XUNICEF News and Views

This project explores the tradition of Armenian carpet weaving as a living connection between past and future. In Armenian culture, carpets are far more than decorative objects. They represent continuity, memory, and identity, providing both spiritual meaning and material comfort across generations.

UNICEF Armenia is celebrating its 30th Anniversary this year.  The Representative, Christine Weigand, is asking for help by XUNICEF members in tracing the UNICEF staff who built the country programme and office over those years.  

Two-thirds of refugee children in Armenia are enrolled in national school systems, one month after more than 21,000 school-age children fled their homes. Efforts must now focus on increasing access for the remaining 1 in 3 children currently not attending school, UNICEF said today. Children who arrived in Armenia have not had continuous access to quality education in recent years, making an inclusive school system that provides catch-up classes and tailored support critical. Christine Weigand “Schools are more than places of learning. This is especially true in times of displacement and uncertainty. Access to education provides refugee children with the structure and support needed to help them overcome their experiences. Schools also provide children with nutrition and mental health services, socialisation and much more to support their health and well-being,” said Christine Weigand, UNICEF Armenia Representative. “Investment must be made in increasing access to schooling for the 1 ...

Click here to download the full report Highlights As of October 16th , 101,848 refugees, including 30,000 children, have arrived in Armenia, with virtually all children from the affected area assumed to have arrived. UNICEF deployed 20 mobile pediatric units able to reach 10,000 children and caregivers, to screen refugee children for mental health and psycho-social support needs and health and nutrition status and provide parents with age-specific counselling on health and nutritionrelated childcare practices in an emergency context. UNICEF and partners provided over 1,000 children and caregivers with child protection case management support, and over 3,000 with psychological first aid and mental health and psychosocial support interventions. Over 400 police officers are being trained on child sensitive communication, with particular focus on children and families in emergencies. 76 social workers received training on child protection in emergencies and case management. Over 65% of sc...

Editor's Note: Ramesh Rajasingham is a long-time UNICEF and OCHA staff member.    The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan, received on Thursday the delegation led by Mr. Ramesh Rajasingham, Director of Coordination, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) of UN. According to a press release by Armenia’s Foreign Ministry, Ararat Mirzoyan expressed Armenia’s disappointment regarding the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh due to the actual inaction of the United Nations for months, as well as the strong dissatisfaction with the visit of the delegation led by the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Azerbaijan to Nagorno-Karabakh on October 1 and the press release issued based on its "results". The Armenian minister emphasized the concerns and main emphasis, which were also made in the comment published by the Armenia’s Foreign Ministry. During the discussion with Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan, ideas were exc...

Around 30,000 children are among the some 100,000 people that have been displaced to Armenia due to the recent escalation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday. As of Friday, over 100,000 individuals, including “an estimated 30,000 children,” have been displaced to Armenia within a week, UNICEF said in a statement. “In the face of this crisis, UNICEF’s primary concern is the well-being of these children and their families, as they grapple with the challenges of such rapid displacement,” the UN body added. UNICEF said that the “crisis follows months of worsening conditions” for children and families in Nagorno-Karabakh. The children, who are now seeking refuge in Armenia, require urgent access to psychosocial support, healthcare, and protection services, it added. “In the southeastern town of Goris, UNICEF has established a safe space that serves nearly 300 children daily, along with their parents. It’s a place where children can...

  UNICEF has established a safe space in the south-eastern town of Goris, Armenia, serving nearly 300 children every day along with their parents. It offers a space for children to play, a breastfeeding space for mothers, and paediatric support to help with acute concerns. pic.twitter.com/wh4i8wcsLa — UNICEF Europe C.Asia (@UNICEF_ECA) September 30, 2023

Kavita Belani UNHCR Representative Armenia  click here to play audio interview From Reuters Over 88,000 people have crossed into Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh and the total could reach 120,000, said a U.N. refugee agency official on Friday, a figure matching estimates of the entire population of the breakaway region recaptured by Azerbaijan last week. Kavita Belani, UNHCR representative in Armenia, told a U.N. press briefing by video link that huge crowds of tired and frightened people were gathering at registration centres. "This is a situation where they've lived under nine months of blockade," she said. "And when they come in, they're full of anxiety, they're scared, they're frightened and they want answers." "We are ready to cope with up to 120,000 people. It's very hard to predict how many will come at this juncture," she added in response to a question about refugee numbers. Initial planning figures were for between 70-90,000 refu...

