Month: September 2020

Armenian economy to shrink by 4% this year – Asian Development Bank

Boris Nahapetian
Public Radio of Armenia
Sept 15 2020

Armenia’s economy is expected to contract by 4 per cent this year, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Tuesday. However, it expects Armenia to bounce back with 3.5 per cent growth next year as the country begins to emerge from the economic devastation caused by coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

Armenia’s neighbors Azerbaijan and Georgia will see a 4.3 and 5 percent decline, respectively, the Bank said.

Economies across developing Asia will contract this year for the first time in nearly six decades but recovery will resume next year, as the region starts to emerge from the economic devastation caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, according to a report released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) today. 

The Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2020 Update forecasts -0.7% gross domestic product (GDP) growth for developing Asia this year—marking its first negative economic growth since the early 1960s. Growth will rally to 6.8% in 2021, in part because growth will be measured relative to a weak 2020. This will still leave next year’s output below pre-COVID-19 projections, suggesting an “L”-shaped rather than a “V”-shaped recovery. About three-quarters of the region’s economies are expected to post negative growth in 2020.

The inflation forecast for developing Asia is revised downwards to 2.9 per cent this year from 3.2 per cent forecast in April due to continued low oil prices and weak demand. Inflation for 2021 is expected to ease further to 2.3 per cent.




Turkey is an exporter of instability, Armenia’s top diplomat says

Arsine Chaltikian
Public Radio of Armenia
Sept 15 2020

Armenia sees Turkey as a country promoting “policies of instability and aggression, Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said in an interview with Italian EFE agency.

“While all countries were calling for a halt to the escalation with Azerbaijan, Ankara was doing the opposite by instigating the conflict and approving joint military maneuvers with Baku,” the Minister said,

Mnatsakanián said the denial of the genocide, the threats, the economic blockade and the total support for Baku represent a “threat to the security of Armenia.”

“While Turkey says it does not want problems with its neighbors, in reality it is an exporter of instability and aggression for its entire neighborhood and this policy is exported to the South Caucasus. We cannot remain indifferent,” he said.

Referring to the Karabakh conflict, the Foreign Minister said Yerevan believes that the best thing for regional stability would be to strengthen the ceasefire regime in force since 1994 with “control mechanisms” that prevent escalations and that “target” the party responsible for violating the truce.

“But Baku has been avoiding it. They had better accept it. De-escalation is the priority now. That is the most important thing,” he stressed.

The Foreign Minister stressed that there is no alternative to a peaceful settlement.

“No one can expect a solution at the expense of Armenia or Nagorno Karabakh,” he said.

In this regard, Yerevan has two priorities: the recognition of Nagorno Karabakh’s right to self-determination “without limitations” and security agreements that prevent the resumption of hostilities.

“For us everything starts from security. The physical and existential security of Nagorno Karabakh. But security is one issue and the status of Nagorno Karabakh is another issue,” he stressed.

And he defended the participation of the Nagorno Karabakh authorities in the peace process, as they have received the mandate from the people to negotiate.


Group of university students march to Armenia government building

Emil Lazarian
News.am, Armenia
Sept 15 2020

14:10, 15.09.2020

YEREVAN. – A group of university students on Tuesday marched from Yerevan State University to the main building of the government of Armenia.

They have prepared a petition with more than 5,000 signatures demanding partial reimbursement of their tuition.

The students note that when the educational process in Armenia continued remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was of poor quality, as a result of which the students suffered, and now they have to pay tuition, but not receiving a proper education in return.

The marchers said that the students had suffered also financially during the pandemic, as that their parents had been forced out of work, and this made it even more difficult for them to pay their tuition.

And although there was a respective government assistance program, it was made not with a social, but with an educational component which the students were not satisfied with, and now there are many university students in Armenia who have not even paid last year's tuition yet.

https://news.am/eng/news/602221.html

Young Aurora 2020: The three Finalists announced

Tania Jagharian
Panorama, Armenia
Sept 15 2020
Society 15:00 15/09/2020Armenia

The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative announced on Tuesday that Project Teams from UWC East Africa in Tanzania, UWC Mahindra College in India and UWC South East Asia in Singapore have been selected as the three finalist teams to proceed to the final of Young Aurora 2020.

