NEW YORK CITY – The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has entered into a partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to bring improved health care and social services to impoverished people in Armenia.

The partnership was announced Friday at a briefing at UMCOR headquarters in New York City. The UMCOR initiative is funded in part with a $6 million grant from USAID. While more than a million people already have been served by UMCOR ministries in Armenia, this grant allows the disaster relief agency of the General Board of Global Ministries to further expand its witness in this ravaged corner of the world.

Under the partnership, several organizations, including UMCOR, will work together to create a system that responds to the immediate health and social service needs of poor people and begins to develop a framework for continuing efforts by the Armenians themselves.

A key component of the program is its sustainability. USAID Administrator J. Brady Anderson underscored the point, saying, "If the things we do in Armenia are not going to be taken up by the people, we're fooling ourselves. We've got to build the capacity of the people."

UMCOR has been providing food distribution, micro-loans to women, and health care, education, and training in Armenia since 1994. The nation is a newly independent state of the former Soviet Union which, since the collapse of communism, has been trying to build its economy.

Paul Dirdak, UMCOR's Deputy General Secretary, said, "This new partnership allows us to share God's love in a way that empowers the people of Armenia."

Pointing to the ancient roots of Armenia's indigenous church, he continued, "Generations of adherents have served one another in mission but the last century has been particularly harsh as wars and Soviet domination wreaked deep havoc in the country. Recovery is a major challenge, but establishing this partnership with as young a Christian church as ours affords us both a great opportunity for growing faith and witness."

The new initiative targets the most vulnerable populations, including single parents and children, the disabled, homeless or institutionalized, and impoverished women and children, who will be given vouchers for school lunches and for free meals at subsidized cafeterias. Impoverished families also will receive food staples like oil, sugar, flour, bread and processed cheese will be made available under an extensive food distribution plan.

Although the vouchers are primarily meant to ease the affects of poverty for very poor families, they also will be sold to others who are able to pay, with proceeds from the voucher sales going to purchase medicine locally.

In a significant departure from a medical system that now concentrates on curing illness and disease after it occurs, the medical component of the UMCOR initiative emphasizes preventative medicine and regular primary health care. The homebound elderly and others who are unable to travel to health facilities will receive care from doctors and medical teams sent into communities. Each community also will have a critical care recovery center and a medical insurance fund costing participants less than one dollar a month will be offered.

As part of UMCOR's food security project, rural farmers will be given seeds for planting and pregnant sheep, cows, and other livestock. The farmers then would be required to give seed from the first crop and offspring from the animals to other farmers to help them get started. The passing on of these gifts to others in the community hopefully will begin the creation of a chain of self sufficiency for entire communities.

To contribute to UMCOR's work in Armenia make a donation to Advance #250225-8 and indicate "Armenia." Give though local United Methodist church or send financial contributions to:

UMCOR
475 Riverside Dr., Room 330
New York, NY 10115

Call (800) 554-8583 to make a credit card donation.

September 22, 2000

See also: Photo Library: UMCOR Armenia