Friday 17 August 2012

Armenian News - Sent by A Topalian


Quake aftermaths registered in Iran and Armenia
news.am
August 16, 2012 | 22:03
YEREVAN. - Magnitude-5 quake was registered by the seismology network
on Thursday at 9.14 p.m. local time. It was the aftermath of the
magnitude-6.6 earthquake, registered on Aug. 11 at 4.23 p.m. in Iran.
The quake epicenter was at 47 km north-west from Ahar city, Iran.
The quake hypocenter was in 10 km depth, while the power of the quake
made 6-7 points in the epicenter.
The quake tremors were also felt in Armenia, in particular in Agarak,
Meghri, Kajaran, Kapan, Goris cities with magnitude 3-4 points.
Aug 15 2012
Caucasus: Who's the Healthiest of All?
August 15, 2012 - 3:33pm
Georgia and Armenia may not be the Caucasus' richest countries, but
they do seem to be the healthiest.
Bloomberg L.P. on August 15 released its global health rankings of
countries with a population of a million or more. At 71st, Georgia was
the highest-ranked country in the Caucasus. Armenia was next,
occupying 79th place.
Although it may be loaded with oil & gas, energy wealth has not
encouraged healthy living in Azerbaijan. At 87th, the country lagged
behind its Caucasus neighbors in the health rankings.
That Georgia did comparatively well is surprising, given that 57
percent of the adult male population smokes, according to World Health
Organization data. That's the highest percentage in the Caucasus. In
Armenia, 51 percent of adult males are smokers, and in Azerbaijan the
figure is 41 percent.
Bloomberg's interest in healthy living is not surprising, given that
its owner, Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City, recently
tried to launch a municipal program to preventing obesity by placing
limitations on the size of sugary drinks sold in the city. Bloomberg
is also credited with the 2003 ordinance that banned smoking in city
bars and restaurants, spurring a movement toward restricting smoking
in many of the world's major cities.
RFE/RL Report
Karabakh Armenians Hold Fresh War Games
Anush Mkrtchian
16.08.2012
Nagorno-Karabakh's Armenia-backed armed forces wrapped up on Thursday
three-day military exercises which they said demonstrated their
`adequate preparedness' for a possible war with Azerbaijan.
The Karabakh Defense Army said the `battalion-level tactical
exercises' were watched by its commander, Lieutenant-General Movses
Hakobian, and involved `different types of troops,' military hardware
and live gunfire. It did not specify the number of soldiers
participating in the drills and their venue.
`The holding of such war games is aimed at boosting tactical skills of
participating personnel and enabling the latter to practice defensive
and counteroffensive combat operations,' the army said in a
statement. The Karabakh Armenian forces again showed that they can
accomplish `any combat objective,' it said.
A spokesman for Bako Sahakian, president of the unrecognized
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, said the army holds such exercises on a
regular basis and they are all planned in advance. `Such events
demonstrate to Azerbaijan and other states that the Republic of
Artsakh is ready to defend its territorial integrity, freedom and
independence,' Davit Babayan told RFE/RL's Armenian service
(Azatutyun.am) from Stepanakert.
`Military exercises and their conduct at a high level are also a
factor in maintaining peace and stability,' said Babayan.
The latest exercises began on Tuesday amid Azerbaijan's renewed
threats to end the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by force. Azerbaijani
Defense Minister Safar Abiyev said Armenia is precipitating a new
Karabakh war with its refusal to `return Azerbaijan's occupied lands.'
Babayan dismissed those threats, saying that Baku cannot forcibly
regain control of Karabakh and other Armenian-controlled territories
surrounding it.

