Armenia: Large Families Hardest Hit by Poverty
April 12, 2012
Benefits fail to provide safety-net for all vulnerable families, UN officer says. By Sara Khojoyan - Caucasus CRS Issue 637, 5 Apr 12 Armenian families with four or more children are statistically the most likely to fall into the lowest-income category, leaving them struggling to get by on pay and benefits. With much of the male population forced to work abroad, the burden of supporting households falls disproportionately on women. And although they are often the sole breadwinners, they are more likely to be out of work than men – 70 per cent of unemployed people are female. The national statistics agency says more than 70 per cent of families with at least four children live in poverty. While 36 per cent of the population as a whole is counted below the poverty line, the figure for children is 41 per cent. Gayane, 43, had to beg her employers to keep her off the books when they took her on as a cleaner in the capital Yerevan. If she declared her employed status, she and her eight children... [full story]
Actual and election benefactors
April 21, 2012
Yesterday a monument to Armenian benefactor Alexander Mantashyan was erected in the center of the capital, on the crossroad of Sayat-Nova and Abovyan streets. The opening ceremony hosted numerous officials, as well as Mantashyan’s son and grandson Alexander and Michael Mantashyans. This event is very symbolic especially on the days of pre-election campaign. The ruling parties actively distribute election bribes in the light of “charity”. Of course the Prosperous Armenia Party is the most active to distribute bribes. It has ensured the formal side and has established a foundation on behalf of which it implements charity programs. First of all, the erection of the monument is symbolic as Mantashyan is considered to be one of the famous Armenian benefactors and was famous for the fact that he never spoke about his activities and was very exigent. All of us have seen the outcomes of this charity. And what outcomes or impact may have the «charity actions» if they aim at receiving votes?...
What can Norway learn from Armenia?
March 20, 2012
Ann Faerden MD PhD; Oslo, Norway I have been fortunate in having had the opportunity to visit Armenia and specially Armenian psychiatry for two weeks. I am a Norwegian psychiatrist who for the first time visited Armenia in April of this year when I attended the World psychiatric association meeting in Yerevan. During this first visit I was charmed by your people and the friendliness you showed towards me as a visitor. I was also impressed by the psychiatric standard that was presented at the meeting. My specialty within psychiatry is directed towards patients who experience their first episode of psychosis. Since Armenia also has a special clinic for these patients in Yerevan; I asked the president of the Armenian psychiatric association, Armen Soghoyan, to come back for a study visit. He immediately welcomed me! My two visits gave rise to many thoughts about our two countries which were not on my mind when I first arrived. Surprisingly, at least to me, our two countries have many things in common. We are both...
I know that the hardest thing is to persuade
Babken TUNYAN | March 13, 2012
Many of my friends are asking me who the author of “I know” TV campaign is. They mean the TV ads in which our compatriots ensure that “what’s hard has been eased” and then they show in detail what exactly has been eased. For example, they don’t need psychic test documents for the issuance of a driver license. But people are trying to find out which of the benevolent organizations has taken on the duty of keeping the society aware. The question is quite natural because we all know that the ad on TV costs very expensive and they realize that an NGO wouldn’t afford to pay for these services. Many of them have even visited the website of the organization - www.esgitem.am. But they were not able to reveal the author. The website includes the text versions of 25 reforms and is also includes videos. But not everything is so address-less as it seems. Let us immediately mention that the author of the initiative is the RA government. And the implementer is Ameria consulting firm...
Turkish Student Filmmaker: “I wanted to capture the depth of Ararat”
Marineh MARTIROSYAN | February 16, 2012
Ibrahim Unal studies photography at Istanbul’s College of Culture. I met him for the first time in Istanbul, when a group of journalists from Armenia had been invited to a gathering by our Turkish colleagues. Istanbul Armenians were also present. Ibrahim Unal introduced himself as a “heal-Armenian”, noting his Armenian roots. He spoke about his film “In the Shadow of Ararat” that he shot while in Armenia. I got a chance to watch the film a few days ago. It stands out with its attention to detail. Mount Ararat itself is the main character in this drama. - What was the underlying reason for making this film? - One of my instructors told me about an Armenian-Turkish media-dialog project and that if I wanted I could join in. The project organizers then selected six Armenian and six Turkish students. The Armenians were to shot a documentary film in Turkey and the Turkish students the same in Armenia. Years ago I had read Ece Temelkuran’s book Deep Mountain: Across the Turkish-Armenian...