"We congratulate all three teams as they prepare to present their projects to the final jury on November 3. We are so proud of all students who, despite all changes and disruptions to their educational journeys due to Covid-19, did not let this stop them from putting their humanitarian ideas into action, in this year where they are especially needed,} the Initiative said in a statement.

Reflecting on the importance of Young Aurora, Juliana Bitarabeho, member of the Global Shapers Community Kampala Hub and of the Young Aurora 2020 Pre-Selection Panel, shares: “The Young Aurora Initiative is special because it teaches young people to look outside of themselves and their life bubble to impact others. Empathy is most effective when it transitions from a feeling into an action and I believe this initiative allows the student to participate in that process in a practical way. The project proposals this year were impressive and community centered. They touched on a range of issues — some even opened my eyes to a few social issues that are not as widely spoken of. Young changemakers really are the future of the world — I wish each of the teams of young humanitarians the very best.”

The three finalist teams from UWC East Africa in Tanzania, UWC Mahindra College in India and UWC South East Asia in Singapore are now busy preparing to present their projects to the final jury for a chance to win a grant of $4,000 to help them further develop their project. In previous years this event was held in Armenia, however due to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions it will be held online this year. You can read more about each of the finalist projects, and watch their project videos, below.
The Three Finalist Teams:

UWC East Africa with Beehive Divide 
Beehive Divide is a project that aims to establish peaceful co-existence between the elephants and villagers in Sanya Hoyee village in Siha District, Tanzania. Due to its location, Sanya Hoyee encounters a human-elephant conflict where lives are lost and crops are destroyed. The team intends to build two protective, elephant-repelling barriers between the fields and elephant corridors – a beehive fence and a chili fence. The beehives will be built by UWC East Africa students in their design rooms out of both wood and recycled plastic. This project will ensure the protection of the endangered elephant species while enabling the Chagga community to thrive in both crop farming and beekeeping to increase food security and reduce poverty. Reflecting on their involvement in the project so far, team member Mariam Jusabani from Tanzania says: “We started off with a very small plan and had never imagined getting to this stage, I have learned that with determination, even a small initiative can prove to positively impact countless lives.”

UWC Mahindra College with MedRangers
The MedRangers project started when a woman from Sadhana village told the team about her challenges in receiving medical assistance in rural areas. Further inquiry, through surveys and local mentors, revealed that medical malpractice in Mulshi-Taluka, caused by a lack of health education and medical assistance was worsened by socioeconomic, cultural, and infrastructural factors: Despite housing 68.4% of India's citizens, rural areas receive only 25% of India’s health infrastructure. MedRangers aims to improve health outcomes in rural Mulshi-Taluka through preventive and diagnostic approaches. Primarily, this is achieved by conducting educational workshops on the science, symptoms, and treatments of prevalent diseases, basic first-aid skill training, and health-insurance schemes for school staff and villagers, and by facilitating further medical training for Accredited Social Health Workers (ASHA). For diagnosis, the team will organize health camps in Mulshi-Taluka to further increase access to medical assistance. Their aim is clear:  “We aspire to empower the local population to make independent and informed decisions about their health.”

Speaking about what the team have learnt so far with the project, team member Priyanka Chahahria shares: “While working on this project, I had the realization that my will to contribute back to the community is not enough. We must work for what is desired by our stakeholders and not what we deem fit for them. We have to remain mindful that, when needed, sometimes the best thing we can do is to let our ideas go.”
UWC South East Asia with HER Journey

The HER Journey initiative aims to advocate for and empower Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs) from Singaporean households. FDWs often face linguistic and cultural barriers, employment conflicts and labour rights violations. The team hopes to achieve this aim through a three-pronged approach: (1) In collaboration with local NGOs, they are developing educational videos titled ‘Know Your Rights’ for FDWs that feature solutions to common labor rights disputes. (2) In their efforts to educate the public (especially employers), they designed the Empathy Challenge card game, where players roleplay as FDWs and employers, and negotiate solutions to challenges in their employment process. (3) The team has also created podcasts based on interviews with FDWs, where they share their personal migration stories and advice for fellow workers. Looking back at the journey the project has been on so far, team member Xinchang Liu (Karen) writes: “Our project has come a long way since the first liaison with the Migrant Workers’ Center and the Center for Domestic Employees in May 2019. We set clear goals for ourselves and are open to adjustments according to our limitations. We go over feedback and constantly make revisions. Although we’ve been scattered around the world over the COVID-19 outbreak, we persist to operate remotely.”
Photo: Teams from left to right: UWC South East Asia; UWC East Africa; UWC Mahindra College
 
The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, founded on behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and in gratitude to their saviors, is transforming this experience into a global movement based on the universal concept of Gratitude in Action.


