On January 11, the first AWWA/Hanganak NGO Task Force meeting in 2023 was held via Zoom. As usual, the meeting was chaired by Margaret Kiladjian, an AWWA Board member. The participants of the meeting were JoAnn Janjigian, an AWWA Board member, Nancy Barsamian, responsible for clinical part of the Elderly Project, and the representatives of Hanganak NGO. A new translator of Hanganak, Ani Balayan, was also present at the first meeting of 2023. Therefore, at the beginning of the meeting, Gohar Hovhannisyan introduced Ani, after which she told about her professional skills.
Margaret Kiladjian asked Gohar Hovhannisyan to present the general situation in Artsakh related to the month-long blockade and outline the problems and needs of the beneficiaries.
Updating the latest news, the chairman of the organization noted that in order to overcome the current crisis, the government of the Republic of Artsakh proposed to switch to a coupon system, which will enable to distribute the available food products as evenly as possible. The mechanisms for implementing the system have already been developed. Currently, technical and organizational work is underway to switch over to the coupon system in the coming days.
The problems related to electricity supply were also discussed. One of the two power supply lines of Artsakh, passing through the territory controlled by Azerbaijan, was damaged.
The remaining one power supply line cannot meet the electricity needs of the entire population of Artsakh during the winter months, so in order not to run out of supplies in a few days, the government decides to implement rolling blackouts.
As for the availability of vegetables and fruit in stores, they have long been over. This affects children the most. Sufficient amounts of vitamins and microelements are necessary for their normal growth and development. This cannot remain without consequences for the health of children.
Current situation also affected the business, many owners temporarily suspended work, since their activities are largely dependent on imports and exports. On the other hand, the shortage of fuel for transport also leads to the suspension of business.
The AWWA board members raised many questions to understand the political and military motives of the blockade, the possibilities of solving the problem and the steps that the authorities are taking in this direction. The representatives of Hanganak tried to give detailed answers to these questions, also presenting their personal opinion and perception.
The issue of providing beneficiaries with medicines was discussed separately. Various solutions have been proposed to find and obtain medicines in humanitarian efforts.
Margaret Kiladjian asked to submit the 2022 reports, which are expected by January 15, 2023.
Other current issues were also discussed.