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Emergency response, Disaster Mitigation and Gifts-in-kind

Poverty in Armenia has various faces. For many people it is not just lack of daily bread. Due to extremely low salaries and high inflation rates thousands of families in Armenia live in need of basic commodities - clothes, shoes, hygiene items, as well as toys and school supplies.

Every year thousands of children from vulnerable families included in World Vision Area Development Programs receive clothes, shoes, hygiene items, toys and school supplies which help them survive through cold winter and spend the scarce budgets of many families on food and other basic needs. Gifts-in-Kind (GIK) donations maximize the impact of World Vision’s programs.

In 2009:

  • In 2009 the GIK department was supporting all World Vision Armenia projects, departments and ADPs to implement their planned activities. As well as other our partner NGOs, Government, vulnerable people were assisted by GIK.
  • “Assistance to Hospitals” project. Hospitals in Yerevan and ADP areas partnering WV Armenia were provided with medical supplies to help vulnerable people in getting free medical assistance. 4 containers of medical supplies with a value of more than USD 350,000 were distributed to hospitals and medical institutions.
  • More than 200,000 pieces of clothing, 25,000 pairs of shoes, 180,000 pieces of school and stationary supplies, as well as toys, hygiene supplies, furniture were distributed in 2009. Overall in 2009 we received 30 containers of GIK with the value of more than USD 7,238,000. 

During the last three years, World Vision Armenia has responded to several relief situations by implementing emergency projects. The goal World Vision Armenia  pursues in the field of Emergency Response and Disaster Mitigation is  to increase the resilience of the communities and respond adequately to emergencies. The following objectives have been set up based on which further activities and projects are being developed.

  • Communities are able to offset risks, mitigate against shocks, decrease vulnerability and respond to emergencies they and their children face.
  • Build the capacity of people in disaster preparedness and effective response to emergencies.

WV current activities aim to switch from a service delivery approach to community empowerment and contain the following directions:

On Community Level

  • Conducting capacity building activities (training, meetings, simulations)
  • Supporting mitigation activities and response initiatives.

On National Level

  • Organize capacity building events (training, meetings, simulations);
  • Network and partner with stakeholders in disaster mitigation, rapid assessments, emergency response and recovery on national and regional level;
  • Ensure the effective use of prepositioned resources for preparedness and response.