Armenia, in the southern Caucasus, is the smallest
of the former Soviet republics with a total land area of
29,800 sq km. It is bounded by Georgia to the north, Azerbaijan
to the east, Iran to the south and Turkey to the west.
The Armenian Constitution was adopted in 1995 and the country
is divided into 11 provinces called marzer. According
to the 2001 census, it has 3.2 million people: 97% are
Armenian and the rest include Russians, Greeks, Ukrainians,
Kurds, Yezids, Jews and Assyrians. Almost one third of
the population, 964,000, is under 18 years old.
Armenia is still recovering from the collapse of the Soviet Union and subsequent
social and economic deterioration. Economic decline and disruption of social
infrastructure have particularly affected the lives of children and women,
making them among the most vulnerable of groups. Although there has been substantial
growth in real GDP over the past five years, this has not had a major impact
on living standards for the general population. At the beginning of 2005, almost
half of Armenia ’s population was still living below the national poverty
line with one in seven persons unable to secure the basic requirements for
survival. Families with children under age five comprise almost 60% of those
living in poverty. Despite a 1994 ceasefire, Armenia has yet to resolve its
conflict with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave which is largely
populated by ethnic Armenians.
Child protection concerns
Deprivation of parental care
- Widespread poverty has forced many vulnerable families
to rely increasingly on public care institutions as a
form of social safety net. The number of children in
residential care has increased by almost one third since
1999, with around 11,000 children in 53 special boarding
schools and 900 children living in eight state orphanages.
Most of these children have at least one living parent.
- Once children are admitted into institutions, there
is little attempt to re-integrate them into their families.
Children who do leave institutions eventually are vulnerable
to trafficking and abuse or are at risk of conflict with
the law.
Exposure to violence, exploitation and abuse
- A UNICEF survey carried out in 2003 revealed that violence
against children exists both within families and in institutions.
However, the existence of the problem is not publicly
admitted.
Discrimination and social exclusion
- More than 10,000 children with disabilities were registered
in the disability database of the Ministry of Labour
and Social Issues in 2003. While the government realizes
that institutionalization is detrimental to child development,
Armenia continues to rely mainly on institutional care
for children with disabilities, rather than family and
community-based alternatives. Poverty compels parents
to place their children in special boarding schools,
where most children with mild or moderate disabilities
must go to get a basic education.
Partners
UNICEF’s main partners in its Child Protection
Programme include the Ministries of Labour and Social Issues,
Justice, Education, Public Health and the State Police,
as well as Armenia’s regional authorities, and international
and local NGOs such as World Vision, Douleurs Sans Frontieres,
the Fund for Armenian Relief and the Armenian Relief Society.
