On 21 July 2022, the Heads of the UN agencies in Armenia met with a group of active local and displaced youth from Nagorno-Karabakh, living in Goris, Sisian, Gorayk, Tatev and Tegh communities, at the UNHCR Goris Field Unit in the Verishen settlement of the Goris community. The meeting was attended by the Acting UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia Lila Pieters Yahia, and the Heads/representatives of UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO, UNHCR, IOM, ILO, FAO, WFP, IOM, UNIDO, UNAIDS, GCD and other UN organisations, and was facilitated by the UNICEF Representative Christine Weigand and the UNHCR External Relations Associate Anahit Hayrapetyan.
The meeting allowed the UN colleagues to learn about the youth’s activities and their involvement in the life of their communities, to hear about their successes and challenges, to understand their vision and the new opportunities they wished to access. The participants also brainstormed about the different avenues and practical steps directed to the further development of the youth and their communities.
The young people representing different civic and volunteer groups (youth councils within municipalities, “The Sun of Syunik” NGO, “Women’s Development “Resource Center” Foundation” in Goris, “Community to Country” youth council, and other organisations) expressed their needs and the constraints they faced, highlighting the issues such as the lack of resources and space for the realisation of group activities and shortage of transport means. They also stressed the need of continuous trainings and implementation of community-based youth projects.
In that regard, the young people voiced the need of establishing youth centers for the provision of informal education, activities for professional orientation, scientific research, social and economic and agricultural projects, as well as activities in the sphere of art and movie, and IT in order for realisation of different initiatives leading to young people’s self-development and progress. The creation of youth centers was particularly highlighted in order to ensure the generation of projects aimed at the well-being and development of the communities to be achieved through targeted approach, consolidated efforts, and coordination between the youth groups.
Voicing their needs and the obstacles they came across with in the communities, the youth sought assistance from the local authorities and cooperation with community-based organisations and NGOs, and what is more important, the attention, advice, and encouragement of their parents, teachers, influencers, and the adults, in general in order to get motivated for the realisation of their innovative and progressive ideas.
In the context of making a positive change in the communities, the youth stressed the important role of the UN agencies in rendering financial and moral support, and their regular visits to remote villages in the Syunik region to get an insight into the situation of the youth and their families, to receive accurate information and understand their issues on the ground.
At the end of the meeting, the Acting UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia Lila Pieters Yahia, highly commended the youth for their resilience, strong will and enthusiasm, wishing them a happy future and realisation of their dreams. Welcoming their activities in the communities, she expressed her readiness to support the youth in their endeavours, and in cooperation with the UN agencies, help them bring a positive change in their communities by way of innovative and creative projects.
