miutyun) is a non-profit Armenian organization established in Cairo, Egypt in 1906. With the onset of World War II, headquarters were moved to New York City, New York.
With an annual international budget of over $36 million, AGBU preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through educational, cultural and humanitarian programs, annually serving some 400,000 Armenians in 35 countries. In 2006, the AGBU celebrated its centenary in its headquarters in New York City. The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) was founded on April 15, 1906, in Cairo, Egypt, by the initiative of renowned national figure Boghos Nubar and other prominent representatives of the Egyptian-Armenian community to contribute to the spiritual and cultural development of the Armenian people.
The goal was to establish a union that would in every way assist the Armenian people, the future of which, as a minority in the Ottoman Empire, was endangered.
Between 1906 and 1912, the AGBU provided the villagers of the Western Armenia with seeds, agricultural instruments, etc. It established schools and orphanages in Western Armenia, Cilicia and other Armenian-populated regions of the Ottoman Empire. In 1914, AGBU had 142 branches in Western Armenia, Cilicia, USA, Argentina, Europe and Africa with 8,533 members.
The First World War and the Armenian Genocide were turning points for both the Armenian nation and the AGBU. In 1914, Boghos Nubar left Egypt and moved to Paris. Despite the huge losses in different chapters of the union, the AGBU managed to render tangible help to the Genocide survivors. In October 1915, the Sisvan school with 1,222 students, later an orphanage and a camp for women refugees, was established by the AGBU in the desert near Port Said, Egypt. This camp is where survivors of Musa Dagh settled. In the years following the Genocide, the AGBU became mainly involved in taking care of orphans. After the war, the AGBU was reformed and founded new branches in Armenian-populated regions of the Near East, Greece, France and USA.
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Wikipedia