About us
The Armenian Red Cross Society (ARCS) Tracing Service started its activities on information provision immediately after the devastating earthquake of Spitak (1988).

The events of past years, such as the collapse of the USSR, national armed conflicts, confrontations and severe economical crisis became the main reason for a population displacement, migration "illegal" and families separation, as well as loss of contacts between family members. All these events have determined the main aspects of the ARCS Tracing Service.

The main aspects of the ARCS Tracing Service are:

• Tracing of relatives who lost contact due to wars, internal conflicts and violence, international strife, political and economical crisis, natural disasters and other emergencies causing population displacement and migration (including human trafficking).
• Obtaining and providing of documents necessary for family reunification as well as for improving the social status of migrants and refugees.
• Legal advice and psycho-social support to the families of the missing and to migrants. 
• Tracing burial places of victims of war and conflicts. 
• Tracing or assistance in tracing processes of burial places of military personnel and civilians of World War II and providing information about the state of such burial places/graves.

The Tracing Service of the Armenian Red Cross Society (ARCS) implements its activities in co-operation with the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and National Societies of Red Cross and Red Crescent.

Programmes/projects

Tracing Service implemented program of Ante Mortem Data Collection of missing persons in relation to the conflict of Nagorno Karabakh which started on 1 November 2008 and finished on 30 June 2009.

In 2009 Tracing Service received 57 tracing cases, out of which 29 cases have been completed. 16 cases have been closed positively, whereas 13 negatively. The number of rapid response cases was 14.

12 Red Cross messages have been delivered to the addressees.

In the frameworks of TV campaign, a social video clip was made and broadcast by "Yerkirmedia", "Yerevan" TV channels in order to organize tracing of 11 missing persons. TV campaign promoted to get a positive result on the case and dissemination of Tracing Service.

During October-November 2009 Tracing Service implemented Need Assessment of 14 families.

As a result of the summarized 2008 cases it became clear that there was a necessity to start needs assessment among those families whose cases have been closed negatively.

After the needs assessment process, four cases were re-opened and are in the process. Whenever necessary, Tracing Service provided beneficiaries with psychological support and consultations and guided the beneficiaries to appropriate organizations for legal consultations.

Needs assessment of the beneficiaries gave an opportunity to be more beneficiary oriented and to improve the quality of the services.