Armenia approves additional assistance program for Artsakh families in need worth 1.84 billion drams
YEREVAN, April 10. /ARKA/. On Thursday, during its regular session, the Armenian government approved a program and procedure for providing additional emergency social assistance to needy families forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh. The total monthly cost of the program amounts to 1 billion 838.7 million drams.
The need for this additional support arose to prevent further deterioration of the socio-economic conditions of these families and to reduce the risk of them falling into severe hardship. The goal is to help them become more self-reliant and economically independent during this transitional period.
Under the program, social support will be provided in the form of monthly cash assistance from April 2025 through December 2025.
A family is considered in need if its monthly income per family member is less than 55,000 drams.
The monthly assistance will amount to 40,000 drams for the first forcibly displaced family member, and 10,000 drams for each additional member.
The total annual financial allocation for the program is 1 billion 838.7 million drams. Around 3,000 families (approximately 11,430 people, of which 8,430 are additional family members) are expected to benefit from the program.
On the Ethnic Cleansing by Azerbaijan in Artsakh
On September 19–20, 2023, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale military operation against Artsakh, using artillery, drones, and combat aircraft. On September 28, following negotiations with the Azerbaijani side, Artsakh President Samvel Shahramanyan issued a decree dissolving all state institutions of the republic. As of January 1, 2024, the Republic of Artsakh ceased to exist. As a result, the residents of Artsakh were forced to flee their homeland and relocate to Armenia.
According to the Armenian government, over 115,000 displaced persons from Artsakh have been registered. To support them, the government has launched several assistance programs. The primary needs platform https://e-soc.am and the Ministry of Social Affairs' hotline "114" are currently in operation.
(Exchange rate: $1 = 391.78 drams)
