Cáritas Española has activated, together with the Humanitarian Action Office of the Spanish Cooperation Agency (AECID), the humanitarian emergency agreement in the face of the crisis suffered by the most vulnerable people in Armenia. The intervention will focus on the protection and economic support through the delivery of cash to families displaced by the Nagorno Karabakh conflict in the Armenian provinces of Syunik and Vayots Dzor.
The AECID will contribute an amount of 145,952.40 euros out of the 172,283.46 euros of the total intervention budget. The rest will be co-financed by Cáritas Española. The initiative, whose execution period will be six months, will contribute to satisfying the basic, protection, resilience and emergency prevention needs of 3,658 households in the two communities, some 14,915 people in total.
The intervention will be possible through the participation of Cáritas Armenia, which will deliver cash to 400 vulnerable families and/or in emergency situations (health, disability or other complex situations).
High level of needs
“We work in communities near the border, which have suffered a lot of damage, communities with a high presence of displaced persons, and that have a high level of unmet social needs,” he says. Carmen Gomez de Barreda of the International Cooperation team of Cáritas Española.
Within the framework of this humanitarian action programme, families with urgent needs will be assessed according to criteria of income level, displacement status in the family, members with functional diversity, housing conditions, number of people living under the same roof, size family and level of basic needs covered (food, water, household items and hygiene).
Blockade in the Lachin corridor
Since December 2022, there has been a blockade on the Lachin corridor, the only highway connecting the Nagorno-Karabakh region with Armenia. The blockade keeps 120,000 civilians isolated, who depend on this communication to satisfy their basic needs. More than 1,000 adults and almost 300 minors who have left Nagorno-Karabakh cannot return. It is estimated that some 30,000 minors, 20,000 elderly and 9,000 people with functional diversity are at risk of famine.
The humanitarian consequences of this blockade are enormous. The supply of basic energy, food and medicine has been drastically reduced. Before the blockade, 400 tons of humanitarian aid a day arrived through this corridor to Stepanakert (the capital of the region). This figure has dropped to 33 tons/day, according to various sources.
To date, this situation of conflict and violation of international treaties and rights has led to a high number of internally displaced persons and it is feared that the number will increase if the area remains isolated by the blockade.
Cáritas Española has been collaborating with Cáritas Armenia since the 1990s. Since the early 2000s, collaboration and strategic support have been focused and directed to home support programs and care for the elderly; rural development (solidarity economy); institutional and organizational strengthening; labor migrant program; and support for the Nagorno-Karabakh emergency.
#Caritas #activates #humanitarian #action #AECID #face #displacement #crisis #Armenia #caritas
