WFP welcomes US$2 million donation from Russia to Armenia

30 May 2007
Reuters AlertNet, UK
Source: WFP
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
Location: Yerevan

WFP today warmly welcomed the delivery of 3,375 metric tons of wheat flour and 195 metric tons of vegetable oil, valued at US$2 million, donated by the Russian Federation to support WFP’s operation to assist some 110,000 beneficiaries in Armenia.

“This donation to Armenia is very timely and has enabled us to continue assisting the poorest communities,” said WFP Armenia Country Director Muzaffar Choudhery.

“We are extremely grateful for Russia’s ongoing commitment to our efforts to help those in need,” he added.

Operation

Currently, WFP’s operation includes relief food distributions, food-for-work, food-for-training and food-for-education in the provinces of Gegharkunik, Lori, Shirak and Tavoush, as well as the capital city of Yerevan.

The food donated by Russia has already arrived in Armenia and will be immediately distributed in all four of WFP’s programme activities.

Food rations absorb the bulk of WFP assistance and reach beneficiaries who are targeted through the Government’s vulnerability assessment system, PAROS.

"Confident"

“In the current phase of WFP’s assistance to Armenia, such donor support makes us feel confident that we will be able to continue and conclude our mission in this country in a responsible manner,” said Choudhery.

The country still faces major challenges in reducing poverty, redistributing gains from economic development as well as ending corruption and improving corporate governance.

High unemployment, occasional informal jobs and self-employment characterize the present situation.

WFP has been providing food aid to Armenia since 1994, first to the refugees from Azerbaijan and later to Armenia’s own vulnerable population. To date, WFP’s food assistance totals US$79 million.

Contact us
Liana Kharatian
WFP/Armenia
Tel: +374-10- 580538, 564904 ext. 2024
Mob. +374-91-407834


Tatyana Chubrikova
WFP/Moscow
Tel. +7-095-2323011
Mob. +74 9591610 65774


Mia Turner
WFP/Cairo
Tel. +20-2-5281730
Mob. +20-122455769


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Nansen Award winner Kanai uses prize to help in Armenia and Azerbaijan

19 Apr 2007
Reuters AlertNet
Source: UNHCR

GENEVA, April 19 (UNHCR) – Japanese optometrist Akio Kanai has used all the prize money that came with his Nansen Refugee Award to assist refugees and internally displaced in Azerbaijan and Armenia, countries where he has been helping victims on both sides of the conflict for almost a decade.

The UNHCR gives the annual award, consisting of a medal and a US$100,000 monetary prize, to a person or group for outstanding services in supporting refugee causes. Dr. Kanai was awarded last year's Nansen Refugee Award for providing free eye testing and spectacles to almost 110,000 people over more than two decades.

Since receiving the award last June, Dr. Kanai has used the prize money to fund humanitarian aid for people who became refugees or internally displaced persons (IDP) during the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The funds were evenly divided between aid in Armenia and Azerbaijan, two countries where he and his devoted team of specialists have been volunteering work for almost a decade to benefit victims on each side of the conflict.

Dr Kanai and his Fuji Optical company had already donated vision services and appliances to thousands of displaced people in Azerbaijan. In his latest act of generosity, in addition to other support, he helped UNHCR to fund a water supply project implemented with the Norwegian Refugee Council in the IDP settlements at Yeni Khojevend and Tug. The project would not have been implemented otherwise.

The project, which began in October and ended in January, entailed drilling a new artesian well and rehabilitating water distribution systems in the settlements, which house some 2,000 people originally from Khojevend in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Many fled their homes in the early 1990s.

UNHCR worked closely with experts from Azerbaijan's ministry of ecology and resources on the project. After tenders were issued, an experienced company was selected to conduct the successful drilling, which followed failed attempts by other parties to find potable water. The new well is estimated to produce six tonnes of water per hour, more than enough to meet UNHCR standards.

Inhabitants of the two settlements expressed their gratitude for the valuable assistance. For the past six years, they had had to pay for water supplies brought by vehicle from other villages.

Fuji Optical is expected to conduct another Vision Aid Mission to Azerbaijan in June, when it will be testing the eyes of IDPs, and UNHCR hopes to bring Dr. Kanai to Yeni Khojevend settlement to officially inaugurate the new well.

In neighbouring Armenia, the money donated by Dr Kanai enabled UNHCR to fund a project aimed at helping 2,167 vulnerable refugees and former refugees in Yerevan, Kotayk, Aragatsotn, Armavir and Gegharkunik provinces starting from October.

These Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan – the bulk of them in Yerevan and Kotayk – had been left out of earlier assistance projects handled by implementing partner Mission Armenia because of a lack of funds.

Mission Armenia used some US$30,000 of Dr. Kanai's gift to provide supplemental food, furniture and hygiene goods, pay for electricity bills, provide vocational training and organise community events. Mission Armenia and UNHCR staff donated used clothes and provided entertainment at Christmas.