For Once, Aliyev May Be Right
Opinion | August 16,
2012 10:22 am
By Edmond Y. Azadian*
Any objective analysis must seek a rational solution to intractable
problems. News media and some government agencies may become more alarmist
to dramatize certain critical situations. However, there are historic
moments where the distinction between rationality and alarmism is blurred.
That is the situation in Armenia today.
Recently, in this column, we quoted a statement from the president of
Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, which sounded a death knell for Armenia.
He specifically said that Armenia's population is dwindling while
Azerbaijan's armed forces are growing. `We can wait until Armenia's
population is reduced to one million and then we can take over its
territory,' he had said.
In that scenario, Azerbaijan does not need to use its recently-acquired
modern weaponry, estimated to be worth $1.6 billion. Nor does it need to
use the military drones supplied by Israel. Instead, the leadership in Baku
is counting on a waiting game which is working in its favor.
The situation is similar to the demise of the Soviet Union. The nuclear
arsenal of the US and all the western countries were unable to dismantle
the Soviet empire, but internal decay caused that seemingly impervious
empire to implode, without a single shot fired by the West.
In their unabashed statements, the Azeri leaders have claimed not only
Karabagh (or Artsakh) as part of their territory, but also the entire
territory of Armenia, as recently stated by President Aliyev himself,
characterizing Armenians as `recent settlers on Azerbaijani territory.'
Any student of history can turn the tables and state as a historic fact
that the opposite claim has historical veracity, that in fact, Azeris are
the recent settlers in the region.
Aliyev is not the only leader entertaining such dreams; before him, another
president, Abulfez Elchibey, threatened to occupy Armenia, wash his feet in
Lake Sevan and drink tea on its shores. Incidentally, he also threatened to
occupy `northern Azerbaijan' in Iran and annex it to the modern Republic of
Azerbaijan.
If during Elchibey's administration such designs were dismissed as pipe
dreams, today they have become  -  and must become  -  serious issues of
concern.
The fact is Armenia is being depopulated and Aliyev's waiting-game policy
can no longer be considered a far-fetched plan. For two decades, the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), as well as
regional and major governments, have been negotiating to find a solution to
the Karabagh conflict. (Actually, they are spinning their wheels.) The fact
that no solution has been found indicates that it is not in the interests
of the parties involved to solve the problem. That keeps Karabagh's future
in limbo, with the population facing a paralyzing uncertainty. Even
Armenia's only strategic partner, Russia, has a policy of duplicity. During
the Soviet era, Moscow's foreign policy was driven by ideology. No more.
Today it is driven by interest, sometimes marked with ironies. For example,
the only Russian military base outside its territory is in Armenia,
ostensibly to defend Armenia against any perceived threat from Turkey. Yet
the foreign policy establishment in Moscow finds it perfectly compatible
with its policy to sell $100 million worth of weapons to Turkey.
The West is interested in winning over the Azeri leadership to have access
to that country's energy resources and to wean it away from Moscow. This
is
the same policy Britain exercised in 1919, trying to convince Armenians in
Karabagh to accept Azeri rule `temporarily,' until the status of the
territory was determined at the Paris Peace Conference. The Armenian
National Council of Karabagh refused the British diktat, risking the
destruction of the region by Sultanov's forces, a `governor' handpicked and
imposed on the locals by Britain.
The population in Armenia is dwindling and it certainly is not increasing
in Karabagh. Any solution to the Karabagh problem will surely include a
popular referendum on the status of the territory. Baku's leadership may
wait out and when Armenians lose the critical mass in the territory, they
may agree to a referendum, after having calculated the outcome.
Foreign investments in Armenia and Karabagh are very slow, hampering job
creation and economic recovery. The dysfunctional legal system also does
not encourage foreign investments. Even local oligarchs have moved some of
their businesses outside the country.
There are some bright spots and valiant undertakings in a rather gloomy
background. For example, recently a local benefactor, Levon Hayrabetyan,
financed the weddings of 700 couples in Karabagh, also pledging to set up
trust funds for children born out of those marriages. That was an
individual initiative, which can only go so far. A similar national program
must be adopted and implemented by both governments.
Another investor from the diaspora established a meat processing plant in
Karabagh, spending $1 million. When asked by a journalist what he would do
with his investment if we lose Karabagh, he responded: `I will not cry over
my one million, as I will have a bigger loss to cry about.'
These are acts of courage few and far in between. A more massive program is
needed to stop the hemorrhage and to put Armenia and Karabagh back on the
path towards revitalization.
Unfortunately, a rudderless diaspora is no help, either. We are fragmented
and trivialized like never before. Lay and religious leaders of national
prominence who commanded respect ironically disappeared from the scene just
when they were most needed, as Armenia attained independence.
There is a national emergency but we don't seem to feel a sense of urgency.
Armenia's depopulation will mean a catastrophe of historic magnitude. We
must not let Aliyev's design come true. We waited for six centuries to
finally have an independent homeland. Can we survive another six centuries
if we lose this opportunity?
In view of the gravity of this situation, all of our current priorities
pale and should thus receive corresponding importance; they lose their
significance completely should Armenia fail. This traumatic situation must
move all Armenians with a passion in order to stop the downfall. It is a
nightmarish prospect  -  and obsession will be forgiven in pursuit of a
solution.
We need to disprove Aliyev and all the enemies of Armenia. Is any one
listening?
Rule of Chieftains
Story from Lragir.am News:
Published: 17:08:05 - 16/08/2012
The local electoral campaign has started. The press reports shooting
incidents, intimidation and other `usual' occurrences typical of
electoral campaigns. After the parliamentary election the ruling
criminal and oligarchic groups are striving to strengthen their
foothold in their estates to establish absolute control there.
Although the main players are again the RPA and the PAP, clashes occur
not only between the parties but also inside the parties. In Masis,
for instance, the mayoral candidates were involved in a shooting
incident.
The leader of these disturbances is Ararat region as usual where the
lord is half-RPA, half-PAP Hovik Abrahamyan. This region is Hovik's
possession; his relatives hold more or less `profitable' and
significant posts and businesses.
Hovik Abrahamyan wants to arrange the early mayoral election in
Artashat to ensure his son's election. Later his son will be the
governor of Ararat marz. Hovik Abrahamyan wants to have his relatives
in the villages and the candidates who are not his relatives undergo
duress.
PAP leader Gagik Tsarukyan does not fall behind his in-law. However,
unlike Hovik Abrahamyan (their kinship allows him to go beyond Kotayk
region where almost everything belongs to him and `occupy' Ararat marz
as well), his `entourage' is broader and `nationwide'. It is the PAP.
It is not ruled out that the PAP will win majority in the local
elections. At least, some major communities are already in PAP's
pocket.
A similar situation is in Armavir region with its feudal rule and
tribalism. This region is reigned by the Grigoryan family. This family
holds almost all the positions and opportunities. This family has
`prosperes' so much that it has split to some parts, and in Armavir
the `electoral' process is marked by conflicts among different parts
of this family. General Manvel's son is the mayor of Echmiadzin, his
brother wants to be the mayor of Metsamor. He used to be the head of
the electric network of Metsamor, and while he was director,
mismanagement of 1 million dollars was revealed. Manvel's brother is a
member of parliament.
These three marzes - Ararat, Kotayk and Armavir - are classic examples
of tribalism. The other marzes are no better but cannot keep up with
them. Perhaps only Shirak where Vardan Ghukasyan's tribe has been
ruling for years but recently he has been `dethroned'.
Ending the Era of Orphanages in Armenia
by Nanore Barsoumian
August 15, 2012
Why the Diaspora Should Help the Process of De-Institutionalization
In his childhood poems, my father grappled with the absence of his
mother. He lost his parents by the age of eight, and spent years in an
Aleppo orphanage, until he graduated. More than anything, he wanted
his mother's arms, and her hug. The poems are moving, and acutely
painful.

