Hope is growing like seeds in Armenia: Inna, Anush, and Genadi’s story

In 2023, the escalation between Azerbaijan and Karabakh and the subsequent ceasefire afterwards led to the exodus of more than 100.000 Karabakh people to Armenia.

Aiming to provide humanitarian support to those who have found safety in Armenia, the European Union (EU) swiftly provided more than €12 million to help the displaced and vulnerable. Demonstrating continued solidarity, the EU also enhanced its operations in Armenia with an extra €5.5 million in 2024 and a further €3 million in 2025.

Thanks to this EU humanitarian assistance, displaced people from Karabakh, like Inna, Anush, and Genadi, receive the necessary support they need to get by. This will help them start to build a new life with dignity.

‘Our house was destroyed’

43-year-old Inna and her family fled Karabakh to Armenia to find safety after the 2023 conflicts. Today, Inna’s family of 4 shares a rented house with her mother and her sister’s family in Ashtarak. Displacement and survival are not new to them—they had already endured it once before, during the 2020 conflict.

Recalling the day her family left their hometown, Inna says: ‘When the clashes grew intense, we hid in the basement. Then, we realised we could not stay. We left without even locking the door. After the shelling, we watched our home being destroyed before our eyes. Panic was everywhere.’

Pillows, blankets, and a foldable bed

When they arrived in Armenia, rebuilding life from nothing was a huge challenge. Overcoming hardship demands extraordinary resilience, and their new reality was a world away from the life they once knew in Karabakh. Covering basic needs, the rent, and the expenses, and ensuring a stable future seemed out of reach.

With EU humanitarian support, People in Need (PIN) provides the family with pillows, blankets, and a foldable bed. ‘This support has been very helpful. My daughter sleeps on the foldable bed. It is very valuable to have a nice, peaceful sleep,’ Inna says.

Food dryer gives a new hope

Anush is a displaced woman from Karabakh and has built a new life in Vahramaberd, in Armenia, with her husband and 6 children. They confronted many challenges during their daily life. However, they showed great resilience to move on. Thanks to the EU humanitarian support, she received a voucher for equipment. With this, she bought a food dryer, a pot, a mixer, and some other kitchen items. While explaining that these vouchers are vital for them to select and purchase their real needs, she says:

‘I bought this food dryer, and I am trying to dry some different fruits. I hope that one day I can sell them, and this will become my income and cover some of my daily needs.’

Briquettes to keep warm

Genadi’s family managed to escape the war with their tractor and moved to Hovuni, in Armenia, after the 2023 conflicts. Now, the tractor barely provides for the entire family and helps the local communities in their area with their gardening. In winter, they experienced below 30 degrees, with nothing for heating once they arrived. With the EU support, his family received eco-friendly briquettes to ease the harsh weather conditions. They received 1 tonne of these briquettes for a year. 

‘Without this support, we would be in a very dire situation. It helped keep us warm during the harsh winter.’ Genadi says.

Supported over 40,000 people

Since 2023, the EU’s humanitarian partner PIN and its local partner Mission Armenia have reached more than 40,000 people in need: