20 Years of Commitment to Children in Armenia

The 20th anniversary of Save the Children's work in Armenia was marked in Yerevan under the title “20 Years of Commitment to Children in Armenia”. The Minister of Emergency Situations of RA Armen Yeritzyan, the US Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern, the Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare of RA Jemma Baghdasaryan as well as representatives of local governments, international and local NGOs and beneficiaries participated in the event.

Minister Armen Yeritzyan congratulated Save the Children for the anniversary and mentioned that very good collaboration habits have been established between the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Save the Children.

Ambassador Heffern mentioned about the great success achieved throughout 20 years and expressed confidence that more opportunities for collaboration between the US Embassy and Save the Children are awaiting.

Save the Children came to Armenia 20 years ago to respond to the crises caused by the disastrous earthquake, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the armed conflict over Nagorno Karabakh. It came to extend a helping had to children without warm home, food and medication. As the years passed, Save the Children's programs shifted from humanitarian to development initiatives. Our vital child protection, education, health, livelihoods and other programs helped improve the well-being of children and their families.

Throughout the 20 years if its existance in Armenia, Save the Children implemented programs for 442000 children in more than 500 comminities with a total amount of USD 60,000,000.

Below are some of the results achieved:

• 22,000 children in 90 communities of Armenia benefited from improved access and quality of early childhood development services;
• Educational environment was improved in over 50 schools of Armenia;
• Inclusive education environment was established in 44 TVET institutions;
• Over  840 young people with disabilities received vocational education;
• Over 270 people with disabilities were provided with permanent jobs;
• Children's knowledge and understanding of their rights was significantly increased;
• Children participated in developing policy recommendations on children's rights;
• Primary school children participated in tolerance education;
• Over  3,250 professionals working with children were trained on protecting children from violence;
• 6,000 parents participated in positive parenting training of which 80% reported changed attitude and improved child discipline and upbringing practices;
• Disaster preparedness was increased in 70% of special institutions of Armenia;
• Reproductive and mother and child health services were improved in 235 rural communities of Armenia;
• Amendments to national laws covering child protection and disability employment were submitted.

All these works have become possible due to the trust of numerous donor agencies including the US Embassy, US Agency for International Development, US Department of State, European Union, The Lincy Foundation, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation etc.

Save the Children closely cooperated with RA Ministries of Territorial Administration, Labour and Social Welfare, Education and Science, Healthcare, Emergency Situations, Justice, Diaspora as well as the Police, which supported our initiatives.

More than 40 local non-governmental organizations were involved in implementing our programs and share the success thereof.

In spite of the programs implemented, there are still numerous unresolved problems in the country. Given the 35 percent poverty rate in the country, as well as the inaccessibility of healthcare, social and primary education services for thousands of children, Save the Children will continue its work protecting children’s rights and making their voices heard.

Watch a short film about Save the Children's work in Armenia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwCJjVwSXaM&list=UUyEFQkphgVzD4p8P09WZUBA.