A child must live with a family
`The orphanage is the opposite of a mother. This is the reason that an
orphanage is so terrible,' Armenian journalist Mher Arshakyan, an
orphanage graduate, once said.
Around 5,000 children in Armenia spend all or most of their time in
residential childcare institutions, such as orphanages and boarding
schools. Over 80 percent of children living in orphanages have at
least one living parent. The government of Armenia adopted a plan in
2006, as part of their child welfare reforms, to secure the rights of
children through the closure of orphanages or their conversion into
family and child support institutions. UNICEF has supported this
initiative, gently prodding the slow-moving process forward.
`The right of a child to grow up in a family could not remain on the
sidelines,' Emil Sahakyan, communications officer at UNICEF Armenia,
told the Armenian Weekly in an interview. `We have been actively
working with the ministry of labor and social issues and ministry of
education and science in order to design the so-called
de-institutionalization strategy which envisaged either return of
children living in institutions to their biological families whenever
possible or creation of alternative family-based care services,' he
said.
Seven state-run orphanages and three private ones currently operate in
Armenia. In addition, there are 23 special education institutions for
those with mental and physical disabilities, and 8 night-care
(boarding) institutions, where children from poor families spend most
of their time - about 250 days, according to Eduard Israyelyan, a child
protection officer at UNICEF Armenia.
`Children in these institutions are more of `social orphans,' as they
ended up there because their families were unable to meet their basic
needs - such as nutrition, clothing, education, and proper healthcare,'
Sahakyan said.
High unemployment, poverty, and migration contribute to parents'
inability to care for their children. In Gyumri, the situation seems
especially bleak, where there's currently one orphanage for children
with disabilities, two night-care centers, two private institutions,
and one state-funded daycare center. `Half of the male population has
left the region looking for jobs outside of Armenia - for example,
working in Russia - so they keep their families by sending remittances
to them,' explained Sahakyan.
A child from a poverty-stricken home will find food, clothing,
education, and healthcare in an institution. However, he or she will
lack emotional sustenance. `When you look at children who graduated
from orphanages, you will immediately discern them from the rest of
society. They've had no family model to follow. It is very difficult
for them to form a family because it is difficult for them to
understand what family is,' he said.
According to Anna Mnatsakanyan, the international relations
coordinator of the Armenian Relief Society (ARS) in Armenia, children
in orphanages are not only deprived of parental care, but they become
part of a `sub-culture' of orphanage graduates, often marginalized by
society at large. `They have considerable difficulties in finding
employment, in creating a family, in securing housing, and, most
importantly, in establishing communication with the rest of society,
where they are seen as the `children of orphanage,'' she told the
Weekly, adding that all these factors result in their being assigned a
`marginal identity.'
Most institutions do not have in-house social workers or counselors
that monitor the psychological and physical wellbeing of the children.
`In most institutions they only have the position of social worker,
but the people working there are just filling papers,' explained
Israyelyan.
Instances of abuse can go unnoticed in these institutions, as was the
case at the special needs school in Nubarashen, where the complaints
of sexually abused female students were ignored or attributed to
`overactive imaginations' until a human rights activist, Mariam
Sukhudyan, turned the issue into a national scandal.
Canadian-Armenian human rights advocate Araz Artinian has chronicled
the plight of disabled children in Gyumri's `Children's Home'
orphanage. She found the children there neglected, and deprived of
medical care. She also observed that instead of receiving state-funded
surgeries, which they were entitled to, the children's operations were
being funded through donations solicited from the diaspora. Artinian
is also an advocate for children's reunification with their parents.
Institutions do not allow unannounced visits; an advance notice is
required. They are mainly closed-door institutions, according to
Sahakyan, although there is a monitoring group comprised of various
NGOs that pay periodic surprise visits to the ones under the ministry
of education.


