PRESS RELEASE
The Armenia Fund
Contact: Hayk Petrosyan
Tel: + (3741) 56 01 06 ext. 107
Fax: + (3741) 52 15 05
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
January 23 2008
The Armenia Fund Launches Veterinary Service Improvement Initiative
Yerevan, 23 January, 2008. After a period of research and coordination with
its partners, The Armenia Fund Rural Development Program is pleased to
announce the launch of an initiative aimed at revitalizing the veterinary
services in the six border villages of Tavush region. These communities are
included in the Program’s pilot Khashtarak cluster. The project will be
realized by the Strategic Development Agency NGO with the support of the
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and Izmirlian Foundation.
The current state of the veterinary services in the communities concerned is
inadequate for a place where cattle breeding practice and the associated
dairy production are considered the main cornerstones in the regional
economic revival plan. The local veterinarians lack the equipment and
medicine stock necessary for performing anything but the state sponsored
quarterly vaccinations. When a need arises, the farmers are on their own in
the quest to find a running vehicle, get to the regional center of Ijevan,
buy the medicine and take it back in time so that the veterinarian is able
to help the animal. A delay in any of these actions often results in the
medicine being too little too late to save the life of the animal from an
otherwise mundane disease. Another important issue hindering the normal
development of the veterinary practice is the fact that the veterinarian is
seldom paid and provides most of the services as a "neighborly favor". This
means that to sustain himself, the veterinarian needs to look elsewhere for
income, making the veterinary practice merely a philanthropic hobby.
The implementation of the initiative will tackle all these issues by
creating a working mechanism. Apart from providing in depth trainings both
to the veterinarian and the farmers, this mechanism will ensure that the
veterinarian has his own stock of medicine and up to date professional
equipment. After an initial support period of a year, the enterprise will be
sustained via monthly payments made by the community members. These monthly
payments constitute a fraction of the sum a villager spends each time he
travels to the city to get medicine for his cattle. This monthly fee will
also ensure that the veterinarian has normal income and can concentrate on
his profession as a main means for living.
This project is also remarkable for the fact that it will come to life
thanks to a three way collaboration between The Armenia Fund, Swiss Agency
for Development and Cooperation and the Izmirlian Foundation. This kind of
channeling of resources to the focus area is one of the core tasks of the
Rural Development Program and the key to its success.
"We believe that it is only through uniting the efforts of all the
organizations and individuals we can produce feasible results and a long
lasting change in the lives of people in the border communities", says Hayk
Petrosyan, the coordinator of The Armenia Fund Rural Development Program.
###
The Armenia Fund