Armenia - OCHA-03: 01-31.Mar.98
Armenia - OCHA-03: 01-31.Mar.98
Situation Report from the OCHA Coordinator
in ARMENIA - No. 3
March 1998
HIGHLIGHTS
- Prime Minister Robert Kocharian was elected Armenia's President with
59.48 percent of the votes
- Malaria has recently reemerged in Armenia. The risk for outbreak of
malaria is high, WHO reported
- VAT exemption issue was discussed at a session of the Government
Humanitarian Assistance Commission
SITUATION OVERVIEW
Political Development
The Extraordinary Presidential Election was called in Armenia on 16 March.
The Armenian media reported that hundreds of international observers
monitored the voting, including the European Union, the OSCE, and Russian
Duma. Twelve candidates were running in the election. The economy and
Nagorno-Karabakh have been the two most prominent campaign issues. Neither
candidate managed to pull in more than 50 percent. Under Armenian law, 51
percent vote is required to win the election in the first round. Based on
voting results Robert Kocharian, Prime Minister and Acting President, and
Karen Demirchian, former Communist leader of Armenia ran in the second
round of the elections, which was held on 30 March. According to
preliminary results, Robert Kocharian received 59.48 percent and Karen
Demirchian - 40.52 percent of votes. 68 percent voter turnout was
registered during the voting in the second round of the presidential
election. International observers said there had not been a repeat of the
electoral fraud, which had marred the first round. OSCE/ODIHR Election
Observation Mission issued a preliminary report on the second round of the
presidential announcing that the election was a step forward from the
troubled 1996 election toward a functioning democracy. They noted that in
some areas the election fell short of the commitments Armenia has made to
OSCE standards. However, those shortcomings did not cause them to question
the outcome of the election. Karen Demirchian has condemned the ballot as
not free and fair but urged his supporters to display restraint. The
official ceremony of presidential inauguration will take place on 9 April
during a special session of the Parliament.
SECTORAL SUMMARY OF EVENTS
Food Security/Agriculture
Government of Sweden has donated 92 MTs of refined soybean oil and 193 MTs
of sugar to Armenia for WFP. Sweden/SIDA was among the first to donate USD
199,468 (SEK 1.5 million) in response to WFP appeal for USD 7.7 million for
its food assistance programme targeting 220,000 people in Armenia from July
1997 to June 1998. Another donation was received from the Government of
Japan, which is 180 MTs of canned mackerel valued at 60 million yens
(approximately USD 468,750). This is the Japans second donation to Armenia
after last year's contribution of 150,000,000 yens (USD 1,240,000) which
allowed WFP to purchase 2,935 MTs of wheat flour enough for 19,5 million
rations, Douglas Broderick, WFP Country Director said. WFP also received
the Swiss written confirmation of their contribution for AWF 1 million (USD
666,000). WFP will use that money to purchase 1,178 MTs of wheat flour and
215 MTs of vegetable oil for the 1998 Food for Work Project.
Regular food aid coordination meeting was held on 12 March, which was
chaired by WFP. Organisations present provided updates on their food
programmes. Armenian Red Cross (ARC) completed the second distribution
cycle of food parcels to 10,000 single elderly people aged 75 and above,
and to handicapped persons of I and II categories with a third round to be
implemented in April/May 1998. ARC requested food organisations to contact
them if they can provide food for summer camps. IFRC noted that
international funding is drastically reducing. Funding is running out for
such projects as home-visiting nurse programme and the International
Post-Trauma Rehabilitation Centre (IPTRC). IFRC will look into possible
food for work projects with WFP. This year within its Food for Progress
programme, UMCOR will monetize 1,500 MTs of USDA-donated whole fat dried
milk to local milk processing factories. USD 100,000 of the proceeds will
be used to buy some products, mainly cheese to distribute vulnerable
groups. The food will be distributed on a monthly basis for a period of 12
months.
UMCOR has created partnership with two Armenian banks to extend over USD
900,000 worth of loans to small and medium sized agricultural producing,
processing, and marketing enterprises. Some 114 loans have been extended in
the cold storage, fruit processing, grinding mill, milk processing, and
livestock sectors. UMCOR plans to expand the programme and increase the
loan capital.
