New Armenia border community development program launches

New Armenia border community development program launches –

The village of Gosh in Tavush region

YEREVAN. – Over the next five years, 45 border communities in Armenia’s Tavush region, with an overall population of 62,000, will have the opportunity to develop their own community plans, prioritizing activities – such as infrastructure and income generating activities – for financing within the framework of “Integrated Support to Rural Development: Building Resilient Communities” project.

The project is funded by the Government of the Russian Federation and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Armenia, in close partnership with the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Emergency Situations of Armenia. The project budget is over USD 5 million.  

Bradley Busetto, UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in Armenia, Armen Yeritsyan, Minister of Territorial Administration and Emergency Situations, and Ivan Volynkin, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Armenia, on Wednesday signed the relevant documents to launch the project.

Representatives of government agencies responsible for rural and community development, as well as international organizations, diplomatic corps, and media attended the event. 

“UNDP, as a global development organization, tries to reach remote communities in Armenia with the support needed not to provide short term emergency aid, but sustained development support. Our added value has several facets – neutrality, impartiality, flexibility, as well as innovation, which makes UNDP special as a development partner for Armenia. For more than two decades UNDP has worked closely with the government and other development partners to make Armenia a better place to live and work. In this context, I would like to express my gratitude to the Governments of Russian Federation and Armenia for the excellent collaboration and for this important partnership to support vulnerable communities. By working together, we can make a difference to peoples lives,” said Busetto, in his welcoming remarks.

“We have 915 communities in Armenia and they have unique problems and challenges. In order to make the country’s territorial administration more efficient, it is necessary to engage in each community and village, especially in bordering regions. Bordering communities are always in the focus of the Government of Armenia, which carries out various measures aimed at their support and development. We are confident that this project will be an invaluable investment to mitigate the burden felt in bordering communities,” noted Yeritsyan,.

“Russia consistently builds up its efforts in providing support to its foreign partners in achieving sustainable development. Priority recipients of the Russian international development assistance are CIS countries and its partners in Eurasian integration. The importance of this UNDP programme is its focus on complex development of the vulnerable bordering communities in Tavush region and the positive experience of its realization could be transferred to other communities of the country. It should be noted that UNDP is a reliable partner of the Russian Federation which has an excellent reputation and huge experience accumulated within years of work globally,” said Volynkin.