Trucks arrive in Armenia filled with refugees As the not so skilled orator and famous baseball player, Yogi Berra, once said, "It's "déja-vu all over again." For me this week, 'déja vu' is not a good feeling, as the 'déja' is Bosnia and former Yugoslavia where I worked as Special Representative through most of the 1990's. July 1995, Bosnia Much of the Bosnian war was fought over ethnic enclaves - a town or group of Muslim villages villages in Serb (i.e. Orthodox) controlled areas, Serbian villages in Croatian (i.e. Catholic) territory, Croatians in Muslim areas, etc., etc. Countless tragedies played out as forces of one side or the other would first blockade, shell and finally attempt to overrun enclaves inhabited by people who no longer 'belonged' in the new nation their enemies wanted to create. Starvation was a key element of the war. As one Bosnian Serb soldier put it, "...how do you get someone to surrender in a war like this? Yo...

Azerbaijan's president has declared that his country's sovereignty has been restored over Nagorno-Karabakh after a 24-hour military offensive against ethnic-Armenian forces. Ilham Aliyev praised the heroism of Azerbaijan's army hours after Karabakh forces agreed to surrender.  President Aliyev said Azerbaijanis had nothing against the population, only their "criminal junta". Some 120,000 ethnic Armenians live in the South Caucasus enclave, recognised internationally as part of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan now intends to bring the breakaway region under full control. Its military launched an "anti-terror" operation on Tuesday, demanding that Karabakh's forces raise a white flag and dissolve their "illegal regime". With no means of support from neighbouring Armenia, and after an effective nine-month blockade, the ethnic Armenians soon gave in. Armenian officials reported that at least 32 people were killed, including seven civilians, and another 20...

"After more than eight months of an ever-tightening blockade, the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh has turned catastrophic." This coverage in the international mainstream media adds much weight and credibility for sensitising the global community for response. Besides New York Times and Washington Post, The Telegraph, The Guardian, Reuters, BBC and Al Jazeera, have all covered the crisis with a show of concern. The Economist has now added to it. As a man on the ground here in Armenia I must reiterate that infants, women and children remain the most vulnerable under the present political impasse that they are not responsible for. Moreover, as an xUNICEF staff member, I must state that UNICEF holds an international mandate to ensure neutrality of children in a humanitarian disaster precipitated by contending political claims. It's time to exercise that mandate. To add to what I have stated, given the strong verdict of the International Court of Justice in support...

We usually associate genocide with mass slaughter, terror, and rape - as in Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur and so forth.   Nicholas Kristof calls attention to a slow-moving, but equally effective form of obliterating a people.  He speaks of the Azerbaijani blockade of Ngorno-Karabakh's only access route, and the resulting slow starvation of the Armenian population living there.    The Security Council recently held a special session devoted to the blockade.  The US also recently hosted a meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan.  Neither meeting seems to have led to any progress. The regional powers, Russia and Turkey have their attention on other issues, including Ukraine, the Black Sea, and Georgia.  Among the humanitarian agencies, only ICRC seems to be active in calling for action to open a humanitarian corridor. UNICEF and other agencies have remained remarkably quiet.  As Russia's preoccupation grows with its war in Ukraine, w...

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Armenia and Azerbaijan have made “further progress” toward a peace agreement in three days of U.S.-hosted talks near Washington between the two former Soviet republics that have repeatedly clashed over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. However, he also noted that there was much work ahead for the two parties before a final agreement. A key issue is the re-opening of a road which passes through the Lachin Corridor in Azerbaijan and has been blocked since December 2022. In a statement on July 25th ICRC has noted the urgency of reopening this aid corridor for humanitarian supplies. "Despite persistent efforts, the ICRC is not currently able to bring humanitarian assistance to the civilian population through the Lachin corridor or through any other routes, including Aghdam. Under international humanitarian law, sides must allow and facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need. This includes...