Social services in Armenia contribute to exercise of children’s right for living in families - minister

YEREVAN, September 12. /ARKA/. The social services to be provided in Armenia as part of a government-supported five-year program of child care and protection system reformation, will contribute to exercise of children’s right for living in families, Armenian Labor and Social Affairs Minister Artem Asatryan said Friday as USAID and UNICEF signed a cooperation agreement to implement this program. 

“Armenia has reached a crucial stage and we, announcing the launch of a new program, are also summarizing the results of the work already done,” he said. “Plenty has been done for the launch of this program – there were both successes and failures.”

Stressing the importance of the reforms, he said that first of all criteria for assessing low-income families’ needs should be specified for deciding necessary services.  

“Before placing children to boarding schools, every effort should be made to leave them in their biological families or guardian families or offer them for adoption,” Asatryan said. “This is much better for a child than living in even the best child care establishments.”

There is still plenty to do in this area, he said, but the Armenian government is ready for it. 

“First results are expected to be seen already this year or in the beginning of the next year,” the minister said. “It would be wrong to act with undue hurry, since every mistake may hurt children’s fates.”  

Education and Science Deputy Minister Manuk Mkrtchyan said that this program is in tune with his ministry’s strategic plans of transformation of Armenia’s all schools into inclusive schools. 

The main aim of this $3.5-million program is to return children from children’s homes and special educational establishments to their families.  

The funds allocated under the program will be distributed among UNICEF, World Vision, Safe the Children and the Bridge of Hope organizations.

According to UNICEF studies, there are 42 governmental and nongovernmental child care establishments with 4,500 children in Armenia. They live in children’s homes, boarding schools and special schools. Of them, 97% are from socially unsecured families and have only one parent. --0----