Armenia’s government extended its social assistance programs for Armenians forcibly displaced from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) into 2027 at a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, October 29, while cutting the main monthly payment in half from April, reports Zartonk Media.
The recipients are among the 120,000 Armenians driven from their homes in September 2023, when Azerbaijan’s assault on Artsakh emptied the region of its indigenous Armenian population in a matter of days. Artsakh has remained under Azerbaijani occupation since.
The monthly payment stays at 30,000 drams, roughly $83, from January through March 2027. From April through June it drops to 15,000 drams, roughly $41.50, after which the program ends. The government said the reduction is intended to encourage socio-economic self-reliance.
About 46,000 people were receiving the payment as of October, at a cost of some 1.4 billion drams a month.
It goes to people with Group 1 or Group 2 disabilities or with profound or severe functional limitations, people aged 63 and older, those receiving benefits or pensions following the loss of a breadwinner, students aged 18 and older in general, preliminary vocational or secondary vocational education, and children under 18.
A second program, emergency assistance for vulnerable families, was extended through December 2027 at 40,000 drams plus 10,000. It reaches families whose monthly income per member falls below 55,000 drams, calculated by dividing total household income by the number of family members. In October, 8,600 families received it.
The two measures are forecast to cost about 12.6 billion drams from the state budget in 2027.
Application deadlines were also pushed back. One measure now accepts applications until June 30, 2027 and the other until December 15, 2027, both extended from December 15 of this year.
Displaced Armenians remain eligible for other state social assistance programs where they meet the requirements. Both measures have operated since November 21, 2024.