Armenian kids head back to school despite smoldering COVID-19 outbreak

Vardan Badalian
EurasiaNet.org
Sept 15 2020
Ani Mejlumyan Sep 15, 2020

  Armenian students return back to school with new epidemiological rules in place. (photo: Facebook, Government of the Republic of Armenia, Areg Balayan)

Armenian kids have headed back to school after six months away, while their country became one of the world’s biggest COVID-19 hot spots.

First-graders started in-person classes on September 14, while everyone else started September 15. Armenia is still wrestling with the coronavirus, with 2,975 active cases, and schools have taken precautions to make sure that the return to school doesn’t start a new outbreak.

All students now get temperature checks before entering the building, and hand sanitizer dispensers are attached to the walls. The two-person school desks – traditionally the source of either close friendships or bitter resentments – now have only single students sitting at them. 

The “Day of Knowledge” – as the back-to-school day is known across the former Soviet Union – had a forlorn look this year. Not only was it two weeks later than the traditional September 1, but there were no ceremonies, students wore masks nearly as big as their heads and teachers struggled to make sure the youngsters maintained appropriate social distance.

Kids appeared to understand the importance of the new rules.

“There is a coronavirus and I don’t want to infect my grandma and grandpa,” one first grader told the local service of RFE/RL in a report from Yerevan school N53.

Teachers are taking on more responsibility as a result of the coronavirus, said one of N53’s administrators, Seda Karakhanyan. “We won’t be just teachers but also doctors and parents to the kids,” she said. “Because all the responsibility for their health is on us.”

The Ministry of Education has offered teachers older than 65, who face an especially high risk from COVID-19, not to work while continuing to receive their salaries. But none of the teachers at N53 took the offer.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited another Yerevan school, N153, on the morning of September 15 to give a welcome speech. “Some might think that it’s possible to buy a Mercedes G-class without an education,” he told the assembled students. “But if it’s possible to buy one, it’s not possible to create one without an education,” he said.

He also emphasized the need to maintain the coronavirus protocols. “You already bear a big responsibility, you are walking inside [the schools] with masks, we all understand how inconvenient it is … But you are being responsible for your grandparents and other’s grandparents,” he said.

Despite having the heaviest coronavirus outbreak in the region – for a time it was one of the world leaders in per capita infections – Armenia also has taken the speediest route to restarting schools.

In Azerbaijan, schools also started on September 15, but only for classes 1-4 and only two to three days per week. (Armenian students will go six days a week, but for shorter periods than normal.) Azerbaijani fifth- through ninth-graders will return to school on October 1 but have been doing online classes since September 1. High schoolers will start October 15.

In Georgia, schools also were supposed to restart on September 15, but a new wave of infections – the country has set new records in several recent days – scuttled those plans at the last minute, and now in-person learning has been postponed to October 1. 

The government announced the return to in-person learning on August 10, with a Facebook video by Education Minister Arayik Harutyunyan explaining the new sanitary conditions schools would have to observe: Classes would be no larger than 20 students, desks would be a minimum of 1.5 meters apart, and classrooms would have to be no less than 54 square meters for a group of 20 students. School buildings should be ventilated three times a day for 10 minutes, and kids eat at their desks rather than in the cafeteria. 

Following that announcement, some suggested that it may be too hasty a decision.

“We should launch a pilot project with several schools in the capital and in some villages, collect and analyze data in order to understand how dangerous it is for the health of teachers and students, and how it affects the spread of the virus,” said David Melik-Nubaryan, a public health expert at Yerevan State University, told RFE/RL.

Others, though, focused on the harm to students’ long-term education caused by prolonging online learning. “Distance learning damages the quality of education,” education expert Serob Khachatryan told Armenian new website ankakh.com. “I don’t think we have yet manage to implement distance or hybrid learning at a professional level.”

 

Ani Mejlumyan is a reporter based in Yerevan.

