WV Armenia and local church develop plan for better child protection and wellbeing

Last month saw WV Armenia and leaders of the Armenian Apostolic Church meet for a conference in Tsakhkadzor Town, Armenia to discuss how the church and World Vision can better collaborate to support child protection and well-being in the nation.

Last year, survey statistics gathered by WV Armenia revealed large numbers of child rights violations and child abuse in families. These numbers are not surprising to the Armenian government, since their reports also state that 75.7% of parents have physically abused their children in the last three months. If psychological abuse was added, the percentage would be even higher. While 66% out of these parents have received higher education, they still apply unacceptable methods of child rearing and support.

“There is a long way to go in this field, since there are more than 300 children who are absent from school because of their social disadvantage or the non-existence of inclusive education in communities,” says Bishop Vardan Navasardyan. “Some of these parents, are under extreme stress and are unconsciously abusing their children,” he adds.

During the workshop, a new child protection strategy and action plan was developed jointly with the priests and World Vision to support healthy relationships between parents and children in the nation. The goal is to keep the children, parents and the church strong. Children will be taught to respect and love their parents, parents will be equipped to care for and protect their children, and priests will be taught how to care for and share positive values with Armenian families.

“After the fall of communism and the totalitarian regimes, it was understood that the church should come out from the liturgical ghetto it was reduced to, and engage socially in a compelling manner. World Vision and the church’s common concern is the well-being of children. Whatever World Vision does in partnership with the church will endure and have a lasting effect, because the church has a tremendous capacity for resilience. The horizon is in its sights, the kingdom to come,” says Father Mihai Pavel, Faith in Development Lead, WV MEER.

With financial support from the Christian Commitments Special Fund, a pilot project was implemented in one of the communities near Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, where World Vision works. World Vision staff collaborated with local priests to support 15 selected families, providing counselling, parental trainings, financial assistance for children to visit entertainment and educational clubs.

“We succeeded in every single family with this pilot project. The families changed in front of us. The presence of the priest was very vital for the family and we both looked the same way and had the same approaches – this was the main guarantee of our success,” shares Anna Aslanyan, the social worker of Yerevan area development program. “It was unusual for the families to see the priests out of the church. They felt valued knowing that priests will visit them again,” she adds.