Armenia - DHA-03: 1 September - 1 October 1996
Armenia - DHA-03: 1 September - 1 October 1996
DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS SITUATION REPORT FROM
THE COORDINATOR IN ARMENIA - No. 3
Covering the Period 1 September - 1 October 1996
HIGHLIGHTS
Joint high-level mission by UNDHA and UNHCR to Armenia
Outcome of the Presidential elections in Armenia
Food supply situation during the winter 1996-97
Coordination efforts in the sectors of health and education
undertaken by UNICEF
Preparations for the UNDHA Mid-term Review in consultation with
humanitarian and transition partners
Contributions to UNDHAs humanitarian appeal (1996-97) for Armenia
are less than 25 percent of requirements
SITUATION OVERVIEW
JOINT HIGH-LEVEL MISSION BY UNHCR-UNDHA
Mr. Sergio Vieria de Mello, the UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner,
Mr. John Horekens, the UNHCR Chief of Bureau for Europe and CIS and
Mr. Rashid Khalikov, the Chief of the Europe and Latin America
Section in UNDHA-CED New York, led a high-level delegation which
visited Armenia and Azerbaijan. In Armenia the delegation discussed
refugee and humanitarian issues. A report by DHA New York was
prepared and shared with various Agencies and partners on 20
September. Copies of the report are available at the UNDHA office
in Yerevan.
ELECTIONS
Voting for the Presidential elections took place on 22 September as
planned. A few weeks prior to the elections one candidate for
presidency, Mr. Vazgen Manoukian, had been proposed as the unified
candidate from several opposition groups in addition to the
incumbent President, Levon Ter-Petrossian as well as two other
candidates representing the Communist Party and the Scientific
Union. The parties which supported Mr. Manoukian as candidate were
the National Democratic Union, National Self-Determination Union,
Artsakh-Hayastan, Democratic Party of Armenia and the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (Dashnakstutyun). According to preliminary
observations shared by the OSCE international observer, Mr. Simon
Osborn, with the Armenian media, a number of violations were
reported, particularly in voting stations related to the military
units. Other international observers (from the total of 89 who were
assigned to monitor the 350 electoral districts in Armenia) appear
to share similar concerns about the election process. While there
is general agreement amongst the group of observers that violations
had indeed occurred, the point of disagreement seems to center
about the degree of significance of the reported violations. A
final report from OSCE is due over the next few days. Meanwhile,
and as the incumbent President declared a victory at the beginning
of last week, opposition groups have resorted to public action to
contest the results.
Various press reports in Yerevan reflected dissatisfaction about
the preliminary results of the election among the opposition,
including disagreement among at least 4 members of the 20-member
Central Electoral Commission (CEC). From various sources, it
appears that while the incumbent President claims 51.75 percent as
the percentage of votes his party had received, the opposition is
positing that Mr. Manoukians percentage had exceeded that of the
incumbent President. Various observers believe that, given the
smalldifferencein the percentage of votes received, the
previously mentioned violations during the voting process may
indeed be significant enough to give the lead to one or other of
the two leading candidates.
In any case, the opposition took to the streets on Wednesday 25
September by organizing a massive demonstration in one of Yerevans
main avenues during which 70 to 100 thousand supporters of Mr.
Manoukian demanded a recount of votes and stressed their belief
that their candidate had won the elections. The demonstrators
sought to deliver a petition to the National Assembly (parliament)
building along Baghramian Avenue late in the afternoon of that day
and dispatched a few envoys representing the opposition parties
whose coalition supports Mr. Manoukian in order to deliver the
petition inside the building while the demonstrators remained
outside the building. From eye-witness reports, it appears that
confusion and anxiety among the demonstrators had risen to the
extent that some demonstrators may have expressed their impatience
by entering the parliament building to search for their envoys.
Handscufflesbroke out between the armed security forces
protecting the building (in addition to reinforcements by riot
police sent in from outside) and the demonstrators and it was
rumored that some demonstrators had attacked or were attacked by
other parliament members inside the building. The resulting havoc
was reported to have led security forces to fire some shots to
dissuade the demonstrators and, although denied by some officials,
two individuals were reported to have died from these shots.
