UNICEF will provide one-time financial assistance to 3,110 children aged 0-18 whose families are beneficiaries of the state family benefit system. The one-time financial aid will be 26,500 drams for each child. The beneficiaries of the program are children with disabilities from beneficiary families living throughout Armenia.
The agreement on assistance was reached between the RA Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the UNICEF Armenia Office.
"With the support of UNICEF, we hope to support not only the most vulnerable children with disabilities, but also to map the need for health and social-psychological support services throughout the country and develop a common approach to coordinate and implement these services in the future" , said the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Zaruhi Batoyan.
The total budget of the program is 82,415,000 AMD. The amount of assistance was determined jointly with the Ministry, based on the calculation of the means necessary to ensure the minimum consumer basket of the previous socio-economic assistance packages.
"Children with disabilities, especially those living in the poorest households, are disproportionately affected by the coronavirus. Therefore, they need additional support to cope with the crisis. If we do not take concerted action to neutralize the socio-economic impact of the coronavirus and strike back the pandemic, thousands of children already living in extremely difficult conditions will find themselves in an even worse situation", said Marianne Clark-Hattingh, UNICEF Representative in Armenia.
