Five CSOs receive grants to improve the social services in Armenia's Syunik region

Through our efforts, the services provided to the residents of the community will be better coordinated and targeted. In addition to capacity building within the framework of the project funded by the European Union, we also announced a grant competition for Syunik-based CSOs providing social services locally. Five out of the eight applicants were awarded grants, receiving amounts equivalent to €45,000 each to improve social services. The recipients were Mission Armenia, Partnership and Training, Partnership Arch, In the Name of Freedom, and Together for Communities Development.

Mission Armenia, was awarded within the 'Improvement of the Conditions of Community-Based Small Houses for the Elderly and People with Disabilities' project. In the Artsvanik village of Kapan, Mission Armenia will provide social-psychological and social-health services 24/7 for 14 elderly and disabled people in improved building conditions. 

Partnership and Training NGO, within the framework of the 'Community-Based Center for Social Services in Tegh Community' programme. This organisation works to improve the lives of 5-18-year-olds in challenging situations. With this grant, they will support 150 children with disabilities (including displaced children), 35 lonely older people, and 80 displaced families from Nagorno-Karabakh. Their work with selected groups is individualised and includes social services or re-skilling courses that will increase employment and create a source of income for the project's target groups. 

Partnership Arch provides services in Goris. The 'Provision of Care for the Elderly People in Daycare and Home Conditions' project helps older and forcibly displaced people by providing care for families in inpatient as well as at-home conditions. The project also covers entertainment and increased participation in public life for these people. Within the scope of the project, 153 older people will receive care and rehabilitation assistance, with at least 50 of them receiving social-psychological and social-health care in inpatient and outpatient format services. 

In the Name of Freedom NGO provides psychological, social-labor, and social-legal services to former convicts and people under probation service registered by the Ministry of Justice of Armenia in Goris, Kapan, and Kajaran. As a result of the project, 40 people will have the opportunity to overcome social problems associated with being in prison, psychological problems, and have the opportunity for resocialisation. The project also contributes to reducing recidivism and creating employment opportunities. 

Together for Communities Development provides support to families displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh. Particularly families in Sisyan who are in difficult social conditions and have three or more—or disabled—children. By identifying the agricultural potential of around 70 families, social work services will be provided based on guaranteed support, cooperation principle, and reimbursable transaction, as a result of which the beneficiaries engaged in poultry, rabbit breeding, and pig breeding will experience an increase in income, stable, and diversified financial resources. 

The EU-funded 'Partnerships for Syunik – Enhanced Community-Based Social Service' project is implemented by People in Need in partnership with WINNET Goris Development Foundation and Armenian Caritas as part of the Resilient Syunik.

The Resilient Syunik Team Europe initiative is the joint undertaking of the European Union, the European Investment Bank, and EU Member states: Austria, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden, with Switzerland also joining as an external partner. The main objective of this initiative is to contribute to the sustainable socioeconomic and institutional development of the Syunik region in line with local development priorities. The initiative has an approximate five-year budget of €116 million, which may be increased.