Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Oct 27 2006

PROBLEMS OF YOUNG PEOPLE: REALITY AND PROSPECTS

NORAIR HOVSEPIAN

On October 20 and 21 the first conference of young people of Artsakh
took place in Artsakh, and about 60 young people from all over the
country, from the capital, the rural areas, the universities and youth
organizations were invited. During these two days, a number of
participants made interesting reports and came up with bold proposals,
which often gave rise to heated debates and arguments.

NOT RURAL OR URBAN YOUTH BUT ARTSAKH YOUTH

Unfortunately, the relation between the urban and rural youth is very
weak. We may even say there are no ties at all. The participants of
the conference are also aware of this. And often by saying "the young
people of Artsakh" we refer to the young people of Stepanakert, more
exactly, its part involved in some youth organizations. Mostly young
people representing the youth organizations of Stepanakert take part
in the all-Armenian events outside the republic. This gap is
especially tangible, considering what a small number of young people
are involved in youth organizations.

COMMON PROBLEMS REQUIRE JOINT TACKLING

The representatives of the regions reported the problems of rural
areas. Despite some peculiarities, the same problems are in all the
regions. The first is the isolation of young people from the capital
and from the other regions. In addition, the representatives of the
regions point to two circumstances: first, almost all the youth
organizations, which count over a dozen, are based in Stepanakert, and
usually they do not cooperate with the regions; second, the department
of youth of the NKR ministry of education, culture and sport also
focuses on the capital. Although there is already a tendency to invite
young people from the regions to different events, it is a fact that
there is much more to do. The importance of direct cooperation with
young people from rural areas is also important because in most
regions the Internet and even the telephone are not available
yet. Hence, the level of awareness partly determines the degree of
involvement of the youth of the regions, which makes think. The other
problem of employment. The question was viewed from two aspects:
first, the necessity to create jobs, second, appointing young people
to the existing jobs. The problem of entertainment was also raised. It
became clear that in most areas there are no places of entertainment
at all, such as in Kashatagh.

"ENTERTAINMENT IS NOT A MAJOR PROBLEM"

This was stated by the representative of the region of Martuni. He
said, and the representatives of the other regions agreed that the
first danger is the migration of young people from the villages. This
factor affects all the other spheres. When young people or young
families migrate, the number of schoolchildren drops, and schools face
closing. "Our goal should be the general development of rural
communities, for in a prosperous village young people will surely find
ways how to entertain themselves," was the core of the report. And the
best way of having young people stay to live in rural communities is
to create sufficient conditions for life and work. Most people are
employed in schools or in the army. But naturally, these two
organizations cannot employ everyone. The gap is possible to overcome
by enabling young people to set up agricultural business. But most
young people do not have money for this, and they cannot expect
long-term loans without security. Housing is another major problem,
both in rural communities and in the capital. Often this problem
affects the rate of marriages.

"GOVERNMENT NEVER FORGETS ABOUT THE PROBLEMS OF THE YOUTH"

The participants of the conference met with the deputy prime minister
Ararat Danielian and the minister of education, culture and sport Kamo
Atayan. Ararat Danielian said there is progress in all the spheres of
life in the republic. He pointed to the policy of grants for NGOs and
youth organizations. He also said that the government is working out a
policy of support to young families and seeks for more flexible
mechanisms of stimulating the birth rate.

MEETINGS WILL BECOME REGULAR

The young people participating in the conference brought together the
proposals and opinions that were heard during these two days and made
a statement. The final proposals concerned the regions mainly. The
first was the proposal on "decentralization". The participants urged
the department of youth of the ministry of education, culture and
sport to hold more events in the regions. This will help to raise both
awareness and involvement. The youth organizations based in the
capital are also supposed to contribute to this goal. To be more
realistic, it was proposed to make the Internet available in the
regions. Another proposal was referred to including funding of youth
policies in the annual budget of the regional administrations. The
necessity of providing long-term loans to young people was another
important issue raised during the conference. Marianna Hakobian, the
head of the department of youth assured that these proposals will be
conveyed to the relevant agencies. She also commended the conference
and assured that the meetings will become regular.