Gohar Gourjyan

Gohar joined Mer Hooys in January 2024 as Interim Deputy Director. A native of Artsakh and forcibly displaced with her family as a result of the 2023 war, she has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work. She graduated from Yerevan State University in 2020, and also studied at the Institute of Social Work at the University of Hradec Kralove in the Czech Republic. She has been a lecturer in Master’s level social work courses at Artsakh State University and Mesrop Mashtots University in Yerevan. Gohar served as a social worker at the Social Care Center for Children of Ajapnyak Administrative District of Yerevan, and at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs for the Republic of Artsakh where she also led the social and psychological support center for the Martakert region. Following the 44-day war in 2021, she helped lead sociological research programs in her homeland. She also taught Sunday school at St. Karapet Church as part of the Danish/Armenian mission NGO “The Light to the Children of Artsakh” program, and upon her return to Yerevan following the war, she re-opened and coordinates that program at Holy Cross Church for children displaced from Artsakh. Since October 2023, she has been serving as a social worker in the mobile team for assessing the needs of displaced Artsakh citizens implemented by the joint efforts of the World Health Organization and the Association of Psychologists of Armenia.