Children should be safe everywhere
Published: Jun 1, 2023 Reading time: 2 minutes
The Pahapan (Guardian) Development Foundation was established by a group of socially conscious people in order to make social and economic amendments in communities living by the border, as well as to provide them with safe spaces.
With funding from European Union and People in Need, the Pahapan Foundation has recently handed over a 21st safe space called “Khaghataqstots” to the community, which in the first place is established for ensuring the safety of children.
Thanks to the EU-funded and People in Need-implemented project titled Resilient Civil Society, a well-equipped space was created which has all the capacities and is used by the locals with consciousness. “People who don’t live on the frontline should be conscious about helping their compatriots who live in communities by the border. We are just two hours from Yerevan. However, life is truly different here, and people have a collective sense that by living here, they protect the country’s gates,” states Inga Harutyunyan, founder of the Pahapan Foundation. Children are brave, and they are members of this community, so we need to create safe spaces for them to thrive, continues Inga.
Safe Space
People in Need helps those living through difficult times by working closely with local civil society organizations (CSOs). “We are happy to cooperate with the Pahapan Foundation again. This is our third productive cooperation. So far, we’ve implemented various projects together in order to help vulnerable people living in Armenia,” states Varduhi Dadunts, Country Director of People in Need Armenia.
In order to mitigate the consequences of the war, the Resilient Civil Society project aims to meet the security, social and psychological needs of the most vulnerable groups of the community, with particular attention paid to those living along the border. Within the project, three civil society organizations (The Pahapan Foundation, Mission Armenia, and the Winnet Goris Development Foundation) have received grants to support vulnerable groups in the three regions of Gegharqunik, Vayots Dzor and Syunik.
