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The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is implementing socio-economic programs in border communities in Syunik Province aimed at improving livelihoods and helping sustain rural communities.
A group of journalists from Yerevan visiting Syunik traveled to the community of Shikahogh to see the impact of the programs being implemented there.
Shikahogh Community Head Zorik Navasardyan said that with the support of the ICRC, a program was implemented to improve 40 hectares of pastures belonging to the village, which had previously been in poor condition.
“With the funds provided, the fields were cleared, and sainfoin seeds were provided to the villagers. We had a good harvest. As a result of the 2022 military actions, part of those areas is now under the direct observation of the Azerbaijani armed forces. Our Ministry of Defense carried out fortification works in areas located directly adjacent to the border. After that, the ICRC provided the villagers with other forms of financial and economic assistance. Twenty Shikahogh families benefited from one of the recent programs. Each of them was provided with 320,000 drams to purchase pig feed, beehives and chickens,” Navasardyan explained.
He added that cooperation with the ICRC continues, encouraging and giving optimism to rural residents and significantly easing their daily hardships.
“The border villages of our region should continue to receive state support. To preserve the village, it is necessary to develop agriculture, address irrigation water and gas supply issues, and create jobs so that young people do not look elsewhere, but stay and build their lives in their hometown. Our villagers are given vouchers for 8 cubic meters of timber so that they can use the forest and collect fallen wood, but that is very little to get through the winter season. People have various needs, and to meet them they go to Kapan or abroad. It is encouraging that no shots have been fired from the Azerbaijani side here since 2022. In this regard, a security environment has been established. We hope that after delimitation and demarcation, the Azerbaijanis will leave the Armenian territories occupied by them,” the Shikahogh official said.
Shikahogh resident Vladik Aghatelyan, who benefited from the ICRC program, said that his family had acquired 60 chickens, which are already laying eggs. They also acquired wheat seeds.
“Our family is also engaged in farming; we cultivate 2.5 hectares of land and also have hayfields. The quality of the soil allows us to grow good crops, provided, of course, that climatic conditions do not interfere. My son runs a small rabbit farm. Although the agricultural machinery is worn out, it meets our needs to some extent. I am also the village club manager. We organize events on occasion,” Aghatelyan said.
Another beneficiary, Andranik Margaryan, also expressed satisfaction with the programs implemented by the ICRC. He is also engaged in poultry farming with the funds provided and has purchased animal feed. During the Soviet years, Margaryan was the village’s chief mechanic for a long time.
“The ICRC helps us significantly. Naturally, we are familiar with the programs aimed at easing the burdens of villagers. Helping a person in need is an honorable thing to do,” said the 70-year-old Shikahogh resident.
We also spoke with him about security-related issues in the village. Margaryan’s nobility and sense of justice truly deserve mention. He was the head of Shikahogh from 1993 to 2003. There have been cases when Azerbaijani shepherds’ livestock crossed the border and ended up in Shikahogh’s hayfields. At Margaryan’s urging, fellow villagers returned the livestock to the Azerbaijanis.
“If they truly want peace today, first and foremost, the two societies must be brought closer together and an atmosphere of trust must be created, while excluding aggression and belligerent rhetoric,” the Shikahogh resident concluded.