The two-year-long TACIS programme, Regional Agricultural Reform Project
(RARPI) started in 1996 with the aim of forming development policy in
Armenians agriculture, in particular, in the fields of trade, production
and grain processing. The programme also aimed at consulting the Ministry
of Agriculture (MoA), developing the private sector of bread-making,
helping to privatise enterprises of grain sector, achieving complete
liberalisation of grain price. Hans Kurilas, TACIS representative in
Armenia, noted that the programme has been successfully implemented in
Armenia and this experience may be used to carry out further programmes in
the sphere of agriculture planned by EU.
UNHCR is distributing 55,000 quilts donated by Lutheran World Federation
and two containers of seeds among the refugee settlements, as well as
vulnerable groups of the population countrywide.
Health and Sanitation
The United Armenian Funds (UAF) 97th airlift arrived in Yerevan on 1 March
carrying USD 2.6 million of humanitarian assistance. The UAF itself
collected for this airlift USD 1.3 million worth of medicines and medical
supplies to be distributed to hospitals throughout Armenia by the Ministry
of Health (MoH). Since 1989, the UAF has sent over USD 216 million of
humanitarian assistance to Armenia on board 97 airlifts and 343 sea
containers.
Malaria has recently reemerged in Armenia, World Health Organisation (WHO)
Liaison Officer Hrair Aslanian reported. The disease has been completely
eradicated in 1963, and no malaria cases were reported in the country up to
1994. The malaria situation started to deteriorate in 1994 when 196
imported cases were registered in the country. The dramatic changes in the
malaria situation have occurred in 1996. For the first time in addition to
imported malaria cases (201), some 146 indigenous malaria cases were
registered in the country. In 1997 the number of cases increased to 841
(576 indigenous and 265 imported cases). 86 more cases are registered this
year. The Ministry of Health (MoH) experiences considerable problems in
mounting effective malaria prevention and control operations. WHO together
with the Government developed a project proposal for Prevention and Control
of Malaria Epidemic in Armenia for the period 1997-1999. The project
proposal stated that if assistance worth USD 447,120 required for implemen
tation of effective epidemic prevention and control measures is not
rendered, there is a risk for outbreak of malaria in the country. The
concern is shared by IFRC as well. They developed a project to carry out
anti-malaria campaigns. However, IFRC could not implement the project due
to lack of funding.
UNHCR continued discussions and negotiations with local implementing
partners. As a result, a sub-agreement has been concluded with 'Future
Generation Union' for implementing a sub-project as envisaged in the
1998-programme for local integration. The activities of the sub-project
promote increasing access to primary health care services and reproductive
health awareness and training. Beneficiaries are women and children living
in the rural areas of Armavir marz. The sub-project also aims at building
the capacity of the local NGO in project management and delivery of
assistance.
A ceremony for commemorating the opening of the Maternity Department took
place in Goris hospital. The Department was renovated with the contribution
of material and financial resources by UNHCR, UNICEF and ICU (Italian NGO).
Education, Training and Child Care
UNICEF and Save the Children Fund (SCF-US) with the cooperation of the
Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Health, Education and Science, Social
Welfare, Internal Affairs, Finance and Economy, are preparing an update of
the situation of children and women in Armenia. The first situation
analyses were produced in 1994 jointly by the Armenian Government and
UNICEF and served as a base for the cooperation between them for the period
1995-1999. The new situation analysis will provide information to the
Government to develop a National Plan of Action for Children, as well as
will serve as a basis for UNICEF, SCF and other international organisations
programming. To facilitate the process, a Steering Committee has been
formed. The document is expected to be finalised by the end of 1998.
The Ministry of Education and Science (MoES), the International Institute
for Global Education (IIGE) of the Ontario Institute for Studies in
Education, University of Toronto and UNICEF Armenia finalised a long-term
agreement on 'Life Skills' education programme. Starting from September
1998, the programme will be included into the curriculum of grade 5 in 15
schools. If the test period is successful, the materials will be included
in the grade's 1 and 5 core curriculums for all schools in 1998-2000. A
strategy for inclusion of the programme in the core curriculum for grades 1
to 10 will also be developed. UNICEF will provide funding for the project
in the first twenty months.
