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As part of its civil security programme, API (Armenia Peace Initiative) is stepping up its efforts to build capacity to respond to natural and man-made disasters, targeting people in border towns and villages. To date, API has trained 195 people, including 118 women. Our first aid training courses are aimed primarily at the civilian population in these areas, in the Tavush region. These courses teach the techniques needed to stabilize an injured person at the first point of impact, thereby increasing the chances of survival until an emergency teams arrive.
At a rate of two courses per month since January 2024, 10 training courses have been held in 8 different locations (Yerevan, Ijevan, Syunik, Vanadzor, Chinari for 2 groups, Aygedzor for 2 groups, Arstvaberd and Choratan). Taught by instructors from France and Armenia, each course lasts two days, offering participants intensive and comprehensive training. The Tavush region is our pilot sensitive region. From the end of April to date (June 2024), 6 groups of civilian volunteers and rescuers – more than 100 people – were trained in this region, in partnership with the State Crisis Management Academy (Yerevan).
A first group barely trained, some town chiefs are already asking for a second course. 60% of the trainees are women. High motivation is coupled with a clear awareness of their vulnerability, confirming the expressed needs in such trainings. The trainees come from a wide range of social and professional backgrounds, including doctors, nurses, teachers, farmers, housewives, town hall staff and lifeguards. This diversity allows first aid skills to be widely disseminated within communities. Taken together, all these factors only serve to strengthen our determination to support them.
Each trainee who completes the course receives an individual first aid kit, identical to the one used during the course. The instruction is to keep the kit closed and accessible, just in case. These trained and equipped civilians can become active quickly in their own homes in case of a particularly deteriorated situation: they will be capable of coming to help rescue services and health professionals.
Armenia Peace initiative coordinates its program with other NGOs working in the same sensitive area of Tavush. API acts in full and open coordination with local authorities and a variety of social actors in society along our objective to lessen security risks for vulnerable people in the border regions, thus contributing to Armenian society’s ability to respond to crises.