Communication Crisis: Building the Armenian Government’s Capacity to Uplift Refugee Communities
Since 2023, approximately 120,000 refugees have fled to Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh. Despite strong public support and several public programs, Armenia’s government faces challenges to integrating and conducting outreach in refugee communities. IRI’s recent public opinion poll in Armenia found that respondents who were dissatisfied with the government’s response to the crisis (27% of total respondents) cited lack of housing, unemployment, and a discriminatory attitude from service providers as their main complaints. Refugees and their families have struggled to access the resources the Armenian government worked to provide them.
To bridge this communication gap, IRI adopted a multi-pronged approach to build capacity at several levels of the Armenian government. Through activities such as supporting hotline call centers, streamlining government websites for public resources, and providing policymakers with data-driven recommendations, IRI has helped the Armenian government address the urgent needs of the displaced people from Nagorno-Karabakh.
Streamlining Information
Thanks to the cooperation of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MoLSA), IRI partnered with the Unified Social Service’s (USS) hotline unit, a one-stop shop for Armenians, and recently refugees, to ask questions about available social assistance. Following an evaluation of 200 hotline calls, IRI organized a two-day training for 31 USS hotline staff in the town of Dilijan focused on managing information flows, communicating effectively, and assisting refugees. USS leadership was eager to continue its partnership with IRI and two months later, IRI organized a Training of Trainers (ToT) session for six USS and MoLSA staff. The ToT sessions focused on empowering staff to lead future sessions and create an internal capacity-building framework. These six trainers are now ready to conduct trainings in the 49 USS call centers throughout the country.
IRI also collaborated with the Prime Minister’s Office to develop a website that combines all official government information related to refugee assistance programs. IRI experts helped revamp the website and other government pages with easy-to-follow infographics, engaging video guides, and social media posts to improve access to these vital resources. These efforts led to increased viewership on several government pages.
These combined efforts have made government information more accessible to refugees and laid the foundation for continued improvement moving forward.
Data-driven Policymaking
One reason that government messaging was not reaching refugee communities could be that the government did not understand the refugees’ needs. IRI organized a meeting with Armenian policymakers and former local leaders of the Nagorno-Karabakh region to present a series of evidence-based policy recommendations. The IRI team conducted a detailed investigation of major assistance programs, including the housing program, and launched an awareness campaign to support these recommendations. Armenian policymakers also listened intently to the townhall discussions led by the former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh. These leaders shared their experiences and offered to serve as points of contact for future engagements with the wider refugee community. More meetings have been planned to continue the dialogue and ensure these leaders in the refugee community have a place in Armenian policy discourse.
Sustainable Change
IRI’s collaboration with the Armenian government has addressed immediate communication gaps with the Nagorno-Karabakh refugee community and set in place mechanisms that will ensure those gaps won’t open again in another crisis. With these actions, IRI has given the Armenian government the tools to continue supporting and integrating feedback from vulnerable groups into its larger crisis communication and policymaking frameworks and protocols.
Top