The World Health Organization (WHO) in cooperation with the European Commission and Ministry of Health of Armenia (MoH) launched the Mental Health Gap Action Program (mhGAP) in Armenia for populations affected by armed conflict.   With the slogan – Mental Health for All! – the mhGAP programme in Armenia aims at strengthening community-based mental health care to reduce mental health and psychosocial suffering and promote the wellbeing of population affected by armed conflict, thus improving their access to mental health and psychosocial support. The mhGAP programme will be implemented in Yerevan and four Marzes- Kotayk, Ararat, Gegharkunik, and Syunik, ensuring that 20% of the primary health care facilities in these regions are enabled to provide quality and evidence-based community mental health and psychosocial support.  On 16 June, the main aims and objectives of the mhGAP programme were presented during the meeting with head of the EU delegation to Armenia Andrea Wiktorin, representatives of European Commission’s Directorate-General for EU Neighborhood and Enlargement, local government, and civil society.  Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin emphasized the importance of the mental health and the role of the joint mhGAP programme in addressing this issue. “Putting mental health as one of the priorities in healthcare agenda will improve the well-being of individuals, families and communities” said the Ambassador.  "Ministry of Health highly appreciates this important partnership with WHO and EU. The mhGAP program has a great potential to improve access to quality mental health services in the communities and to address the mental health conditions and psychosocial suffering of the population affected by the armed conflict" said Kristine Galstyan, mhGAP programme focal point at the MoH.  The launch was followed by a stakeholder meeting in Kapan city, Syunik, with the presence of MoH and WHO representatives, and Syunik Regional Administration and Managers of the health care facilities. The participants discussed mental health service gaps in the Marze and opportunities of providing quality and timely Mental Health interventions for people in need at the primary health care and community levels.   WHO representative to Armenia, Dr. Jihane Tawilah, said, “To bring about real change, we need to work towards building more resilient systems in Armenia. We hope that the mhGAP programme will facilitate continuous capacity building of primary healthcare workers and create both momentum and experience for a national policy that scale up the integration of mental health care within primary health services in Armenia” ․ 

The number of people forced to flee their homes has increased every year over the past decade and stands at the highest level since records began, a trend that can be only reversed by a new, concerted push towards peacemaking, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, said today. By the end of 2021, those displaced by war, violence, persecution, and human rights abuses stood at 89.3 million, up 8 per cent on a year earlier and well over double the figure of 10 years ago, according to UNHCR’s annual Global Trends report. Since then, the Russian invasion of Ukraine – causing the fastest and one of the largest forced displacement crises since World War II – and other emergencies, from Africa to Afghanistan and beyond, pushed the figure over the dramatic milestone of 100 million. “Every year of the last decade, the numbers have climbed,” said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi. “Either the international community comes together to take action to address this human tragedy, resolve conflicts and find lasting solutions, or this terrible trend will continue.”    Last year was notable for the number of conflicts that escalated and new ones that flared; 23 countries, with a combined population of 850 million, faced medium- or high-intensity conflicts, according to the World Bank. Meanwhile, food scarcity, inflation and the climate crisis are adding to people’s hardship, stretching the humanitarian response just as the funding outlook in many situations appears bleak. The number of refugees rose in 2021 to 27.1 million. Arrivals climbed in Uganda, Chad and Sudan among others. Most refugees were, once again, hosted by neighbouring countries with few resources. The number of asylum seekers reached 4.6 million, up 11 per cent. Last year also saw the 15th straight annual rise in people displaced within their countries by conflict, to 53.2 million.  The increase was driven by mounting violence or conflict in some places, for example Myanmar. The conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray and other regions has spurred the flight of millions within the country. Insurgencies in the Sahel drove fresh internal displacement, particularly in Burkina Faso and Chad. The speed and volume of displacement is still outpacing the availability of solutions for those displaced – like return, resettlement or local integration. Yet the Global Trends report also contained glimmers of hope. The number of refugee and IDP returns increased in 2021, returning to pre-COVID-19 levels, with voluntary repatriation having surged 71 per cent, though numbers remained modest.  “While we’re witnessing appalling new refugee situations, and existing ones reigniting or remaining unresolved, there are also examples of countries and communities working together to pursue solutions for the displaced,” Grandi added. “It’s happening in places – for example the regional cooperation to repatriate Ivorians – but these important decisions need to be replicated or scaled up elsewhere.” And although the estimated number of stateless people grew slightly in 2021, some 81,200 acquired citizenship or had it confirmed – the biggest reduction in statelessness since the start of UNHCR’s IBelong campaign in 2014. UNHCR 2021 Global Trends Report – key data: By May 2022, more than 100 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide by persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order. At end 2021, the figure was 89.3 million, comprising: 27.1 million refugees 21.3 million refugees under UNHCR’s mandate 5.8 million Palestine refugees under UNRWA’s mandate 53.2 million internally displaced people 4.6 million asylum seekers 4.4 million Venezuelans displaced abroad Among refugees and Venezuelans displaced abroad in 2021: Low- and middle-income countries hosted 83 per cent Least Developed Countries provided asylum to 27 per cent of the total. 72 per cent lived in countries neighbouring their countries of origin. Türkiye hosted nearly 3.8 million refugees, the largest population worldwide, followed by Uganda (1.5 million), Pakistan (1.5 million) and Germany (1.3 million). Colombia hosted 1.8 million Venezuelans displaced abroad. Lebanon hosted the largest number of refugees per capita (1 in 8), followed by Jordan (1 in 14) and Türkiye (1 in 23). Relative to their national populations, the island of Aruba hosted the largest number of Venezuelans displaced abroad (1 in 6) followed by Curaçao (1 in 10). More than two thirds (69 per cent) of refugees and Venezuelans displaced abroad came from just five countries: Syria (6.8 million), Venezuela (4.6 million), Afghanistan (2.7 million), South Sudan (2.4 million) and Myanmar (1.2 million). Globally, there were 6.1 million Venezuelan refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in 2021 (reported through the Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela). Asylum seekers submitted 1.4 million new claims. The United States of America was the world’s largest recipient of new individual applications (188,900), followed by Germany (148,200), Mexico (132,700), Costa Rica (108,500) and France (90,200). Solutions:  5.7 million displaced people returned to their areas or countries of origin in 2021, including 5.3 million internally displaced people and 429,300 refugees.

On the eve of World Refugee Day, UNHCR celebrates its global partnership with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), and its ongoing productive cooperation with the Football Federation of Armenia. In May 2021, UNHCR and UEFA announced their new partnership aimed to support refugees’ access to sport in order to enhance social inclusion and integration in the host communities. Also last year, the Football Federation of Armenia (FFA) assumed cooperation with UNHCR Armenia for the development of a project proposal for submission to UEFA’s “Football and Refugees” grant scheme. As a result, the “Play Together for Integration” concept was developed, with UEFA selecting it for funding with an aim to promote integration of refugee, asylum-seeker and displaced children through football. The project is now in full swing in six host regions in Armenia: Kotayk, Armavir, Ararat, Syunik, Vayots Dzor, and Gegharkunik. Currently, around 150 children – predominantly from families displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh – and local children are enrolled in grassroots football teams, enjoying their regular training sessions, tournaments and activities conducted on local sport pitches by community-based coaches carefully selected by the community and the FFA. UNHCR salutes this project as it aims to unite the displaced and local children and their families around football, help them befriend each other and build stronger bonds in the host communities. By several joint field visits with the FFA, UNHCR had the nice opportunity to observe the project in progress and assess its impact. One of UNHCR’s joint visits with the FFA was to Martuni where the trainings were held in a local school’s sports hall where we watched the children play and talked with them and their coaches during the break. “I’ve never skipped a training! One day in the winter, I was feeling unwell but hid it from my mom and came to the football pitch”, one of the displaced boys, Manuk, said to us. “I did not want to be away from my team and miss a football game even if only once”, he winked at us playfully. Another boy, Vahe, was so eager to tell us about their coach. “We have a great coach, Mr. Kamo. He knows all the tricks on how best to play football and win.” His friend Aram echoed him: “Mr. Kamo is a real teacher – he always tells us about the importance of teamwork, gives confidence to rely on our strength and to never lose heart, and never be afraid of failure,” he said, before skillfully kicking the ball into the net. When asked what football meant for the children, all the boys started to call out, over each other: “Football is life!”, or, “Vigilance”, “Henrikh Mkhitaryan”, “Patience,” many said. “Victory”, “Hard work”, “Teamwork”, “Solidarity,” they shouted. They really meant what they said – football had united and inspired them for joint ventures and common goals. “Football can help us overcome all the problems we have in life. Owing to football, we understand our strength, become more patriotic and learn to stand together with each other”, said Areg, a local boy from Martuni. Two sisters, Angelina, 11, and Katarina, 10, were part of the team, too. They were playing out of breath, enthusiastically making sure they