Deinstitutionalisation, Kutaisi, Georgia

Photographs © Onnik James Krikorian 2007. 

ARTICLES ABOUT DEINSTITUTIONALISATION

SUFFER THE CHILDREN

A mother waits patiently to enroll her son at an Auxiliary Boarding School for children with learning disabilities somewhere in the heart of the Armenian capital. It doesn’t seem to matter to the staff that the twelve-year old isn’t disabled, all the school requires, the Director says, is a medical certificate.

First published 2003

CHILDREN OF THE SOUTH CAUCASUS

At just eight months of age, Tiesa and her two sisters were abandoned by a roadside. They survived by eating roadkill — frogs, in fact — and drinking water from puddles before being discovered. The children, two of them with learning disabilities, were placed in Tbilisi’s Infant House, an orphanage by any other name.

 

First published 2014

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Hope for breakthrough with Azerbaijan dims as Armenia a no-show

Hope for breakthrough with Azerbaijan dims as Armenia a no-show

Hopes that Armenia and Azerbaijan might take a step towards normalising relations at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 29) in Baku this month were dashed when Armenia failed to send a delegation to the event, despite receiving an official invitation.

Armenia-Azerbaijan talks in the balance as COP29 deadline approaches

Armenia-Azerbaijan talks in the balance as COP29 deadline approaches

Many remain skeptical that such a breakthrough can materialise, though it is clear that international pressure, especially from the United States, continues unabated. It is believed that both Yerevan and Washington hope to have an agreement signed before the U.S. presidential elections on 5 November and especially by COP29 just days later.