Armenian Caritas Benevolent NGO
In the framework of Building Bridges: Socio-Economic Integration and Resilience for Refugees and Local Communities in Armenia
Call for the Selection of company to conduct Research on existing Economic Empowerment Models and develop Programs/models to promote Vulnerable Households’ transition to Sustainable self-reliant Livelihood Activity
Project title Building Bridges: Socio-Economic Integration and Resilience for Refugees and Local Communities in Armenia
Place of implementation: Republic of Armenia
Deadline for the applications: 14.07.2025, 23:00
Start date: June 2025
Kind of contract: Service contract
Duration of service delivery: June – September 2025
E-mail for applications: v.gasparyan@caritas.am; info@caritas.am
1. Introduction
On September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan launched large-scale military operations against Nagorno-Karabakh (NK), resulting in the displacement of over 101,800 indigenous Armenians who arrived in Armenia within days. This influx significantly impacts Armenia’s socio-economic landscape, exacerbating existing vulnerabilities such as high poverty rates, food insecurity, unemployment, and inflation. As a net import country, it was badly affected in 2022 by negative developments in the global economy. Its Consumer Price Index (CPI) including food and non-food items rose by 9.9 percent. Food prices inflated by 13.7% compared to 2021. High unemployment and inactivity rates, combined with increasing inflation rates, fluctuating exchange rates, and other factors have been affecting the Armenian economy and population, decreasing incomes and welfare of households, and thus reinforcing their dependence on additional assistance to meet their basic food and nutrition needs. To the top of this, the number of refugees constitute almost 3% of the entire Armenian population, i.e., 1 in 30 people, which adds to the 36,000 refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless people of all nationalities who were already present in the country.
At the same time, Armenia’s social protection system has seen notable improvements in recent years and plays a vital role in providing support to the population and alleviating extreme poverty. Social assistance remains one of the few tools available to safeguard those who do not immediately benefit from the opportunities created by economic growth in the short or medium term. However, reforms in social assistance policies are essential to achieve sustainable impact. These should go beyond large-scale cash transfer programs to include active social assistance measures that promote the inclusion of all vulnerable groups. Encouraging participation in the labor market, for instance, not only helps meet the basic needs of disadvantaged families but also supports their long-term socio-economic empowerment and contributes to broader poverty reduction efforts.
Both state and non-state actors have undertaken initiatives to address the socio-economic needs of vulnerable households through employment and livelihood support programs. These efforts often focus on promoting self-employment and enhancing socio-economic resilience.
Nevertheless, comprehensive research is needed to assess the effectiveness of these programs and to identify best practices. Such analysis can inform the development of long-term, state-led social assistance strategies and services that are more inclusive, sustainable, and impact-driven.
Background
Armenian Caritas, as a key humanitarian actor, has transitioned from emergency relief to early recovery and integration efforts, focusing on sustainable socio-economic development.
Starting from October 2024, Armenian Caritas has been implementing the project “Building Bridges: Socio-Economic Integration and Resilience for Refugees and Local Communities in Armenia”, funded by Caritas Confederation member organisations (Caritas Germany, Catholique Relief Service (CRS), Caritas Switzerland, Caritas Belgium International, Caritas Austria, Caritas Denmark, Caritas Japan, Caritas Korea) and Christian Solidarity International.
The overall objective of the project is to foster socio-economic integration and resilience building of refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh and local communities in Armenia, ensuring dignified lives and sustainable development.
Specific objective 1: Socio-Economic Integration of Refugees and local communities is enhanced through NEXUS approach.
The project aligns with the Armenian Government’s mid-to-long-term strategy for sustainable housing, employment, and livelihood support. The intervention strategy is based on a NEXUS approach, linking social assistance with economic empowerment to enhance refugees’ ability to support themselves independently.
In the framework of the Project Output 1.4: “National integration policies, frameworks, and practices are improved through enhanced public-private dialogue”, Armenian Caritas seeks a service provider (company, NGO, other) to conduct a Research on efficient Economic Empowerment Models and develop Methodologies and Schemes to promote Vulnerable Households’ transition to Sustainable self-reliant Livelihood Activity.
With the current research Armenian Caritas aims to develop a comprehensive model and programmatic approach for the Armenian Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MLSA) and other stakeholder agencies to assist socially vulnerable individuals and their families to become more self-reliant and economically stable using reliable and efficient livelihood support schemes and capacity building activities. At the outcome level the results of this assignment will inform the design of MLSA socio-economic integration programs and provide mechanisms to activate the economic potential of households that are already in state social assistance schemes (including refugees) or may fall into them due to lack of economic activation and/or income generation opportunities. By offering solid livelihood support schemes and business incubation models for the above-mentioned target groups, integrated with social work, the proposed model(s) will amplify the efforts of MLSA for greater integration and inclusion of socially vulnerable groups into the workforce, providing them with knowledge and support necessary for sustainable self-employment and financial stability.
The results of the research will be used by the Armenian Caritas to advocate for informed programming by MLSA policymakers and their partners profiled in social work, re-skilling/up-skilling trainings and economic activation interventions for vulnerable groups including the population of RA affected by poverty, economic shocks, border conflicts instability and war for their greater social resilience and economic stability.
Under the term “refugees,” we understand the following groups: a) Refugees who have received protection and official refugee status in Armenia; b) Persons in refugee-like situations, such as displaced Syrian Armenians or Iraqi Armenians, who hold residence permits or citizenship in Armenia; c) Individuals displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh due to the wars in 2016, 2020, and 2023, regardless of their status—whether they have temporary protection, refugee status issued by the Republic of Armenia (RA), RA citizenship, or a residence permit