The organization and provision of social assistance in emergency situations were discussed with communities

Within the framework of the project “Strengthening Community Resilience and Disaster Preparedness for Forced Displacement in Armenia”, one-day training sessions were conducted in October–November in the communities of Martuni, Vayk, Vardenis, and Ararat. The trainings focused on the organization and provision of social assistance in emergency situations.

The objective of the trainings was to ensure that members of Community Disaster Risk Management Councils, Unified Social Service staff, social workers, NGO representatives, and regional administration specialists have a clear understanding of the mechanisms for social protection and the provision of social assistance in emergencies, within the overall community response system.

The one-day interactive trainings included both theoretical and practical components. The program covered the following topics:

• Exchange of experience and current community response capacities,
• The role of social protection within disaster risk management plans,
• Organization and deployment of reception and distribution centers, including beneficiary registration, initial needs assessment, and information-sharing mechanisms,
• Rapid needs assessment (primary needs of residents, specific needs of displaced populations, and mechanisms for tracing missing persons and family reunification),
• Organization of care in emergencies (ensuring safety and providing care for unaccompanied children, elderly people, and vulnerable groups),
• Development of social protection programs (designing social assistance programs for urgent response cases, including the applicability of the state-funded “Social ambulance” program).

At the end of the training, participants shared their observations, proposed areas for improvement, and expressed their willingness to apply the learned mechanisms in their communities.

The diverse institutional background of participants enabled discussions from multiple perspectives and contributed to the development of more effective cooperation mechanisms for organizing social assistance.

The project is funded by the EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) and implemented through the joint efforts of UNHCR, World Vision Armenia, the RA MIA Rescue Service, the Disaster Risk Reduction National Platform Foundation, HEKS/EPER, the Armenian Association of Social Workers, and partner communities.