According to the Deputy Minister of Health, a total of 59
individuals had presented with various injuries to several medical
facilities in Yerevan city as a result of these events and 19 were
hospitalized for their more serious injuries. The speaker of the
parliament was also among those who were hospitalized after
injuries he received from angry demonstrators.
In the aftermath of the events mentioned above, Government security
forces and military units continued the attempts to establish
control in key locations in Yerevan city. A Presidential order was
issued to prohibit any unauthorized meetings, public gatherings,
marches and demonstrations. The central pars of Yerevan are blocked
by army troops and tanks. Two FM radio stations ceased their
immunity was lifted by the parliament. Mr. Manoukian himself,
however, has disappeared and there is no information as to his
whereabouts at present.
Political action in response to the Governments response to the
events included a decision by the Communist Party to withdraw from
one parliament session in protest of what it called curtailment of
freedom of speech and human rights by the government. In response
to an invitation by the Government of Armenia, UN heads of Agencies
and other members of the diplomatic community in Yerevan met with
the Presidential Advisor, Mr. Libaridian. After explaining the
Governments perspective on the events, Mr. Libaridian strongly
demanded statements from the representatives of the international
communities to denounce the behavior of the opposition. So far, the
US Government and the Russian Federation were both reported to have
complied with this request. At the moment, the situation remains
rather tense even as the troops deployed in the streets in Yerevan
seem to be gradually demobilized each day.
CROSS-BORDER MILITARY ACTIVITY
Shelling of villages in the north-eastern border regions of Tavoush
continued to be reported in the Armenian press and media referring
to the press service of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia. The
media also continued to attribute the shelling to Azeri troops, as
in previous reports, and there were no reports on casualties.
EXTERNAL RELATIONS
The Armenian press referring to the press service of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs of Armenia reported that the issues of peaceful
resolution of the Karabakh conflict were discussed during a meeting
of the Armenian Foreign Minister Mr. Vahan Papazian with the US
representative to OSCE Minsk group, Mr. Joseph Pressel. The sides
also discussed the preparation operations regarding an OSCE summit
to be held in Lisbon in December.
PresidentLevonTer-Petrossianmet Mr. Giorgio Giacomelli,
Under-SecretaryGeneralandExecutiveDirector of the UN
International Drug Control Programme, on 3 September to discuss
joint efforts to control drug trafficking. The UN will provide
technical assistance to Armenia and support the establishment of
the appropriate legislative and policy frameworks.
ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE
According to reports in the Armenia media gross national product
in Armenia has increased by 3.2 percent in the first half of
1996.
Prime Minister Mr. Hrant Bagratian met the head of Regional
Department of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Mr. Mark Tomlinson on 11 September.
Referring to the Ministry of Energy the Armenian press reported
that during the meeting between the Armenian Minister and the
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister several issues were discussed.
These included the construction of the Iran-Armenia high-voltage
power lines and a natural gas pipeline from Iran through which
Iran proposes to supply Armenia with 5 thousand tons of condenses
gas each year over a two-year period.
PREPARATIONS FOR WINTER 1996-97
According to press reports Jajourcoal state enterprise has
already produced 20 thousand tons of local charcoal. Its heat
production is rather high and it is convenient for heating
purposes. Another production line is now being installed to
produce pressed coal.
In a session of the National Council on 11 September Armenian
Minister of Energy, Mr. Gagik Martirossian, informed the audience
that electric power will be provided to the population 14 hours
each day starting from 1st November 1996 until 1st April 1997.
The Minister also said that the operation of the Nuclear Power
Plant will restart in late September-early October. The plant has
been shut down on 5 August for maintenance operations.
OTHER EVENTS
The Republic of Armenia celebrated its 5th anniversary of
independence on 21 September. A military parade was organised at
Republic Square in Yerevan as a part of the celebrations. The
opening ceremony of the 32nd World Chess Olympiad was held in
Yerevan on 15 September. Participants are from 127 countries.