Intel: Armenia’s foreign minister in Egypt says Turkey undermines ‘peace and stability in the region’

Lara Chatinian
Al-Monitor News
Sept 14 2020
Intel: Armenia's foreign minister in Egypt says Turkey undermines 'peace and stability in the region'

by Joe Snell

Sep 14, 2020

Egypt hosted Armenia’s Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan in Cairo on Sunday to discuss political and economic relations and stress the urgent need for what the minister said are peacemakers to “draw the red lines to war.”

Mnatsakanyan led an Armenian delegation filled with current and former ambassadors to Egypt. The officials were hosted by Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. The visit was the first by Mnatsakanyan to the Middle East in his role since his appointment in 2018, and it started in Egypt, reflecting the two countries' deeply rooted and still-growing relations.

The ministers discussed enhanced political dialogue across the IT sector, e-governance, pharmaceuticals, tourism and education.

Why it matters:  Relations between Egypt and Armenia go back over 100 years to when Egypt and other Arab states welcomed Armenians fleeing repression and genocide in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire. Today, there are thousands of Armenians living in Egypt, Mnatsakanyan said, and he applauded the ability to maintain their national identity, language and traditions.

“They are proud citizens of Egypt, they are proud Egyptians, and they are provided with every opportunity to also manifest and celebrate their national identity as Armenians,” Mnatsakanyan said.

At the 2019 Munich Security Conference, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi recognized the Ottoman Empire massacre and trumpeted Egypt’s role in welcoming Armenian refugees.

“They enjoyed peace and security in Egypt,” Sisi said. He later reassured that these refugees were “integrated within the Egyptian community, living and working like all of the Egyptians.”

Egypt was one of the first countries in the Middle East to recognize Armenia’s independence in 1991, and one year later, diplomatic relations were established. In 1992, Egypt was the first country to host a diplomatic mission of Armenia in the Middle East. Since then, the countries have signed more than 40 bilateral agreements and celebrate each country’s cultural days.

Tensions in the region have escalated in recent months after Turkey's intervention in Libya and a drive for oil in disputed waters in the eastern Mediterranean against Greece and Cyprus, two close allies of Egypt.

Shoukry stressed Cairo's support for a peaceful solution in Libya and a "Libyan-Libyan" dialogue in Morocco.

"We need actions and policies that enhance stability and are consistent with the rules of international relations and international legitimacy," Shoukry said.

And last month, Egypt approved a maritime deal with Greece to confirm their exclusive economic zone for oil and gas drilling. On Sunday, Mnatsakanyan expressed solidarity with Greece and Cyprus in their rights to the waters.

“We need peacemakers who are able to draw red lines to war,” he said.

Yerevan’s support for Egypt also extends to last January’s Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum, joined by Egypt, Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority to attempt to create a regional gas market, reduce infrastructure costs and offer competitive prices. 

Armenian's top diplomat also supported Egypt’s efforts to sign a free-trade deal with the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union.

What’s next:  Mnatsakanyan briefed Shoukry on the escalating border dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In July, clashes on the border killed 13 Azeris including a civilian, and four Armenians were killed.

"During the events in July, Turkey has been the only country that was taking a one-sided, very aggressive approach," Mnatsakanyan said. "Of course, we see the military build-up that they are attempting. … These are exactly the moves that undermine the effort toward peace and stability in the region."

On Monday, Mnatsaknayan was received by Sisi and reiterated Armenian’s stance on growing their partnership. The minister invited Shoukry and Sisi to Armenia.

Know more:  Al-Monitor correspondent Mohamed Saied reviews Egypt’s focus on a natural gas pipeline amid escalating tension in the Mediterranean Sea. 



Armenia/Azerbaijan – Press Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Paris, 14 Sept. 2020)

Shushan Frangulian
France Diplomatie
Sept 15 2020

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) held intensive consultations in Paris on September 14. Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office (PRCiO) Andrzej Kasprzyk also participated in the meetings.

The Co-Chairs reviewed the situation in the region with particular focus on new developments following the mid-July violent escalation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. The Co-Chairs carefully considered and assessed the private and public messages and concerns of the sides. The Co-Chairs were briefed by the PRCiO on the security situation on the ground and welcomed his concrete preparations for the resumption of monitoring activities.

