The project is titled “Her Stories, Our Future: Women’s Health and Displacement from Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) to Armenia.” It documents and preserves the lived experiences of women healthcare workers and patients displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia between 2020 and 2025. Through oral histories, the study explores how war and displacement have shaped women’s physical and mental health, care practices, and resilience.

The project will run for 18 months, from June 1, 2025, to November 30, 2026. It will move through several phases: preparation, ethics approval, interviews, analysis, report writing, public engagement, and archiving, with both local and international activities.

The project is led by Dr. Hrag Yacoubian, Assistant Professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. He will work closely with a team of trained research assistants from Armenia and Canada.

The project aims to:

• Record and preserve the testimonies of displaced women healthcare workers and patients from Artsakh.
• Address the lack of displaced women’s health-focused research in Armenia.
• Strengthen trauma-informed research capacity among Armenian scholars and students.
• Inform inclusive, evidence-based healthcare and social policies.
• Ensure Artsakh women’s experiences are acknowledged as part of Armenia’s historical and social record.

The project is designed for:

• Displaced women from Artsakh who wish to share their stories.
• Researchers, educators, and students in Armenia and the diaspora.
• Healthcare professionals and policymakers working on trauma, displacement, and post-conflict recovery.
• Civil society organizations and community groups supporting women’s health and refugee integration.
  

All findings will be shared in Eastern Armenian, Western Armenian, and English to ensure broad accessibility.

The study uses a trauma-informed oral history approach. Researchers will conduct respectful, one-on-one interviews (60–90 minutes) in Armenian, transcribe and translate them, and analyze recurring themes. This method values empathy, participant safety, and cultural sensitivity – ensuring that personal stories become both historical testimony and evidence for social change.

The team will conduct 20 in-depth oral history interviews with displaced women healthcare workers and patients. The findings will lead to:

• One Annotated Research Report (approx. 50 pages).
• Two to three peer-reviewed academic articles.
• Public engagement materials and a digital oral history archive hosted online and at partner institutions.

The project responds to three interconnected challenges in Armenia’s post-war context:

1. Silencing and Erasure: Displaced women’s voices and professional experiences have been largely excluded from public and academic narratives. This project ensures their testimonies are preserved and recognized.
2. Lack of Gendered, Health-Focused Research in Armenia: Existing studies often overlook how war and displacement uniquely affect women’s health and caregiving roles.
3. Limited Local Capacity and Accessible Research: Research materials are often inaccessible to Armenian audiences. This project creates multilingual, open-access resources and trains local researchers to carry the work forward.

The project will organize two public forums or community events in Armenia, one post-research workshop for Armenian students and researchers, and two academic conference presentations to share results internationally. These events will encourage dialogue among displaced women, researchers, policymakers, and the public.

If you are a woman displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia between 2020 and 2023 and have experience as a healthcare worker or patient, you can apply to participate. A detailed invitation and consent process is available through our website.

By participating, you contribute to preserving women’s experiences as a vital part of Armenia’s historical and social memory. Your story will help inform healthcare policy, education, and public understanding of displacement and recovery. Participants will also receive a small honorarium as appreciation for their time and contributions.

The project follows strict ethical and data protection standards approved by Memorial University’s ethics board. All interviews will be conducted confidentially and stored securely. Participants may choose to remain anonymous or use pseudonyms. Audio and video files, transcripts, and identifying data will be stored on encrypted servers and shared publicly only with explicit, written consent. Every stage of the project prioritizes respect, safety, and the emotional well-being of participants.