The agency used the balance to construct a cottage for an extremely vulnerable family of six, including two handicapped children, who originated from Azerbaijan. They had been living for almost two decades in a dilapidated shipping container in Ararat province close to neighbouring Turkey.

In order to start the project, which began last October and wrapped up earlier this year, Mission Armenia consulted refugees about their requirements. This detailed needs assessment focused on refugees who had been left out of prior assistance projects.

The project was designed and implemented by Mission Armenia in close cooperation with UNHCR and community representatives. Mission Armenia provided all administrative and human resources as well as transportation needed to implement and monitor the project.

The model established in this pilot project will enable UNHCR to design and implement in future years a countrywide programme addressing social and economic needs of the most vulnerable refugees. UNHCR hopes to continue assistance to extremely vulnerable refugees in 2008 and 2009.

"The project implemented with the funds donated by Dr. Kanai should be seen as a pilot and model for UNHCR's strategies and activities in the years to come," said the report on the project.

UNHCR news

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Habitat for Humanity's 'Catholicos Karekin II Work Project' begins

The second annual Habitat for Humanity "Catholicos Karekin II Work Project" kicks off in Armenia today. Volunteers from around the globe will descend upon Armenia to build homes side by side with homeowner families, local sponsors, volunteers, dignitaries and monks from the Armenian Apostolic Church.

(Media-Newswire.com) - YEREVAN, Armenia ( April 10, 2007 ) � Paint brushes, trowels and hammers will swing into action this week, as Habitat for Humanity begins to lift 37 families from poverty housing in Armenia.

The second annual Habitat for Humanity "Catholicos Karekin II Work Project" kicks off in Armenia today. Volunteers from around the globe will descend upon Armenia to build homes side by side with homeowner families, local sponsors, volunteers, dignitaries and monks from the Armenian Apostolic Church.

"The Armenian Apostolic Church is delighted to launch this event once again with Habitat for Humanity. It's not only a celebration of people coming together to help families in need, but it's also an important step toward removing the blight of poverty housing in Armenia," says Archbishop Vicken Aykazian of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

During building events around the country from April through October, 37 homes built in partnership with families in need will be completed in Armenia, symbolizing 36 worldwide dioceses, plus the Holy See. His Holiness, Karekin II, Catholicos of all Armenians, is expected to bless the event's official opening at the Etchmiadzin Gevorgyan seminary on April 10.

Churches and individuals are challenged to fully sponsor or to contribute to a home. The Catholicos Project Family Sponsorship Cost ( FSC ) for 2007 will be $7,360, which is an average for the cost of renovations, half-build homes and new construction.

The first building event kicks off with a volunteer team coming from the United States. The Habitat volunteers will be completing homes that were abandoned and left unfinished after the economic collapse in the early 1990s in Armenia where nearly half of the country still lives in poverty conditions.

The Haroyan family of the Khor Virap village is the first selected among the 37 families. Sahak, 43, and his wife Piruza, 36, are vegetable farmers currently residing in a neighbor's basement with their three children, ages 18, 16 and 14. Economic strife forced the family to live in the basement for seven years, as they have been unable to raise enough funds to complete their own home. Piruza suffers rheumatism in her legs due to the humidity. "If you help us, we will finish and move to our new house by the next winter," Piruza said to a visiting Habitat team.

The Armenian Church signed a historic partnership with Habitat for Humanity in April 2006, aimed to combat poverty housing in Armenia and worldwide. The first "Catholicos Karekin II Work Project" was held in Gavar, Armenia, where a building was renovated in partnership with 24 families, with an additional 13 homes built around the country.

In Michigan in 2005, the Catholicos participated in Habitat's annual home blitz build, the Jimmy Carter Work Project, where he met with President Carter. Following that, the Catholicos gave his blessing for a home-building event to be created and held in Armenia.

Armenia is a country of 3 million nestled in the southern Caucasus. Over the past decade, a devastating earthquake, conflict, the Soviet Union's collapse and a newfound independence have led to economic crisis. Thousands still live in metal "domiks," iron containers used for temporary earthquake relief, which act like refrigerators in the winter and boilers in the summer. Habitat for Humanity Armenia has been working with families in need since 2000 and provided homes in partnership with more than 1,000 people.

For more information about Habitat for Humanity in Armenia, visit:
www.hfharmenia.org.

About Habitat for Humanity International
Habitat for Humanity International is an ecumenical Christian ministry that welcomes to its work all people dedicated to the cause of eliminating poverty housing. Since its founding in Americus, Ga., in 1976, Habitat has built more than 225,000 houses in nearly 100 countries, providing simple, decent and affordable shelter for more than 1 million people. For more information, visit www.habitat.org.

Duane Bates
HFHI in the United States
1-229-924-6935, ext. 3079
dbates@habitat.org

www.habitat.org/newsroom
Dominique Scharer
HFHI in Europe/Central Asia
+361-411-2170
dscharer@habitat.org

Gohar Palyan
HFH Armenia
+374 10 55 6114
gpalyan@hfharmenia.org


Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.