As a result of the forced displacement of the Artsakh population by Azerbaijan, a humanitarian crisis has emerged in Armenia. Tens of thousands of people who have resettled in Armenia are now deprived of their right to a home, work, and a decent life. In such crisis situations, elderly people, women, and children become especially vulnerable.
From the onset of forced displacement, the Women’s Fund Armenia mobilized its resources to aid the forcibly displaced. The Fund, in collaboration with partner organizations addressing women’s issues in Armenia, provided humanitarian support to meet the basic needs of displaced people.
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In Vayots Dzor, the Women’s Fund Armenia collaborated with the “You Are Not Alone” Women’s Support Center NGO, marking the continuation of their partnership since the Fund’s inception.
Naira Harutyunyan, the president of the NGO, notes that their experience in working with displaced people during the 2020 war was invaluable. “At that time, our organization quickly compiled data of people willing to host displaced people and created a list of blood donors. And this time, the previous experience helped us even more, it gave us the opportunity to react faster and organize our work more effectively, of course, in cooperation with the relevant department of the regional administration, the municipality, and social workers. After the 2020 war, we focused more on those gaps, among which the primary one was the sexual and reproductive health of women,” says Naira.
According to her, this time, the organization’s employees actively participated in supporting people forcibly displaced from Artsakh. Recognizing the specific needs of displaced people, the NGO focused on the needs of displaced women, providing gender-sensitive approaches often overlooked by state institutions. “Together with the Women’s Support Center NGO, we visited the checkpoint and created a special safe area where breastfeeding mothers can rest and feed their children. Along with all that, we also tried to support women and children in general, providing them with basic necessities,” she says.
Referring to the cooperation with the WFA, Naira Harutyunyan says, “To organize humanitarian aid effectively, the Fund extended its support, enabling us to provide many women with hygiene items and economic goods. In addition to humanitarian assistance, psychological first aid and legal assistance was also provided.”
The president of the NGO emphasizes that they now have a comprehensive assessment of the needs of displaced persons, aiming to address various issues, including the acquisition of professional knowledge and finding employment. In addition to this, the NGO is now also dealing with issues of ensuring the education of displaced children, in cooperation with the education department of the regional administration and community schools.
In war and crisis situations, where militarized ideologies persist, certain topics become a taboo. Naira Harutyunyan stresses the need for delicate and sensitive approaches when dealing with displaced women who may be hesitant to discuss certain topics due to their challenging psychological state. “We have to take into account that the displaced women are not ready to talk about many topics, because they are in a very difficult psychological state,” she said, adding that the women who have already used the services of a psychologist several times are easier to communicate and work with.
“Women need some time to be able to share with us and talk about these topics. Of course, when we talk to them, we can clearly see from their views that they need it, but they are shy to talk about these topics, to speak about these needs. But I think it is temporary. With time, we’ll be able to create that safe and reliable atmosphere where they’ll be able to talk with us on various topics,” Naira hopes.
The organization is actively working to integrate Artsakh women into society. “We hold therapeutic groups for women, and even then we try to talk with them about various topics, including self-care, domestic violence, and healthy relationships. I think that within the framework of different programs we’ll have the opportunity to address the existing problems one by one,” she says.
It is a well-established fact that cases of gender-based and domestic violence significantly increase in war and crisis situations. According to Naira, they have already begun documenting such cases. “Regarding domestic violence, unfortunately, we have not received calls from women who have been subjected to violence, but let’s be clear that there is violence in families. We received alarms from community residents, neighbors who heard noises and cries. I visited the family where violence took place with the police. Of course, we did not disclose the actual purpose of the visit. I tried to talk to the abused woman. She was very dismissive, did not talk about violence at all and denied that there was such a situation in the family. She gave evasive answers, saying that they just talk loudly in the family,” says the NGO president. According to Naira, very often women try to justify violence by saying that men participated in the war and are in a difficult psychological state, which women consider normal.
Naira notes that burnout is observed among NGO staff when working with displaced persons. “During those difficult days, we all forgot about our personal problems and difficulties. When you see malnourished children, women in a difficult condition, people without warm clothes in the cold weather, you forget your own needs and problems. During that time, no matter how much we as professionals tried to control ourselves to keep away from those emotions, feelings, we still did not succeed. Of course, at that moment we were trying to help as many people as possible, but then we felt that we were just in burnout,” says Naira.
In overcoming difficulties and challenges, Naira highlights the significant support provided by partner women organizations. “We’ve put our trust in our partner organizations, who are always by our side, have helped and supported us. For example, a psychologist from the Women’s Support NGO now conducts supervision with our psychologists. But our social workers need it too, because their work has been harder. I hope we’ll also have the opportunity and resources in this regard. Now we are trying to organize some interesting and fun activities together, to spend time in order to try to get away from all this for a moment and take care of ourselves a little bit,” says Naira Harutyunyan with a little smile and continues to tell about their future plans, which are aimed at empowering Artsakh women. Hearing the determination in Naira’s voice, it becomes evident that the women of Artsakh will not be alone.
Interview by Yelena Sargsyan
