Phonethon 2026: France’s Armenian Fund puts the Spandaryan canal first
- Published
- Place
- Paris, France
- Event date
- Past event —
Summary
The Armenian Fund of France gathered its volunteers on 6 November 2026 at the AGBU premises, 118 rue de Courcelles in Paris, to launch the campaign for Phonethon 2026, scheduled from 19 to 22 November. This 27th edition is sponsored by journalist and essayist Christian Makarian. The flagship project remains the renovation of the Spandaryan irrigation canal in Syunik: a 36.4 km structure whose first half is meant to allow water to flow again in spring 2027, eventually irrigating 2,800 hectares for about 4,350 people. Fund president Bedros Terzian recalled that a donation of 200 euros finances one linear metre of canal. Work begun in September 2025 brings in the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund and the World Food Programme, with support from the French Foreign Ministry.
Analysis
Renovating a canal above 2,000 metres in Syunik, a region bordering Azerbaijan and Iran, is presented by the Fund as an agricultural project and as a way to keep life going in exposed villages. The equation “200 euros = one metre” makes the worksite readable for donors in the French diaspora, days before a fundraising drive that rests mainly on volunteers.
Possible consequences
The 19–22 November Phonethon will show whether that clarity turns into gifts for the phases still to be funded.