SECTORAL SUMMARY OF EVENTS
FOOD SECURITY-AGRICULTURE
WFP and UNDHA held a meeting on food supply situation in Armenia
during winter 1996-97 on 10 September which attended by USAID,
ECHO, IFRC and food aid NGOs. The main concern was that key
donors had decided to reduce their humanitarian assistance
programmes in Armenia in the food and health sectors as well as
the lack of adequate donor response to the food aid requirements
in the UNDHA Appeal for Armenia. The finding of a 5-week
investigation conducted by UNDHA and WFP among various partners
operating in food sector indicate a specific gap in food supplies
for certain categories of the population during the period from 1
December 1996 until 31 March 1997. As of 1 December 1996 an
estimated 2013,33 MT of imported food aid and USD 40,452 worth of
locally-purchased food are both needed in order to cover the food
needs of 101,035 vulnerable elderly pensioners, members of single
female-headed households and earthquake victims with temporary
shelter currently being assisted by CARE and ACH for the period
of December 1996 - March 1997. A local report was issued by UNDHA
and concerned donors and NGOs are currently exploring ways and
means to avoid the food gap.
According to reports in the Armenian press, 308,395 tons of wheat
were harvested in Armenia this year, 72,000 tons more than last
years production. Average yield was 19,6 centers from a hectare
against 15 centers of last year. The harvest of potatoes has
increased by 4,000 tons, and fruits by 11,000 tons.
Mr. Douglas Broderick, has arrived to replace Mr. Mamo Desta as
the new WFP Country Director for Armenia as of the first week of
October.
HEALTH AND SANITATION
UNICEF held its first health and nutrition coordination meeting
on 4 September which was attended by UNDHA and various NGOs
operating in this sector as well representatives of the World
Bank and the Ministry of Health. The participants stressed the
importance of coordination and information sharing in order to
avoid overlaps and to provide adequate coverage of unmet needs of
beneficiaries. A National Strategy Plan is under discussion by
the Ministry of Health together with the World Bank. It was
decided to discuss the first draft of the Plan at the next
coordination meeting to be held at 10:00 a.m. on 2 October. UNDHA
had agreed with UNICEF to utilize this review process in the
preparation of the transitional support plan for UNDHA in 1997.
Two training course on case-management of vaccine-preventable
diseases were conducted by UNICEF from 9 to 13 September in
Vanadzor for 55 pediatricians and epidemiologist from Lori
province. WHO and UNICEF will be supporting at least 4 additional
training courses by the end of this year. During the week of 23
September, UNICEF also conducted training-of-trainers in
breast-feeding practices jointly with the Ministry of Health. The
eight trained facilitators will conduct two breast-feeding
training sessions for pediatricians and one for nurses involving
75 specialists from various regions and faculty of the three
schools of nursing in Yerevan.
UNHCR is undertaking a new reproductive health initiative. A
reproductive health needs assessment was conducted by UNHCR
earlier in 1996 and the findings indicated a need for UNHCR to
raise awareness of the urgent needs for strengthening
reproductive health in Armenia. A project proposal-plan of action
is now being developed by a UNHCR consultant. A number of
orientation-strategic planning sessions is being conducted for UN
staff and partner NGOs and Ios in order to discuss the options
for addressing reproductive health issues in Armenia from their
respective areas. A Reproductive Health workshop for UN staff was
held on 19 September at The Armenian Family Health Association to
raise awareness of reproductive health, its scope, components,
objectives and activities.
The Armenian press referring to the Ministry of Health reported
that a flying eye clinic from the USA will arrive in Yerevan by
the end of September. The American surgeons will stay in Yerevan
for 20 days to perform eye surgeries.
REFUGEES, DISPLACED PERSONS AND MIGRATION
UNHCR has launched a new reproductive health initiative for
refugee women, in collaboration with other UN, Government and NGO
partners involved in the sector in Armenia (see paragraph 2 for
details).
