2023 Annual Report
FUND FOR ARMENIAN RELIEF PROGRAMS
Child Protection
Child Protection is an essential component of FAR’s work. As an organization, FAR has led efforts to advocate for children’s rights, care and well-being almost since its inception. FAR’s work on deinstitutionalization, the creation of Armenia’s foster care system, and the establishment of the FAR Child Protection Center are examples of its notable work.
Work in this sector became even more urgent during 2023 with the mass exodus of Armenians from Artsakh, many of whom were children. FAR was a leader in the efforts to address this emergency.
Child Protection is an essential component of FAR’s work. As an organization, FAR has led efforts to advocate for children’s rights, care and well-being almost since its inception. FAR’s work on deinstitutionalization, the creation of Armenia’s foster care system, and the establishment of the FAR Child Protection Center are examples of its notable work.
Work in this sector became even more urgent during 2023 with the mass exodus of Armenians from Artsakh, many of whom were children. FAR was a leader in the efforts to address this emergency.
Since opening in 2022, Safe Corner has provided a secure environment to children who are victims of sexual abuse and whose cases need to proceed through Armenia’s justice system. A part of the FAR Child Protection Center, Safe Corner provides a child-friendly response model in order to coordinate criminal and child welfare investigations. Children’s testimonies are collected one time by certified social workers and psychologists while other officials are allowed to observe from another room to avoid the risk of re-traumatization and additional harm to the child. An official opening ceremony was held for this facility in 2023. Government officials, police, and representatives from local and international organizations attended.
The FAR Child Protection Center also helped the Armenian government to pilot a safe and secure family environment care model for children residing at the state-run Gyumri Child and Family Support Center. Child Protection Center social workers developed tailored plans for 10 children who were reunited with their families. Plans focused on structuring the children’s journeys in a more stable and loving family environment and assisting them with making informed decisions. Social workers also trained staff at the Gyumri Support Center, equipping them with the necessary skills and knowledge of prevention mechanisms for child institutionalization and the organization of alternative care.
The Child Protection Center also forged a partnership with Yerevan State University, which designated the center as its first “Center of Excellence” for social workers in training. The partnership aims to bridge the gap between theoretical and real-world practice, ultimately nurturing a new generation of competent and compassionate social workers who can address the diverse challenges faced by children and families in need.
The FAR Child Protection Center was instrumental in establishing Armenia’s foster care system. It continually supports those interested in becoming foster parents through outreach and training. In 2023, the center also provided regular technical support to the government to enforce the implementation of foster care procedures based on a child’s best interest.
Finally, the center’s playground and other parts of the center were renovated, improving the quality of life for its resident children for whom outdoor play and exercise are essential.
FAR CHILD PROTECTION CENTER
With a solid reputation and national reach, the FAR Child Protection Center is Armenia’s trusted and leading institution for safeguarding vulnerable and at-risk children and youth. Victims of abuse, neglect, extreme poverty, family strife and abandonment can seek assistance from the center 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Dedicated staff have helped nearly 13,000 children and youth since the center opened in 2000, assisting them with short-term shelter and integrated service provision based on their individual needs. A large percentage of these children have been reunited with their families; others have been placed in loving foster homes.
During 2023, the center directly helped 590 children and youth, and 2,360 indirectly through its short-term shelter and crisis intervention efforts. Beneficiaries received crisis intervention and emergency support services, temporary shelter, therapy and rehabilitation. Eighty-one of the 97 children who were temporarily sheltered at the center were reunited with their families or placed in the care of foster parents. Five children were placed in long-term care and rehabilitation centers.
Married for 38 years with no children of her own, Marieta planned to become a foster parent. Her reasoning was simple: she wanted to give care and love to kids who were deprived of those things. “Since I was fast approaching 45 with a spectacularly supportive arsenal of a husband and relatives, I decided it was time,” she said.
Marieta and Hayk completed the requirements to become foster parents through the FAR Child Protection Center. They visited Small House where they met with Ani and Alex. Seven months later on December 23rd, Ani and Alex came to their new home—a most memorable Christmas gift. The date is symbolic and the family celebrates it every year with delicious food, drinks and a special cake baked by Marieta.
Now Marieta is the full-time mom of Alex and Ani. From cooking and cleaning to playing games to drinking tea in the evenings, they love to do everything together. Alex now takes karate classes and Ani enjoys lessons in Armenian national dance.
The siblings’ lifetime goals are connected to their foster parents. “When I grow up, I want to become a programmer and earn good money to buy a big house for my mom and dad with lots of rooms so that when I get married my kids will have their own rooms,” said Alex. “I need to take care of my parents.”
