On September 4-5, 2018 the UNICEF Office in Armeniaр  the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia with the support of the Bulgarian embassy in Armenia  organized an international conference “Keeping Families Together” in DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Yerevan.  The international conference was held in the frames of the project implemented by UNICEF-Armenia under the bilateral development cooperation aid of Bulgaria for Armenia. The project provides for activities in the following areas: support for the Armenian reforms in moving away from the specialized institutions and adopt alternative care models through the exchange of visits and good practices between line ministries, municipal authorities and other providers of social services for children. On the basis of the lessons learnt from the Bulgarian and other countries experiences, the UNICEF Office in Armenia has to launch a pilot project for introducing a family-like model for raising children without parental care in Armenia for up to 10 children. The experience of Bulgaria can be useful for Armenia  due to the similarities in traditions and cultures between Armenian and Bulgarian people.

The Ambassador Maria Pavlova addressed the audience emphasizing the significance of the project and the opportunities provided for Bulgaria and Armenia to share experiences and good practices in an area which is vital for the promotion od children’s rights and children wellbeing.

The keynote speech at the conference was delivered  by the Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of Bulgaria Mrs. Zornitsa Roussionova. The Bulgarian Deputy Minister highlighted the complex nature of the reform in the childcare and child protection sector and presented an updated information on deinstitutionalization process, the number of children in foster care and the level of community based services  for children. Several experts from the academia and NGO sector in Bulgaria shared their views and  observations on the applicability of the Bulgarian experience in Armenia. The project implementation will continue with the conduct of a study visit of Armenian officials and NGO representatives to Bulgaria.

Embassy of Bulgaria in Yerevan