{"id":26653,"date":"2021-03-11T16:03:49","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T16:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/media.am\/?p=26653"},"modified":"2021-03-13T16:31:23","modified_gmt":"2021-03-13T16:31:23","slug":"the-war-through-the-eyes-of-unicefs-armenian-azerbaijani-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/verified\/2021\/03\/11\/26653\/","title":{"rendered":"The War Through The Eyes OF UNICEF\u2019s Armenian-Azerbaijani Services"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UNICEF Armenia Office for the Protection of the Rights of the Child recently <\/span>denied<\/span><\/a> the news that the head of the organization, Marianne Clark-Hattingh, had left Armenia. On March 8, Sputnik Armenia <\/span>wrote<\/span><\/a> that she had left the country in a hurry. Referring to the source as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the news outlet noted that the reason for the urgency was the mistake made during the mission in Armenia. Citing the Mediaport Telegram <\/span>post<\/span><\/a>, a number of media outlets (<\/span>1<\/span><\/a> 2<\/span><\/a> 3<\/span><\/a> 4<\/span><\/a> 5<\/span><\/a> 6<\/span><\/a>) linked her removal to spying for Azerbaijan and the United Kingdom and wrote that she had been declared a “persona non grata.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs <\/span>confirmed<\/span><\/a> the news of Clark-Hattingh’s termination of office, but linked the decision “with the shortcomings of the leader in the implementation of the mandate and the non-cooperative style of work.” On March 10, there was also <\/span>a response<\/span><\/a> from UN Spokesman St\u00e9phane Dujarric\u2024 He described the allegations against Clark-Hattingh as baseless.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many attribute the decision to fire the head of the UNICEF Armenia office to the organization’s indifference during the 44-day war. For example, in an interview with RFE\/RL, human rights activist Zara Hovhannisyan <\/span>said<\/span><\/a> that civilians, including children, suffered as a result of the hostilities, but the organization did not respond. It should be noted that similar concerns were <\/span>expressed<\/span><\/a> by many other people during the war in the comments of the Facebook page of the UNICEF Armenia Office.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let’s try to understand what public steps were taken by the two offices of the authoritative international organization during the war (Armenia and Azerbaijan), did the Armenian office really take a conventional position and not fulfill its obligations?<\/span><\/p>\n

UNICEF in Armenia<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n