With Ani and Alex, Marieta noted that her home was filled with meaning and brightness; she couldn’t imagine her life without them.
“My favorite part of the day is early morning when mom comes to my bed, kisses my forehead and smiles at me. ‘Good morning, sweetheart,’ she usually says,” said Ani. “At that moment the whole world belongs to me.”
It took Ani a few hours to put these thoughts on paper, which she did with the help of her teacher. “I volunteered to write an essay at school and I wanted to talk about my mom. I didn’t know how to title it so my teacher advised me to name it ‘Earthy Angel,’” said Ani.
Ani and her brother Alex, 12, lived in Vanadzor Orphanage when they were very small. They don’t remember their biological mother. In 2018, they moved to Vanadzor’s Small House, a care center that was founded by the FAR Child Protection Center to temporarily support orphaned children in need of adoption. Now closed, all children housed at Small House were either adopted or successfully placed in foster families. Ani was 5 and Alex was 7 when they first met Marieta and her husband Hayk at Small House.
“I'm happy now. Having a family made me realize that. When I think back to the orphanage, it feels like a distant memory. Now, with my mom and dad in our home, I feel secure and loved. They call me their angel and I know I'm theirs, and theirs alone,” wrote 10-year-old Ani Aznavuryan in an essay about her foster mom, Marieta Mkhoyan, 58.
Ani and Alex Aznavuryan
HIGHLIGHTED BENEFICIARY
Children directly reached through short-term shelter and crisis intervention services
FAR Child Protection Center
590
Children of single-mothers received cash support
CASP
1,000
Children attended FAR’s summer camp
FAR Summer Camp
250
CHILD PROTECTION PROGRAM
By the Numbers
THE CHILDREN OF ARMENIA SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM (CASP)
The Children of Armenia Sponsorship Program (CASP) provides annual cash support to children of single-mothers, orphaned children and the children of fallen war veterans. The assistance helps these struggling families to cover the costs of essentials such as fuel, clothing, food, and even provides a way for children to participate in extracurricular activities such as sports leagues or art classes, which enrich their lives.
During 2023, 1,000 children from Shirak, Syunik, Ararat, Armavir and Tavush provinces, and Javakhk, Georgia, received CASP stipends. The project is made possible through the Women’s Guild of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of Armenia (Eastern) and the Knights of Vartan Benevolent Organization.
John Kazanjian Family FoundationThe John Mirak FoundationJoseph and Kristine Toufayan CasaliLisa ChobanianMardigian FoundationMyron and Mary Shahinian Stapanian Fund
Rosette Garabedian
Sandra Shahinian - SJS Charitable Trust
Sapah-Gulian Foundation
Stephen and Arda Haratunian
Theodore and Marianne Hovivian
Women’s Guild Central Council – CASP
Ajemian Foundation
Ararat and Sonya Hacet
Bonnie Barsamian Dunn
Dadourian Fiundation
Errol Hovsep Karakash (“Hovsep Foundation”)
Friends of FAR Children’s Center
George and Anna Derderian Charitable Fund
Hamparian Family Foundation
Harold and Josephine Gulamerian FoundationHovsep, Siranoush and Mary Bahadourian Fund
Rosette Garabedian
Sandra Shahinian - SJS Charitable Trust
Sapah-Gulian Foundation
Stephen and Arda Haratunian
Theodore and Marianne Hovivian
Women’s Guild Central Council – CASP
Harold and Josephine Gulamerian Foundation
Hovsep, Siranoush and Mary Bahadourian Fund
John Kazanjian Family Foundation
The John Mirak Foundation
Joseph and Kristine Toufayan Casali
Lisa Chobanian
Mardigian Foundation
Myron and Mary Shahinian Stapanian Fund
Ajemian Foundation
Ararat and Sonya Hacet
Bonnie Barsamian Dunn
Dadourian Fiundation
Errol Hovsep Karakash (“Hovsep Foundation”)
Friends of FAR Children’s Center
George and Anna Derderian Charitable Fund
Hamparian Family Foundation
CHILD PROTECTION ROGRAM
Top Donors
FAR SUMMER CAMP
Each year, FAR summer camp gives so many of Armenia’s children the quintessential childhood experience of spending a few weeks at Aragats Summer Camp in the scenic Kotayk Province. The children are mainly from low-income families from throughout Armenia as well as children of the fallen soldiers from Artsakh’s wars.
In 2023, 250 children attended Aragats thanks to FAR, which enabled them to have a positive summer experience where they spent time outside in nature, learned and played, and forged new friendships.