did not lag behind the boys. “Well done! You are playing with even more determination than the boys”, I came up to encourage them when they sat down for a little rest. “Oh, football is a gorgeous game. Once you are in, you feel safe and protected, you’ve got a whole team behind you”, Angelina exclaimed, “And the other way round: you can come to support your team and score a crucial goal!”, her younger sister Katarina added, who was so restless because she could not wait to play again. “Football is one of the best games for teamplay. Indeed, it is a beloved and most popular sport that can unite the children, and help them live a healthy life and make friends,” the FFA Grassroots Manager, Lala Yeritsyan, said to the teams. We were talking to the coach, Mr. Kamo Mosoyan, an experienced football trainer working in Martuni’s sport school for more than twenty-five years, and a footballer and goalkeeper at a local football club many years ago. “At the beginning, when the teams were just formed, the children were so shy, they were just sitting still and listening to me – I was telling them about football and the role it can play in their lives”, the coach told us. “I was a bit anxious at the beginning as it was my first experience of working with children affected by displacement, and who had left behind their homes and schools, their friends and schoolmates they went to school with or with whom they played football in the yard. I was weighing up my skills, thinking over some innovative methods and ways of how best to deal with the children who were affected by displacement,” he continued his story. “To my pleasant surprise, the warmup time was very short. In no time, the kids befriended me and got wired to playing football”, said the coach with delight. It was a great day we spent with the team of young footballers. One could feel the ambience of solidarity and dedication among the local and displaced children and their coach. The children were all extremely enthusiastic, playing tirelessly, and at the same time, really enjoying themselves, and feeling proud from having us as fans fascinated by their game, and their teamwork that was created and grew thanks to football. “No matter where in the world I travel for UNHCR, refugee camps, settlements, towns and cities, I see how football has the extraordinary ability to unite people around a common passion. Through our partnership with UEFA, we hope to use the power of football to connect displaced people and the communities that host them.” – UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.

On 23 May, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, organized a ceremony in Hrazdan town, Kotayk province, to thank the European Union (EU) for its generous support that benefited families in a refugee-like situation in Armenia displaced by the Nagorno-Karabakh (NK) conflict, improving their integration within the host communities. The contribution from the EU, in the framework of the 2021 Inter-Agency Response Plan, enabled UNHCR to provide timely and efficient protection support to the families in a refugee-like situation in Armenia – among them vulnerable women, children, older persons, and people with special needs. This funding supported the establishment of community support initiatives through UNHCR partner Armenian Red Cross Society (ARCS) to strengthen peaceful co-existence between the people in a refugee-like situation and host communities, and allowed UNHCR to carry out important activities such as protection monitoring, case management, legal assistance, capacity building, and support to the inter-agency coordination architecture. UNHCR also implemented projects for women, including local women, to promote their self-reliance through livelihoods and inclusion in the host community. The ceremony was held at the community-based NGO "Resource Center for Women’s Empowerment NGO" in Hrazdan, and welcomed the participation of the Deputy Head of Cooperation, the European Union Delegation to Armenia, Ms. Silja Kasmann; the Mayor of Hrazdan, Mr. Sevak Mikayelyan; the UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia a.i., Ms. Lila Pieters Yahia; Anna-Carin Öst, the UNHCR Representative in Armenia; as well as community-based NGOs, local families, and families in a refugee-like situation and their children. “Today’s occasion,” said Ms. Lila Pieters Yahia, the UN Resident Coordinator a.i., “will give us the opportunity to celebrate the hospitality of the host communities and the resilience of the displaced people who are determined to start a new life, learn and create, and contribute to their host communities.” “UNHCR sincerely thanks the European Union for its committed support for the families in a refugee-like situation” said Anna-Carin Öst, UNHCR Representative in Armenia during the ceremony. “EU’s contribution has enabled UNHCR and its partners to provide effective and efficient protection and community support activities, including psycho-social and legal support, as well as educational and livelihoods activities, reaching around 26,000 people in a refugee-like situation as well as the communities which have warmly welcomed and hosted them.” “The EU is very grateful to our partners, in particular UNHCR but also other partners, for their tireless efforts to help people in need and ensure a timely response for effective and efficient refugee protection. For the EU, it is a priority to continue our support to people in a refugee-like situation and host communities,” mentioned Silja Kasmann, Deputy Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation to Armenia.