UNHCR Armenia and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs work in partnership to strengthen the capacity of social workers

Recently, UNHCR Armenia organised the first of a series of workshops on refugee protection for social workers from the Unified Social Service (USS) of Kotayk and Gegharkunik provinces of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MLSA) and community social workers from Abovyan, Charentsavan, Hrazdan, Sevan, Martuni and Vardenis municipalities.

Through this comprehensive training programme, conducted by UNHCR and the Migration and Citizenship Service (MCS) of Armenia, the participants were introduced UNHCR’s mandate and humanitarian work carried out in partnership with the state, the rights of refugees and asylum-seekers and discussed durable solutions for people forced to flee.

“UNHCR is grateful to the Government and the people of Armenia for their generosity and hospitality towards people forced to flee. This collaboration with the government to strengthen social protection systems is essential to ensure the protection of people we serve.” said Ms. Kavita Belani, the UNHCR Representative in Armenia.

The session conducted by the Adviser for Donor Relations and Structural Reforms of MLSA, Ms. Inga Harutyunyan, allowed the social workers to review the questionnaire on the state-commissioned online platform for registration of displaced and vulnerable people’s initial needs, to test its effectiveness through a practical exercise and make recommendations.

“Social workers play a crucial role in emergency situations. They are on the frontline of forced displacement, outreaching, identifying and addressing the needs of people forced to flee. It is our obligation to facilitate their work by offering some advanced tools to ensure effective and efficient humanitarian response”, said Ms. Inga Harutyunyan.

“I am therefore very glad that today, together with UNHCR, we had the opportunity to test the Emergency Registration Portal for Displaced Population, acknowledge its usefulness, identify points for improvement and make sound recommendations.”, Ms. Harutyunyan added.

The event was concluded by the introduction on UNHCR's guiding principles on child protection and child-friendly approach for refugees and a session on prevention and response to gender-based violence conducted by UNHCR and its partner Women’s Support Center.

UNHCR will organize similar workshops in collaboration with MLSA and other partners such as the Migration and Citizenship Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs during this year. It is envisaged that participants will be familiarized with refugee protection principles, rights and obligations as regulated by the national laws relevant to displaced populations and trained on identification and referral mechanisms.

UNHCR Armenia thanks, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Migration and Citizenship Service and all the state partners and host communities for their partnership and solidarity.