Baku - Last year’s Karabakh conflict caused many casualties, damages and displacement. A year after the conflict, humanitarian needs persist in Azerbaijan’s conflict-affected districts. A project implemented by IOM Azerbaijan with funding from European Union Humanitarian Aid has helped 1,500 of the most vulnerable people through cash assistance.

One of them is Sara Abbasova She lives in Mirzalar Gish Yatagi village, located in Agjabadi district. She is 64 years old and has one son. Sara is originally from Shirlan village of Shusha district, but her family was forced to flee their village in 1992 when the first conflict erupted in Karabakh and they took refuge in Agjabadi.

During the conflict last year, their settlement, located near the frontline, came under fire. "The shells fell into our house and yard. Our house was destroyed, 5 of our cows were killed," said Sara. Sara’s family was yet again forced to leave their home. They made their way to the neighboring village.

After the conflict, the government repaired all destroyed houses in the village, and after Sara’s house was repaired, she returned with her son.

Sara and her husband had always been hard-working farmers. Now, together with her relatives, she continues raising cattle. However, she was financially struggling until she received help from IOM thanks to EU humanitarian funding. Sara was one of 1,500 people who received cash assistance under the “Providing Life-Sustaining Humanitarian Assistance to Conflict-Affected Populations in Azerbaijan” project.

Cash assistance allows conflict-effected persons to decide for themselves how to cover essential needs such as bills, food, or medicine. It provides them with flexibility and freedom of choice in meeting their needs. Sara spent the money she received to buy hay for her dairy cows.

Although she faces a number of obstacles in her business, Sara always thinks about expanding her farming business. “It is difficult to constantly have to find money to keep my farming business, and I am grateful for all the help that has been given to me,” said Sara.