PRESS RELEASE
Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) – Yerevan Office
53-55 Pavstos Buzand Street, 0010
Yerevan, Republic of Armenia
Contact: Inessa Grigoryan
Tel: (+374 10) 522076; 562068
Fax: (+374 10) 522076
E-mail: igrigoryan@coafkids.org
Web:

Children of Armenia Fund – New York Office
162 Fifth Avenue, Suite 900,
New York, NY 10010, USA
Contact: Samantha Wagar
Tel: 212 – 994 – 8234
Fax: 212 – 994 – 8299
E-mail: swagar@coafkids.org
Web:

ARMENIA TO DEVELOP COMPEHENSIVE CHILD PROTECTION TRAINING MANUAL

Yerevan, Republic of Armenia, April 30, 2008 ¾ On April 25, 2008 the
Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) in partnership with UNICEF held a
roundtable to launch the development of a Comprehensive Child Protection
Training Manual which intends to build the capacity of professionals
working with children. The project is implemented on a co-sponsorship
basis and aims at creating a unified and integrated approach to
addressing children’s needs in Armenia.

Participating in the event were dignitaries from the National Assembly
and Government of Armenia, as well as professionals from international
organizations, educational institutions and representatives of local
NGOs. COAF was represented by Arpie G. Balian, Country Director and
Naira Gharakhanyan, Community Development Program Manager. In her
welcoming remarks, Dr. Balian highlighted the importance of providing
opportunity to all professionals dealing with children to master the
principles of child protection and team up in seeking appropriate and
uniform solutions. "The existing shortage of training materials and
adequately trained human resources in the country, coupled with the lack
of standards and ethical guidelines, results in inappropriate and
inconsistent case management. This is the main drive why COAF and its
key partner UNICEF launched this project. "

The UNICEF Representative in Armenia, Mr. Sheldon Yett, spoke of the
importance of multi-disciplinary approach in dealing with child issues.
"Individuals working with children require a wide range of knowledge and
an interdisciplinary approach. Standard case management guidelines and
protocols need to be in place. We hope this package will contribute to
dissemination of the knowledge required for effective strategies needed
to address child protection-related issues in Armenia."

The project outlines, including the structure and topics of the upcoming
manual, were presented by Dr. Gharakhanyan, COAF Community Development
Program Manager. "The initiation of a Comprehensive Child Protection
Training Manual was based on the assessment of existing child protection
programs in Armenia. The results have shown gaps in the knowledge and
skills of professionals working with children, especially pertaining to
child protection issues, lack of cooperation among service providers and
critical need to adopt a multidisciplinary approach in provided
services." Upon completion of the project, work will focus on getting
the manual adopted in the curricula of different pre-service and
post-graduate institutions countrywide (including universities and other
specialized training institutions).

An open discussion followed, during which the participants exchanged
ideas and explored avenues of further collaboration. The round table
concluded with a summary of the proceedings presented by Dr. Balian and
a call to experts and professionals to come up with recommendations and
commit to active participation in the project implementation.

# # # # #