Foster care program


With the premise that children need families to thrive in a healthy
environment, UNICEF launched a foster care program in 2005. Around
two-dozen suitable families were trained, and 25 children were placed
in their care.
UNICEF initiated the project and established guidelines for the
selection of the families. The program is currently in the hands of
the government, which has allocated funds to support the project since
2008. However, the program has not grown and the number of children
has not increased. The government says it lacks the funds.
`The ministry of finance made it clear that it cannot maintain two
systems - residential care institutions and foster care - and requested
the ministry of labor and social issues to decrease the number of
children in orphanages, which will release funds that could then be
channeled to the foster care [program],' said Sahakyan. `Some
officials within the ministry of labor and social issues also contest
that foster family is not something where the government should invest
financial resources; rather the government, according to those
officials, should invest in the return of children to their biological
families, which as those officials say is currently being
implemented.'


Reunifying families


The reunification of children with their families is in fact moving
forward in Lori province. Since 2006, the government has been engaged
in a de-institutionalization project for children in Vanadzor's
orphanage. The government plans to reunify 40 children with their
families and prevent the institutionalization of 10 children every
year. The government provides each family with a financial assistance
package worth 15,000 AMD (38.5 USD). The project costs the government
22 million AMD (around 56,500 USD).
That amount is small and insufficient in meeting a child's basic
needs. For the project to succeed, families need additional financial
assistance. Aravot, the organization tasked with implementing the
project, must find other sources of funding - from private donors to
other non-governmental organizations - explained Sahakyan, adding that
the assistance families actually need to be able to afford
reunification is around 87,000 AMD (223 USD), which is the amount
currently provided to foster families.