The Co-Chairs spoke separately by phone with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and invited the ministers to meet individually with the Co-Chairs in person in the coming weeks to further clarify their respective positions, with the aim of resuming serious substantive negotiations without preconditions.

The Co-Chairs remain actively and fully engaged in facilitating negotiations for a peaceful and comprehensive settlement in accordance with their OSCE mandate.


Students in Armenia demand partial tuition reimbursement

Zhanna Nahapetian
Panorama, Armenia
Sept 15 2020

A group of students of the Yerevan State University (YSU) on Tuesday marched to the government building, demanding a partial tuition reimbursement.

More than 5,000 students have joined a petition launched by the YSU Student Council to urge the authorities to pay part of their tuition fees.

The students claim the coronavirus pandemic has affected their ability to pay for tuition.

“We are doing this now and not waiting for more signatures to be collected because the payment due date is approaching. If students fail to pay [their tuition], they will be dropped from their classes. This issue must be addressed immediately,” one of the students said.

He added that the Yerevan State University cannot reimburse the tuition of such a large number of students.

Head of the YSU Student Council, Davit Apoyan, handed in the petition to a government representative, expressing hope the authorities would give a positive feedback in a short period of time.

The government representative said that the prime minister will be hosting a series of new discussions on socio-economic activities in the coming days, adding their letter will definitely be taken into account during decision-making.

Davit Apoyan said that the deadline for paying the freshmen's tuition is today, while those who still owe money from the previous semester must pay the sum by September 18.

"If you are going to develop a program, maybe you should try to order or instruct the universities not to drop students out of classes on that ground and give them extra time before the program is developed,” Apoyan suggested.

The government representative promised to convey their request to the prime minister.


Schools reopen across Armenia, with not all school employees tested for coronavirus yet

Kevo Kalantarian
Panorama, Armenia
Sept 15 2020

Author Nare Gevorgyan

Schools reopened across Armenia on Tuesday after a two-week delay, however as it was the case one month ago, teachers and parents are facing uncertainty, hoping that at least within the next week they will figure out what to do.

Apart from the mandatory rule to wear face masks, repeatedly disinfect hands and practice social distancing, today teachers and parents are facing another problem concerning the testing of school staffs, which, as it turns out, has not been properly organized.

Although during the nationwide parent-teacher meeting on 26 August, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Zhanna Andreasyan assured that before the launch of the academic year all teachers would be tested for coronavirus, it is still up in the air.

Panorama.am has learned that teachers from not all schools under the control of the Gegharkunik Regional Administration have undergone testing, which has caused concerns among many parents, who are afraid that one or more teachers may be infected and pass the virus to their children.

In response to Panorama.am's question why it has not been possible to test all teachers before the reopening of schools, Lusine Vardanyan, Head of the Health and Social Security Department of the Regional Administration, said the province has no laboratory and the test samples taken from people are sent to Yerevan, therefore, it has not been possible to test all school staffers.

However, she said that in the near future the province will have its own laboratory and experts are currently undergoing training to carry out the work on the ground.

"We need to take samples from 4,570 school employees, but we have still collected 1,263 samples. At the moment 5 teachers and 3 administrative employees are infected. We continue testing the others in all communities," she added.

Asked whether in that case there are no risks that some of the teachers not tested yet may be carrying the virus and infect schoolchildren, Lusine Vardanyan said that schools are under strict control.

"Temperature checks are being conducted at schools, there are nurses in all schools, who examine the school employees on the ground. We are doing everything possible to rule out such cases, though there may be an infected teacher who has no symptoms. In any case, we are trying to carry out the sampling,” Vardanyan stated.

We also tried to understand why the fact that the provinces lack their own laboratories was not taken into account, giving rise to such a situation, but the Ministry of Health urged us to submit a written inquiry, while the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports said it was not clear yet whether they were to answer that question or the Ministry of Health.



Sports: Armenian football fans returning to the stadium

Paul Hambardsumian
Public Radio of Armenia
Sept 15 2020

Armenian football fans will return to the stadium on September 18.

The Football Federation of Armenia has received a received a permission to allow 75 fans from each side to be present at the matches of the Premier League, the First League and the Cup.

Under the responsibility of the host club, all the fans must be seated in the stadium maintaining the defined social distance, and wear masks throughout the match.