UNICEF sponsored two representatives of the National TV Company to
participate in the second World Summit on Television for Children held on
9-13 March in London. Mary Robinson, Human Rights Commissioner, and Carol
Bellamy, UNICEF Executive Director made opening addresses. Children's
rights were a focus for the summit. UNICEF projects like Cartoons for
Children's Rights and the International Children's Day of Broadcasting
were presented. UNICEF also unveiled a proposal for an animated Children's
television series for broadcaster investment about the Convention on the
Rights of the Child.
The Armenian Social Investment Fund (ASIF) and 'Aznavour for Armenia'
organisation has completed their first joint project that is the
reconstruction of the educational complex 'Olympus' in Yerevan. USD 34,000
were spent on the project. It should be noted that Charles Aznavour gave a
charity concert on 4 January 1998 in Paris to raise funds for repairing
schools and Children's institutions in Armenia.
Dr. Francesco Branca and Dr. Giulia Cairella from National Institute of
Nutrition of Rome visited Armenia at the invitation of UNICEF, to assist
the Ministry of Health (MoH) in developing a nutrition surveillance system
and designing a national nutrition survey. The MoH with the support of
UNICEF will conduct the survey in May/June. The survey will focus on the
nutritional status of children and women with a particular attention to
micronutrient deficiencies.
Shelter
In line with the new direction for provision of shelter, UNHCR in
collaboration with the Government of Armenia and YMCA has identified
several buildings, which could be renovated and remodeled into living
quarters. Some of these buildings, which are situated in shelter priority
areas, have been privatised. The Ministry of Social Welfare (MoSW) is
pursuing the repossession of their ownership in favor of refugees. The
Government for the first time contributed some USD 87,000 to UNHCR for the
provision of permanent shelter for refugees.
Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) established its presence in Armenia in June
1995 and has been involved in relief and rehabilitation activities. One of
the main objectives of the organisation is to construct, renovate and
rehabilitate houses and unfinished apartment buildings for allocation to
refugees. 200 family houses and apartments will be constructed and
rehabilitated under the NRC 1998 shelter programme.
Development Related Activities
In the fringes of Micro enterprise Development Programme, implemented by
IOM, training sessions are continued. 185 participants from Yerevan and
Giumri have completed the training in March. Participants are refugees,
migrants, displaced persons and other economically vulnerable persons and
returnees. Fifty one percent of the participants are women. As of the end
of March, loans for production and services and trades have been approved
for Yerevan. In Giumri loan disbursement will begin in April.
A monthly inter-agency meeting on a small credit programme has been
convened on 5 March at UMCORs Office. Since there is an appropriate and
comprehensive legislation governing micro-credit and micro-financing, the
working meetings aim at developing strategy to present to the Government
and clarification the legal obligation related to small micro-credit
schemes. Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, who attended the meeting,
highlighted the importance of small enterprises in the country's economic
growth. It has been agreed to continue the debate and exchange of
information on this field. UNHCR reported that it is funding several NGOs
in implementing micro-credit projects worth USD 600,000.
Migration
IOM is continuing its activities with four projects. In late February the
second stage of the Government of Armenia/IOM Capacity Building in
Migration Management programme commenced activities after a period of
review and planning the next year's activities. Since reconvening the
Policy and Management group has done some preliminary work on the proposed
draft of the concept of migration policy as well as definition of migration
flows and the respective Government policy in this area. The Refugees and
Displaced Persons group directed its activities towards collection and
analysis of all the decisions and decrees of the Government on
refugee-related issues, as well as information on the implementation of
these documents. Together with the Legislation and Regulations work group,
the Refugee group has begun to compile a list of legal acts that need to be
drafted, based on the Refugee law, to make the implementation of the Law
more effective. The Labor Migration group members have made preliminary
reports on revi
sion of the labor migration policy in the country. The Migration
Information Systems group has studied the IOM consultants 'Republic of
Georgia Border Management Review' and has started to 'localize' it to meet
the peculiarities of Armenia.
