Armenian NGOs stress the need to set up trust centres in rural communities

As stated in Yerevan by leaders of district nongovernment organizations (NGOs), to improve the situation in the sphere of protection of children's rights, daytime trust centres should be set up in rural areas of Armenia.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, the debates on the topic "Protection of children's rights in localities" with the participation of NGO activists were held in the Media Centre of Yerevan.

The main problems, related to guardianship and trusteeship, were reported by Naira Arakelyan, the head of the Armavir Development Centre. According to her version, Armenia has created bodies of guardianship and trusteeship, but they cannot work efficiently.

Armen Petrosyan, the coordinator of the Intellectual Centre "Horan Ard" in Gyumri, the most common problems in the pre-border villages are "the problems of issuance of birth certificates to children of single mothers and dismissals of children from schools."

Astine Apitonyan, the head of the Armavir Regional Administration, has highlighted the absence of children's day-time centres of guardianship and rehabilitation.

In 2014, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs launched a new four-year-long reform package, said Lena Airapetyan, the head of the Division for Children's Matters of the Ministry. According to her story, the main goal of the reforms is "to take care of children; their rearing in families and their social defence." She hopes that the reforms will help "to unload children's homes and boarding schools."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.