WESTBROOK, Maine— The Anna Astvatsaturian Foundation is pleased to announce the completion of the Artsakh Republic countrywide census, an initiative to research and document empirical data on the financial, personal and property losses of the Armenian population incurred during the Artsakh War of 2020.
The initiative to determine the impact of Azerbaijani aggression on the Artsakh population was the first project of the Foundation after the Artsakh War. The goal of the initiative was to document the emotional and physical damages suffered by the affected victims in the aftermath of the war. Information collected is being or will be utilized in three ways:
- To establish a knowledge base to assess need and to provide socio-economic and humanitarian assistance to those affected families
- To establish the legal framework for restitution to Armenians who suffered financial and personal loss during the 2020 Artsakh War
- To utilize the information collected for future preventative measures against genocide, war crimes, crimes of aggression and crimes against humanity
The initiative was launched in December 2020 and finalized by December 2021. It was implemented by the Association of Armenia’s Social Workers (AASW) to benefit the work of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, the Ministry of Housing and Social Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh and the Offices of Armenia’s and Artsakh’s Human Rights Ombudsmen. The Anna Astvatsaturian Foundation funded the project and in certain aspects of the initiative were assisted by the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative and ACTED.
The interviews of the impacted Artsakhtsis were conducted in-person by staff trained by the AASW and employed by the Foundation for the duration of the census. Surveys were conducted in four areas of Artsakh: Stepanakert, Martakert, Martuni, Askeran together with the four villages of Shushi. In Armenia, surveys were conducted for a portion of the Artsakhtsi population that fled there during and after the war. A total of 20,297 households were surveyed. The Foundation reports that 2,982 households did not want to participate in the survey. An unknown number of families were unaccounted for due to relocation or death. Several communities in certain geographic areas of Artsakh were not surveyed in-person due to security concerns for the interviewers. As part of the census, images of properties and documentation were collected from the population surveyed.
Any individuals or organizations representing these victims may contact the Foundation if they require access to specific information collected.
Author information
The post Anna Astvatsaturian Foundation completes post-war census of Artsakh Republic appeared first on The Armenian Weekly.