Within the IOM Migration Sector Development programme five projects
involved in the small grants funds are midway through their projects and
all have held training/research activities to achieve their goals. In
February a meeting of all the IOM funded NGOs in the Caucasus met in
Tbilisi to exchange project ideas and regional information.
OTHER ISSUES
On 24-26 March Aimee Wielechowski, UNOCHA Regional Humanitarian Affairs
Officer, visited Armenia. As it was announced earlier, based on a decision
by Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian
Affairs, and in view of the increased regionalisation of programming
activities by a growing number of principal humanitarian agencies and
partners, OCHA regional office for the Southern Caucasus has been
established in Tbilisi to facilitate the coordination of outstanding
humanitarian programmes, especially in areas of unresolved conflict. The
main purpose of Ms. Wielechowski's visit was to get acquainted with the
humanitarian situation in the country, the transition from relief to
development. She had several meetings with the Government, UN Agencies,
international organisations and NGOs and discussed several issues
concerning the humanitarian situation, including humanitarian needs,
strategy, as well as issues regarding coordination, cooperation,
information flow and the role of OCHA con
sequently.
On 25 March a joint mission of the OSCE/ODIHR (Office for Democratic
Institutes and Human Rights), the Council of Europe, the European
Commission and the Danish Refugee Council arrived in Yerevan and was joined
by UNHCR to assess developments and needs in the human dimensions in
Armenia. The visit was part of a round trip to the Transcaucasian
countries, focusing on potential for promoting development of Rule of Law,
Human Rights and a Civil Society. The purpose of the mission was to do a
joint assessment and identify priorities in areas of interest to all
involved organisations and to seek complementarity of planned assistance.
Furthermore, the mission would ascertain the readiness of local authorities
and the expertise needed for establishment of national human rights
institutions and the promotion of human rights education.
Humanitarian Assistance Commission (HAC) held a session on 26 March. Agenda
items were reports of the international organisations on humanitarian aid
programmes, as well as value added tax (VAT) exemption issue. After the
presentations Ms. Hranush Hakopian, Minister of Social Welfare and Chair of
HAC, requested the humanitarian organisations to provide full information
on their programmes in order to coordinate the humanitarian assistance with
the Government. VAT exemption issue remains one of the main concerns among
the international agencies operating in the country. Katica Cekalovic, UN
Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative, raised the issue of
speeding up the procedures of receiving VAT exemption approval from the HAC
as in several cases the unnecessary delays hinder the activities of the UN
Agencies and other aid organisations in Armenia. Ms. Cekalovic reported
that she has had several meetings with MFA and the Chair of the HAC
regarding VAT exemption, and unfortunately no final decision to s
peed up the procedures have been taken the authorities yet. Ms. Cekalovic
offered the cooperation of UN, if necessary, to prepare any documentation
which might be required. Ms. Hakopian said that a proposal prepared by her
Ministry on a new procedure has been submitted to the Prime Ministers
Office. She emphasized that once it is approved it will facilitate and
speed up the whole procedure.
This report is available on the internet through RELIEFWEB:
http://www.reliefweb.int
United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs - Armenia Field
Coordination Unit Yerevan, Armenia
Ms. Knarik Karnalian
Humanitarian Affairs Officer
Tel./Fax: (003742) 151 749
E-Mail: undha@arminco.com
Inter-Agency Support Branch (IASB) - Geneva
Mr. David Bassiouni - Chief
Mr. Arjun Katoch
Tel.: (41 22) 788.1402
Fax: (41 22) 788.6386
Registry E-Mail: Abu.Conteh@dha.unicc.org
Complex Emergency Division (CED) - New York
Mr. David McLachlan-Karr
Tel.: (1 212) 963.0226
Fax: (1 212) 963.1388
E-Mail: mclachlan-karr@un.org
Information Service
Ms. Therese Gastaut - Director
Tel.: (41 22) 917.2300
Fax: (41 22) 917.0030
E-Mail: tgastaut@unog.ch
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