FAR, with the support of the Hovsep, Siranoush and Mary Bahadourian Fund and in cooperation with Artsakh’s Ministry of Labor and Social Migration, has launched a brand new project that aims to help establish a system of social services in Artsakh.
"When the war ended, the chaos began,” said Executive Director of the FAR Children’s Center Dr. Mira Antonyan. “People from Armenia and abroad wanted to help the families who had returned to Artsakh, but without a systemic approach to assistance it was difficult. Since Artsakh does not have its own social services system or its own network of social workers, the ministry turned to us for help.”
The new Capacity Building for Social Workers of Artsakh Project will offer a training program to enhance and strengthen the skills of social work paraprofessionals so they may learn how they can provide support services to the people of Artsakh.
Twenty-five participants have been selected for the eight-monthIntroduction to Social Work training program, which will be held both online and offline. Courses will be conducted by professors and practitioners from the FAR Children’s Center, Yerevan State University’s Faculty of Sociology, Armenia’s Department of Social Work and Social Technologies, and the Armenian Association of Social Workers.
Participants will later have access to sustainable training opportunities and follow-up coursework to enhance their competencies in the field.
In the first phase, trained specialists will work on assessing the needs of Artsakh families and ensuring that children’s rights are being protected. The second phase will go deeper, focusing on issues such as mental health support and domestic abuse.
As a result of the program, more than 500 children and their families living in all regions of Artsakh will have the opportunity to receive professional support and this process will be continuous in the long run.