Agency brief

The citizen submission batch for the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MLSA) reveals severe, compounding pressures on Armenia's social safety net during the public health crisis. The dominant source of friction is the exclusion of informal daily-wage workers and existing poverty benefit recipients from emergency COVID-19 support packages, leaving thousands of households without food or income. Simultaneously, a critical wave of housing insecurity has emerged, with low-income renting families facing immediate eviction threats. Operationally, bureaucratic delays in medical-social expert assessments have suspended vital disability pensions, cutting off access to life-saving treatments. Addressing these issues requires immediate operational triage for extreme poverty cases, policy adjustments to expand emergency package eligibility, and close coordination with the Ministries of Health, Justice, and Regional Administrations.

Urgency signals

• High Extreme poverty and hunger in Gyumri temporary shack

  An unemployed parent with a minor child living in a temporary shack (tnak) in Gyumri reports extreme poverty, untreated health issues, and a complete lack of food, stating 'not even a single piece of bread is brought to us.'

  Coordinate with Shirak Regional Administration and local NGOs for immediate emergency food delivery and initiate an urgent social assessment.

  Evidence →
• High Dialysis patient unable to travel for life-saving treatment

  A dialysis patient in Hoktemberan (Armavir) must travel to Yerevan Hanrapetakan Hospital almost daily but cannot afford taxi fares (3,000 AMD per trip) since public transport is suspended. Missing treatment poses an immediate threat to life.

  Coordinate with the Ministry of Health and Armavir Regional Administration to arrange dedicated medical transport for dialysis patients in the region.

  Evidence →
• High Imminent eviction and homelessness of a single mother and minor child

  A single mother has been evicted and 'thrown onto the street' with her minor son due to her inability to pay rent after losing her informal agricultural job.

  Direct the local Unified Social Service Centre to provide emergency temporary shelter placement and financial assistance.

  Evidence →

A request can support more than one focus area, so supporting counts do not sum to the submission total.

1. 01 Exclusion of informal workers and benefit recipients from emergency support Critical First analysis period

   0 supporting requests

   Unregistered daily-wage earners and existing benefit recipients are facing immediate starvation because they are ineligible for one-time COVID-19 relief packages.

   • · Draft policy options to expand emergency COVID-19 assistance packages to informal workers and existing benefit recipients. · Within 30 days
   • · Convene a joint task force with the Ministry of Justice to legally shield emergency social payouts from bank card seizures. · Within 7 days
2. 02 Housing insecurity and rent burden for unemployed families High First analysis period

   0 supporting requests

   Multiple renting families, single mothers, and repatriates face imminent eviction and homelessness due to total income loss.

   • · Establish an emergency task force to review and process urgent food and shelter requests for families in shacks. · Within 7 days
3. 03 Disability pension suspensions and adequacy gaps High First analysis period

   0 supporting requests

   Severely ill citizens (stroke survivors, cancer patients) have had their pensions suspended due to pandemic-related reassessment delays, cutting off access to life-saving medications.

   • · Issue a temporary decree automatically extending all expiring disability categories and pensions during the state of emergency. · Within 7 days
4. 04 Informal labor exploitation and lack of contract enforcement Standard First analysis period

   0 supporting requests

   Unregistered workers who were laid off or placed on unpaid leave have no legal recourse to claim wages or state benefits.

5. 05 Support for family caregivers of disabled and elderly relatives Standard First analysis period

   0 supporting requests

   Full-time caregivers are completely excluded from the labor market and receive no state compensation, driving their households into deep poverty.

   • · Develop a policy proposal for a state-funded family caregiver allowance and pension seniority recognition scheme. · Within 90 days

Coordination needs

• Health and Labour Inspection Body · SHARED_CASE_HANDLING

  Joint enforcement is required to address widespread employer violations, such as refusing to register contracts, forcing excessive hours, and withholding wages during the lockdown.

• Ministry of Health · SHARED_CASE_HANDLING

  Joint action is needed to ensure medical transport for dialysis patients, resolve free medication access for disabled/cancer patients, and coordinate medical-social assessments.

• Shirak Regional Administration · SHARED_CASE_HANDLING

  Localized emergency food, heating fuel, and housing support are required for extremely vulnerable families living in temporary shacks (tnaks) in Gyumri.

• Ministry of Justice · SHARED_CASE_HANDLING

  Coordination with the Compulsory Enforcement Service (CES/DAHK) is critical to prevent the seizure of emergency state-provided social assistance payments deposited into citizens' bank cards.

What not to overweight

Do not let abstract ideological proposals, such as the immediate introduction of a Universal Basic Income or the complete abolition of the means-tested benefit system, distract from the urgent operational need to deliver food, rent relief, and pension continuity to families in immediate crisis.