Nectar Hovhannisyan. “Under the state of emergency, more systematic work is required from local governments”

Yeghegnadzor community council member Nektar Hovhannisyan works with  a busy schedule during the state of emergency. At the same time, she is an elementary school teacher at Gladzor Secondary School and is currently on summer vacation, but she actively participates in the complex courses of distance education resources which are held in Yeghegnadzor. She has already received the certificate of participation in the first stage of the courses and now she is participating in the second stage.

Nektar Hovhannisyan, being elected a member of Yeghegnadzor Council of Elders in 2016, undertook to listen to the social problems of her constituents and pursue their solution. True to her title, he still, along with other members of the Council of Elders, looks after the economic and social problems of the community, the sanitary and hygienic condition of the city.

In a conversation with WomenNet.am, Nektar Hovhannisyan mentioned that in the state of emergency, more systematic work is required from local governments. She says that since March, the members of the Council of Elders have been walking around the community in groups, informing the public about the decisions of the RA Police, distributing free masks, following their correct application, providing material support to socially vulnerable families. The members of the Council of Elders, together with the regional administration and the municipality, are also following the improvement and cleaning works carried out in the community.

According to Nektar Hovhannisyan, the population is also provided with social assistance by the Armenian Relief Society, of which she is a member. At the initiative of Nectar, the masks sewn by Mrs. Susanna, a resident of Gladzor community, are always provided not only to needy families, but also to passers-by on the streets.

“The population in Yeghegnadzor is disciplined, almost everyone wears masks, maintains social distance in shops and other service facilities. The activities of the two shopping centers have been stopped at the moment, for non-compliance with the rules for the prevention of pandemic “, –  says Nektar Hovhannisyan.

These days, the sanitary and hygienic condition in Yeghegnadzor community is satisfactory, the streets and floors of the buildings are washed early in the morning, the garbage is removed, but the issue of stray dogs, which pollute the cleaned city, remains unresolved. According to Nectar, there is no animal control or neutralization center in the community. As in many regions of Armenia, no money is allocated from the budget to fight the problem.

As of the end of July, there were 43 coronavirus infections in Yeghegnadzor community, 2 deaths were registered, 435 were tested, and 1130 people were self-isolated.

“In this summer heat, people are tired of staying at home, but they have become more vigilant about illnesses among their relatives. If in the past some people did not believe in the existence of the infection, today they do not gather in groups and follow the rules of hygiene,” says Nektar. The Standing Committee on Social Protection Issues established in the community, chaired by her, discusses the issues of providing the needy families with the necessary food and hygiene items and implementing them in a short period of time.

On another initiative of Nektar Hovhannisyan, the Yeghegnadzor Foundation was established to support the residents of the Noravan district of Yeghegnadzor, where there is no sewer line, to live in socially prosperous conditions in line with the 21st century. The community appealed to the Government of the Republic of Armenia, where they replied that the sewer line would be built through small investments of the residents with the financial support provided by the government. According to Narine, as a result of the meeting of the members of the Council of Elders and the population, the latter agreed to the terms.

“The people of Yeghegnadzor have earned the right to live with dignity through their diligence and modest living,” Nektar Hovhannisyan said at the end of the conversation.

Full text in Armenian