The Council of Europe has launched a €2.8 million comprehensive response package to the refugee influx in Armenia. It includes four new initiatives and incorporated additional components into two ongoing projects. “The response package aims at protecting the human rights of refugees, resilience of the local communities, social rights, children and women, and support to human rights institutions”, underlined Claus Neukirch, Director of Programme Coordination of the Council of Europe. “The response package supports authorities with addressing capacity constraints in many areas that are critical not only to refugees but to all people with vulnerabilities”, added David Best, Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees (SRSG).
“Following the influx of refugees in September 2023, the Government of Armenia did its best to provide a quick response to the refugee. The response includes short-, mid-, and long-term measures of support. Now we are in the stage of long-term measures. Cooperation with the Council of Europe is very important to us, and we highly value the support of the Council of Europe and its response package to the refugees’ influx", stated Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of Armenia Narek Mkrtchyan.
Among the four initiatives to be launched is the project aimed at protecting the rights of children through legal and policy support in line with Council of Europe standards: civil servants and other professionals will be better equipped to effectively safeguard the rights of children in Armenia impacted by the conflict, including those who are unaccompanied and separated. Awareness among children and parents of effective guardianship principles and of the prevention of violence against children will be raised.
The package of measures is a result of the visit by the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees (SRSG) in October 2023, during which specific areas for support were jointly identified with the national authorities. The package is in line with the Council of Europe's Action Plan for Armenia (2023-2026) and the Action Plan on Protecting Vulnerable Persons within the context of migration and asylum (2021-2025).
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