Life under fire: ICRC assisting residents of Syunik border  communities in adapting to new post-war realities

ArmInfo.  The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is assisting residents of border communities in the Syunik region in adapting to the new realities that emerged after the 44-day war around Artsakh and the mass exodus of the Armenian population in the fall of 2023. The target program  also includes residents of Artsakh who were left homeless as a result  of forced displacement.  The organization is implementing long-term  projects to improve the living conditions of residents in border  villages, thereby preventing their migration. For example, in the  Aravus community, the ICRC built a first aid post, as it was  difficult for the villagers to receive basic medical care. The  village is located near the newly formed Armenian-Azerbaijani border.  

Another support program implemented by the ICRC is assistance  in  helping individuals establish their own apiary. Thus, 50 families  from Nagorno-Karabakh, who were forcibly deported, were given the  opportunity to establish themselves in Armenia and solve their  pressing issues through beekeeping. The organization provided each  family with 4 hives with bees to kickstart their business, along with  all the necessary equipment and training courses.  Furthermore, the  ICRC provided assistance in improving  the irrigation of fields in   Khnatsakh. The beneficiaries of the program were 70 families. About  80 ha of fields belonging to the community were cultivated. These  lands had not been cultivated for the last 35 years due to a lack of  the  heavy machinery needed to plow the rocky terrain  

The head of the Khnatsakh administration, Seyran Mirzoyan, told  journalists who were visiting the village as part of a press tour  organized by the Yerevan delegation of the ICRC that the communal  land is rocky, making it is difficult for villagers to cultivate. He  also mentioned that there is a water shortage issue. All this  increases unemployment and a population outflow. "They are leaving  primarily due to the lack of jobs.  This can be addressed by creating  small enterprises. We have proposed ideas many times, but no one has  listened to us yet. One of the options is to open a sewing workshop,  which could provide jobs for 15-20 families. There are many ideas  such as greenhouses and smart farms, but the main obstacle  is the  water problem. Once the water issue is resolved, we can move on,"  Mirzoyan noted.