A joint UNHCR-DHA mission visited Armenia from 11-12 September.
The mission led by Assistant High Commissioner UNHCR, Mr. Sergio
Vieira de Mello and Mr. Rashid Khalikov met President Levon
Ter-Petrossian to discuss humanitarian aspects of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as well as issues concerning the return
of Armenian refugees from Western Europe. Mr. De Mello expressed
great appreciation of the efforts of the Armenian Government to
facilitate this process. He informed the President that UNHCR
will support the Armenian Government in that regard. This issue
was also discussed during the meeting with Mr. Rafael Bagoyan,
Minister of Social Welfare, Employment, Migration and Refugees,
along with other issues regarding humanitarian assistance and
follow up to the CIS Conference.
UNDHA is assisting UNHCR in its verification exercise of the
lists of refugees identified as most vulnerable by the
Governments PAROS system. The exercise should be completed by
mid-October and is expected to yield valuable insights about the
degree of accuracy of the current PAROS lists which are widely
used by other partners in the humanitarian efforts in Armenia.
EDUCATION AND CHILD CARE
UNICEF held its first meeting on education and childrens boarding
schools-orphanages on 5 September. UNDHA, UNHCR, various NGOs, as
well as representatives from the World Bank, the Armenian Social
Investment Fund and the Ministry of Education and Science
attended the meeting. The participants expressed their
appreciation for UNICEFs coordination efforts in this important
sector. The representative from the Ministry of Education and
Science raised the issue of coordination and cooperation as well
information sharing between the organisations operating in this
field with his Ministry. He also informed the participants that
the Ministry with the help of the World Bank is preparing
proposals for reforms in the education system. Winter programmes
as well as future plans of the organisations will be discussed at
the next meeting to be held on 3 October.
UNICEF participated in a meeting on 10-11 September organised by
NRC to discuss issues related to the promotion of the Armenians
Child Rights Law.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND INCOME SUPPORT ACTIVITIES
The third meeting of the Forum on Economic Opportunities was held
on 20 September and was hosted by UNDHA. Attended by over 22
participants, the meeting started with a plenary session of the
Forum, after which three sub-groups of NGO, Government and UN
partners staff discussed and shared lessons on the topics of
monetization, business training and micro-credit. The next
meeting of the Forum will be held on 25 October.
CONTRIBUTIONS
1) As of 1 October, the total donor contributions to the
humanitarian aid requirements for Armenia contained in the UNDHA
Appeal (1996-97) amounts to 25.6 percent. Hence, and out of the
total requirements (all Agencies, all sectors) of over USD 29
million needed, over USD 22 million remain unmet. UNDHA-Geneva
has not reported any new contributions the appeal during the
month of September, 1996.
2) The Government of Japan provided a grant worth of USD 380,000
to the Government of Armenia for the development programmes in
health care and public education sectors.
3)UNHCR received a contribution of USD 380,000 from the
Government of Sweden as part of an earlier commitment pledged
against the requirements of the 1996-97 UNDHA Appeal. 4) WFP
transferred four high horsepower diesel locomotives to the
Armenian Railways worth USD 400,000 and a sleeper laying machine
worth approximately USD 300,000. In 1996-97 a further assistance
of about half a million US Dollars is planned by WFP under its
rail project to improve the transport capacity of the Armenian
Railways.
OTHER ACTIVITIES-EVENTS
DHA ACTIVITIES
a) UNDHA conducted an investigation among various organisations
operating in the food sector on the food supply situation in
Armenia during winter 1996-97. b) UNDHA has had discussions with
UN and other Agencies regarding support to their plans during the
transitional phase of international assistance in Armenia. c)
UNDHA held an information sharing meeting with UNHCR on ways and
means for verifying PAROS lists of vulnerable refugees. The two
Agencies agreed to collaborate in an exercise which is expected
to yield more accurate results for PAROS lists in general and the
exercise is already underway.d) UNDHA had a meeting with Mr.