Gate-keeping and other challenges
The issue is not only how to de-institutionalize children, but how to
keep them from ending up in these institutions in the first place.
Sahakyan says de-institutionalized children are constantly being
replaced by newcomers - what he characterizes as a `vicious cycle.'
Sahakyan suspects that corruption plays a role in impeding the
de-institutionalization process, particularly in terms of funding.
`These institutions are receiving budgetary funds per child, which
means the more children are placed there, the more funds that
institution will receive.' Humanitarian workers we interviewed say
orphanages receive around 5,000 USD a year per child.
UNICEF is now helping the government to establish a new
agency - Integrated Social Services - which will have case managers who
monitor vulnerable families and assist them in their troubles as a
`gate-keeping' method. According to Sahakyan, the department of social
services is currently preoccupied with distributing financial
assistance packages to families, but falls short of assessing family
situations and referring them to specialized services.
Employment is another challenge. The ministry of labor and social
issues fears further job loss, as the unemployment rate in the country
is already high. In their current state, these institutions provide
employment to thousands of workers. For instance, the Vanadzor
orphanage (founded in 1996) employs 70 workers for 110 orphans; in
other places, including institutions for children with disabilities,
workers far outnumber the children. Yet, Sahakyan says that
unemployment is not necessarily the result. `Closing orphanages must
be followed by their transformation into family support institutions,
where the skills and knowledge of the former orphanage workers will be
required,' he argued, but admitted that workers may need to undergo a
retraining process.
UNICEF has helped establish such alternative family support and
daycare centers in Gyumri, Tavush, and Gapan. The centers help parents
with job placement, financial support, legal counseling, and
psychological support. According to Israyelyan, the project is
particularly successful in Tavush. `We have four daycare centers in
Tavush for children with disabilities. In all the institutions, there
are no children from this region,' he said, adding that Tavush should
now serve as an example. Israeylyan believes that this is an area the
diaspora can invest in, as the government lacks the funds to support
such centers (which are often supported by organizations like Bridge
of Hope).
UNICEF was the first organization to establish a model of
community-based daycare centers in Armenia. One of the first centers
was set up in Gyumri. The Armenian government took up this model and,
since 2005-06, the centers have been receiving funding from the state
budget. There are seven daycare centers that are currently funded by
the government. Similar centers are also being run by non-governmental
organizations.
Plans to transform two special education institutions in Syunik
province - the Goris Special Educational Institution for Children with
Vision Impairments and the Sissian Special Education Institution for
Children with Mental Disabilities - into daycare centers have already
been drafted. The ministry of education and science has also planned
to transform one special educational institution in each
province - beginning with Yerevan - into resource and assessment centers
within the next 5-10 years, according to Sahakyan.


Redefining the diaspora's role
The diaspora has consistently supported orphanages and institutions in
Armenia - often moved by the memory of orphaned genocide survivors, and
the more recent earthquake in Armenia that left many children
parentless.
`The word `orphans' resonates very well with Diasporan Armenians,'
said Sahakyan. `They start to immediately feel associated with that
cause, and become ready to donate money. We are trying to tell them,
let's give it to families rather than orphanages.'
`We don't want children to step foot in orphanages,' he stressed.
Sahakyan believes that the process of de-institutionalization has been
hampered by the diaspora's `heavy funding' of residential care
institutions. `Some institutions have been turned into highly
comfortable well-equipped and furnished premises owing to funds from
private Diasporan Armenians as well as diaspora-based organizations,
funds, and associations,' he said. `This, in turn, attracted many
vulnerable families and seduced them into placing their children in
institutions that provide, as they erroneously believe, the best for
their children.'
Sahakyan hopes that the diaspora will cease to assist these
institutions, and instead support their transformation into family
support and daycare centers.
`UNICEF encourages the diaspora to invest funds in strengthening
`gate-keeping' mechanisms, such as daycare centers, in establishing
new social services for vulnerable families in communities; in
supporting alternative family-based child care models, such as foster
care; as well as in investing in Integrated Social Services, which
UNICEF is now trying to introduce in Armenia in close cooperation with
the ministry of labor and social issues,' said Sahakyan. `The
diaspora's support is desperately needed by both UNICEF and other
non-governmental organizations working in the area of children's
rights,' he added.
`The mother of a child with Down syndrome can easily care for her
child if she has support - a doctor, a social worker who can visit her,'
said Sahakyan. `She wouldn't take her child to an institution. The
same goes for other families, especially for parents of children
without disabilities. If you take your child to an orphanage just
because you are poor, then let's solve your poverty problem; let's get
you a job, and a salary,' he added.
The transition will be a challenging process. Closing down residential
care institutions will bring the country closer to dealing with the
roots of problems afflicting the more vulnerable segments of the
population instead of the syndromes. Transitioning to an alternative
care of family and child support might bring with it an array of other
unforeseen problems. For now, Armenia is taking one small step at a
time.

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