Armenian Migrants in Modern-Day Serfdom
Vahan ISHKHANYAN | February 11, 2012
Rafik looks closer to 80 than his real age, 55, because the nine years he spent in virtual slavery in Russia ruined his health. By the time he returned to his home in the Armenian capital Yerevan four years ago, his wife had given him up for dead. Rafik’s case is only one of many examples of migrant workers exploited as captive slave labour abroad. While he was entrapped while in RUssia, others are lured from Armenia on the false pretence of a job offer. Hundreds of thousands of people from across the Caucasus and Central Asia go abroad as seasonal labour to earn money that they could never make within their own countries’ depressed economies. In the case of Armenia, over 90 per cent of labour migration is to Russia, according to one study. This massive population movement has its dark side – women are vulnerable to being entrapped in the sex trade, while slave labour, often involving men, is a less widely reported problem. Rafik first went to Russia with a team of others promised work on...
Archive
|
Suit turned down
April 17, 2012
Yesterday the first instance court of Kentron and Marash communities turned down the suit against the journalist of 168-Zham newspaper Marine Martirosyan filed by the son of the principal of the former school #2 of Echmiadzin Tigran Terteryan. The latter filed a suit demanding retraction of the information published in the newspaper, which according to him “demeaned his dignity and honor.” Additionally, he demanded two million AMD for compensation. Let us remember that a similar law suit was filed against the journalist by the former principal of the school S. Nazaryan. The court, having taken into account the law suit filed against the principal has decided to postpone the proceeding. The investigation of the principal’s case is not over yet....
Assault in Mashtots park
March 17, 2012
Yesterday evening we received email from activist Mariam Shukhudyan where she wrote about what was happening in Mashtots Park. “The police have just organized a fake fight with the help of civilians. Then over hundred policemen came, closed the tent, by the way there were people sleeping in the tent, they tore it apart, people found themselves on the ground and they dragged them away. Immediately after that the number of policemen behind the fence doubled. I call for everybody to come to the park, our rights are being violated. Peaceful demonstrators are not allowed to hold a demonstration.”-was stated in the message....
Paper folders burned
December 10, 2011
Yesterday at 6:24p.m. the Fire Department of Armenia received a phone call that the Armenian Ministry of Energy is on fire. Smoke was seen in Nalbandyan Street. Firemen arrived at the scene. Fire was put out at about 8p.m. According to initial information, 3 sq/m of paper was burned and the bookshelf with folders. The fire which broke out at the Armenian Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources at the Ministry’s Personnel Management Department room. It’s still unknown what caused the fire and whether the burned documents were important or not....
Situation uncertain in Upper Lars
December 3, 2011
The situation at the checkpoint of Upper Lars has not only found a solution but there is even no hope that in the near future the problems will be fixed. According to different sources, the number of the stuck trucks at the border is 300. Moreover, if in the past the drivers hoped that during the visit of President Serzh Sargsyan to Georgia this matter will be resolved. But it didn’t happen and they are all desperately waiting for the final decision of the government. In this regard we asked the director of Apaven freight moving company Gagik Aghajanyan to comment, who is in Tbilisi on these days. He is sure that the cargo companies have their own guilt in created situation. Their trucks are stuck at the checkpoint. “We have numerously said that after November 15 thee road is blocked and driving through Lars is really becoming dangerous. They shouldn’t have done it and put the government in such an uncomfortable situation,” said Aghajanyan. As a solution Aghajanyan suggests that the drivers...
Less than in 2010
November 29, 2011
In an annual telethon broadcast from Los Angeles late on November 24, a pan-Armenian charity received about $12.3 million in donations that will be mostly invested in the ongoing reconstruction of Nagorno-Karabakh’s water distribution network. Let’s remember that the fund already raised over $20 million for that purpose late last year. “Right now we are ascertaining and processing the whole list of contributors,” Armenia spokeswoman Hasmik Grigoryan told RFE/RL’s Armenian service. “I think this work will continue until December.” “If we take into account the fact that the sum raised at the latest telethon does not include the results of the upcoming gala, then we can conclude that it exceeds the result of last year’s telethon by $2 million,” said Grigoryan. Hayastan raised a record-high $35 million in 2008. Moscow-based businessman Samvel Karapetyan donated $15 million of that. The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund headquartered in Yerevan said the final figure...
|
