The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UNFAO) has launched an urgent assistance program to support vulnerable groups of people in Armenia who were affected by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The program will be carried out by the Ministry of Economy and the Food Safety Inspectorate of Armenia in order to give a rapid response to the interventions of the government.

Through this program, the beneficiaries will receive support (cattle feed, equipment, necessary measures for construction or repair of chicken coops, fertilizers and vegetable seeds) in the amount of nearly $350,000.

Yesterday Deputy Minister of Economy Arman Khojoyan and Representative of the Office of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Raimund Jehle signed a starting document for implementation of the program.

The program also contains a component for capacity-building of beneficiaries, farmers, the staff of the government, non-governmental organizations and other interested parties. The beneficiaries will be selected based on specific criteria, and the focus will be on women, children and the elderly, as well as the families hosting displaced persons. In all stages of implementation, the UNFAO will work closely with the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia and local self-government bodies.