Vahram Nercissiants, the Resident Representative of the World
Banks overview of its current activities in Armenia as well as
its plans in the short and mid-term periods. Then Mr.
Nercissiants briefed DHA on some of the more relevant activities
currently undertaken by the WB. e) UNDHA met with Dr. Susan
Jones, the Resident Representative of the IMF in the context of
joint collaboration between the two Agencies during the
transition period in Armenia. f) UNDHA attended a reception in
the honor of the Armenian Paralympic team organized by UNDPI on 4
September. Construction of a wheelchair ramp was started outside
of the UN Building with contributions from UNDHA and other
Agencies. g) UNDHA conducted a field trip to UNHCRs activities in
Spitak and to sites for its shelter, health, poultry and
agricultural programmes in the earthquake zone.h) UNDHA hosted
the first DHA HAOs Regional Meeting on 13 September. The
humanitarian situation in the Caucasian countries, linkage
between humanitarian and rehabilitation-development programmes
and several other issues were discussed during the meeting which
was also attended by Mr. Rashid Khalikov, Chief of the Europe and
Latin America Section of CED-DHA in New York. i) UNDHA will host
the second UN-Donors meeting on humanitarian and transitional aid
in Armenia on October 1st, and a special presentation on
Nagorno-Karabakh has already been organized. j) In the context of
the UN inter-agency sub-group which is following up the
recommendations of the Stockholm international conference, UNDHA
met with UNDP and other Agencies in order to develop a joint plan
of action for Armenia. k) During the month of September, and in
addition to other meetings mentioned elsewhere in this report,
UNDHA also met with UNHCRs Regional Reproductive Health Advisor
based in Ankara, with Accion Contra El Hambre (ACH), CARE,
UNICEF, WFP, IOM, UNHCR, Childrens Aid Direct and Women Aid
International.
2. Mr. Gary Milne has been appointed as the new HAO replacing Mr.
Akram Eltom who finishes his work with UNDHA as of October 5th,
1996.
NAGORNO-KARABAKH
USA and German envoys to the OSCE Minsk group, Joseph Pressel and
Frank Lambach, visited Stepanakert on 14 September. Armenian
media reported that the envoys had met with Mr. Robert Kocharian
and discussed the current stage of the negotiations and
possibilities for peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict.
Based on the agreement signed between ICRC and Ministry of
Agriculture of Nagomo-Karabakh, ICRC will provide 120 tons of
wheat seeds worth USD 40,000, to the worst affected villages in
the Martakert region by October 1996.
According to the information bulletin of ICRC, some 50,000 mines
have been laid in the zone of the Karabakh conflict. 24,3 percent
of those injured in the last two years were wounded as a result
of mine explosions. The same sources reported that mines were
also mounted at the borderline territories of Armenia, Turkey and
Iran.
An international seminar dedicated to the problems of pain and
pain relief took place in Stepanakert, with participation of
scientists from 20 countries including the USA, the Great
Britain, Russia, and others. The main topic of the seminar is the
development of pain relief strategies in health care systems of
the developing countries.
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United Nations Office in Yerevan, Armenia
Mr. Robert Robinson
Tel.: (003742) 15 14 51-53
Fax:(003742) 15 14 50-52
Complex Emergency Division (CED) - New York
Mr. Kazuhide Kuroda
Tel.: (1 212) 963.5713
Fax:(1 212) 963.3630
E-Mail: dhagva at dha.unicc.org
Inter-Agency Support Branch (IASB) - Geneva
Mr. Arjun Katoch
Ms. Katarina Toll
Tel.: (41 22) 788.6381
Fax:(41 22) 788.6386
E-Mail: Katarina.Toll at dha.unicc.org
Press To Contact - (DHA-Geneva)
Ms. Madeleine Moulin-Acevedo
Tel.: (41 22) 917.2856
Fax:(41 22) 917.0023
Telex: 414242 DHA CH
E-Mail: dhagva at dha.unicc.org