Armenia Appeal
Humanitarian Action for Children
UNICEF’s Humanitarian Action for Children appeal helps support the agency’s work as it provides conflict- and disaster-affected children with access to water, sanitation, nutrition, education, health and protection services. Return to main appeal page.
Armenia snapshot
Appeal highlights
- Between 24 September and 4 October, more than 100,600 ethnic Armenians, including 30,000 children, fled to the Republic of Armenia following the escalation of hostilities in their region of origin.
- Children have been uprooted from their homes and communities. Those with specific protection needs, including children who are unaccompanied and separated or relocated from residential care, or who are living with disabilities, require specialized support. Immediate needs include accommodation, food/nutrition support, medical care, clothing, hygiene items and mental health and psychosocial support. Affected children need to access critical health, education and protection services. Families are also in need of assistance and require urgent social protection support.
- UNICEF will support delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance, including supplies, cash, essential services and technical assistance. UNICEF will work with government and civil society partners to ensure inclusive and age- and gender-appropriate services for affected children, adolescents and their families. These services encompass health, nutrition, child protection, education (including early learning), social protection (including humanitarian cash and vouchers) and water, sanitation and hygiene support.
- UNICEF requires a total of $12.6 million ($7.1 million in 2023 and $5.5 million in 2024) to deliver urgent humanitarian support.
Key planned targets for 2023-2024
45,000 people with access to safe spaces, protection and support hubs
25,000 children accessing formal or non-formal education, including early learning
30,000 households benefitting from new or additional social assistance measures
40,000 people sharing their concerns and asking questions through established feedback mechanisms
Funding requirements for 2023-2024
Country needs and strategy
Humanitarian needs
Between 24 September and 4 October 2023, 100,632 ethnic Armenians, including 30,000 children, fled to the Republic of Armenia following the military operation in their region of origin. Around 52 per cent are women and girls, 31 per cent are children, and 16 per cent are people with disabilities Of 20 children identified as unaccompanied and separated, several have been reunited with family, while 13 who had been in residential care have been temporarily placed in crisis centres as family-type placement is sought.
Around 98,000 refugees have been officially registered to date and they are located throughout Armenia, with the highest numbers in Yerevan, followed by Syunik, Kotayk and Ararat Provinces. The influx of refugees has been so large that the lives of host communities, who are already overstretched, have been deeply affected in many ways. An estimated 95,000 people from host communities will require support.
Refugee children have already experienced a difficult humanitarian situation in their region of origin. UNICEF has observed that many children appear to show signs of malnourishment. There are reports of cases of low birth weight. Children who fled their homes and communities have also faced trauma. Those children with specific protection needs, including unaccompanied and separated children, children in institutional care, and those with disabilities, are particularly vulnerable. Families have lost their sources of income, significantly challenging their ability to provide for their well-being, particularly in the upcoming winter. Immediate needs include accommodation, food, nutrition, medical care, clothing, hygiene items and specialized protection and mental health and psychosocial support. Refugee children require access to critical health care, education, early and catch-up learning and child protection services, while families require social protection support. The Government is making a strong effort to integrate refugees into host services and institutions; however, capacity may become stretched and may need to be augmented.
Refugees are staying within host communities, many with families, friends or in Government-provided accommodations. While generously hosting arriving populations, local communities are often themselves dependent on social assistance, exacerbating their vulnerabilities. Given the large refugee population compared with the national population (43 refugee children per 1,000 national children), service provision will likely become strained, making it imperative to ensure key services remain functional for refugee as well as host community children.
The Government of Armenia is leading the response, mobilizing national resources. It has requested complimentary humanitarian assistance from the international community UNICEF is committed to delivering support and upholding the rights and dignity of affected children and their families in line with the Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action.
UNICEF’s strategy
Under the leadership of the Government and within the inter-agency Armenia Refugee Response Plan October 2023–March 2024, UNICEF will complement and leverage existing systems, programmes and partnerships to support the humanitarian response to the refugee population recently arrived in the Republic of Armenia. Under this appeal, UNICEF will target refugee as well as affected host communities, abiding by the principles of ‘do no harm’ and equity. UNICEF will support delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance, including by providing critical supplies as well as cash, supporting essential services and systems and providing technical assistance. UNICEF will work with central and local government and civil society partners to ensure inclusive and age- and gender-appropriate services for children, adolescents and their families. This will include health and nutrition, child protection, education (including early learning), social protection (including humanitarian cash and/or vouchers) and WASH support.
UNICEF is leading the child protection and education working groups within the protection working group. UNICEF co-leads the cash working group and actively participates in the working groups on health and nutrition, mental health and psychosocial support and shelter and non-food Items, which also coordinates WASH. In coordination with the Government and other partners, UNICEF will facilitate access to critical services and enhance national capacities and systems to maintain a supportive, inclusive environment for refugee and host community children, adolescents and their families.
The health and nutrition response will focus on ensuring access to essential primary health care services for children, nutrition supplies and therapeutic treatment. UNICEF will support capacity building of health-care workers, promote healthy behaviours and deploy paediatric mobile units. UNICEF will prioritize strengthening the national child protection system and inclusion of refugee children, including those with disabilities. National systems will be supported to ensure adequate management of child protection cases; provision of mental health and psychosocial support to children, adolescents and caregivers; mitigation of risks and prevention of violence against children and gender-based violence; and provision of services by establishing child-friendly spaces and similar community-based protection hubs.
In line with national education policies, UNICEF will work with partners to ensure refugee children have access to formal and non-formal education, including early learning. UNICEF will support teacher training as well as activities to ensure inclusion in the education system of refugee children, adolescents, those with disabilities and other vulnerable groups of learners. UNICEF will work with partners to provide targeted WASH services and supplies in critical facilities. UNICEF will also provide technical support to the Government for an in-depth emergency needs assessment to inform a response in the social protection sector. UNICEF will provide cash and/or voucher assistance based on evolving needs, complementing national programmes and targeting the most vulnerable children and families. Cross-sectoral interventions in early childhood development, gender, disability, adolescent and youth engagement, social and behavioural change and accountability to affected will be mainstreamed into sectoral priorities.
Programme targets
Find out more about UNICEF's work
Highlights
Humanitarian Action is at the core of UNICEF’s mandate to realize the rights of every child. This edition of Humanitarian Action for Children – UNICEF’s annual humanitarian fundraising appeal – describes the ongoing crises affecting children in Armenia; the strategies that we are using to respond to these situations; and the donor support that is essential in this response.