UNDP addresses community issues and disparities between the regions of Armenia through supporting agricultural and small businesses in vulnerable communities to promote economic revitalization and improve the living standards of the population; supporting the Ministry of Territorial Administration in Strategic Policy Development and Decentralization; promoting cross border cooperation between bordering regions of Armenia through encouraging and supporting trade and economic cooperation; and making efforts to regenerate the urban environment in the cities, making them a more attractive place to live, visit and work.

In recent years UNDP has supported ongoing reforms related to vocational education in Armenia by providing high-level policy advise to improve legal environment in employment, continuous education, as well as vocational education and training sectors.

Considering the role and strategic importance of the SME sector for the country’s economic development, in 2002 the Government of Armenia established the “Small and Medium Entrepreneurship Development National Center of Armenia” (SME DNC). Since 2004, UNDP implements a joint project with SME DNC to support SME development in Armenia.

In partnership with the private sector and municipalities, the Global Compact in Armenia is bringing together local authorities with private companies to set up plastic waste recycling programmes.

Agriculture is one of the most important sectors of economy of the Republic of Armenia. The share of the value added of agriculture in total GDP varied between 16 and 20 percent during the recent years, and the number of the persons employed in this sector is about 492,000 (of which 56.2 percent are female and 43.8 percent are male) and accounts for about 45 percent of the total employed population.

“Integrated Support to Rural Development: Building Resilient Communities” is implemented in bordering communities of Tavush Region of the Republic of Armenia. The overall goal of the project is to ensure balanced development of RA regions through an integrated socio-economic approach. The project aims at raising the quality of life and income level of the local population in 45 bordering communities of Tavush region.

“ENPARD Armenia Technical Assistance: Producer Group and Value Chain Development” project is implemented by UNIDO and UNDP. The overall objective of the Technical Assistance project is to support the Government of Armenia in ensuring an efficient and sustainable agriculture that contributes to better conditions in rural areas of the country. The technical assistance component focuses on producer groups and value chain development, production volume expansion, product development, technology upgrading, marketing, as well as introducing best agricultural practices and disaster risk reduction systems. The direct beneficiaries of the project are agricultural producers, members of producer groups and their employees, their families and SMEs along the value chains, as well as Armenian consumers. Women, youth and other vulnerable groups are in the spotlight of the project.

Integrated Rural Tourism Development project offers an intervention strategy for the development of rural tourism in Armenia with the objective of creating sustainable income-generating opportunities as supplemental income source to bring down the level of rural poverty, contribute to equal territorial development and shape conducive environment for rural development.

UNDP assistance is focused on supporting the establishment of the Youth Studies Center and promoting evidence-based approach to research, policy formulation and implementation.

Since its independence in 1991, Armenia has ratified over 50 Conventions and other international legal instruments reaffirming its commitment, among others, to equality between women and men, including equal representation of women in decision-making processes. Policy changes, however, are slow to translate into the day-to-day experiences of most Armenian citizens. Consequently, the level of women’s representation and meaningful participation in governance and decision-making continues to be low.

The European Union Advisory Group will assist Armenian authorities in the preparation to negotiate, conclude and implement the Association Agreement, including the free trade agreement.

UNDP supports in introducing the European standards of Integrated Border Management at the Bavra-Ninotsminda Border Crossing Point on the Armenia-Georgia border with the ultimate goal to facilitate trade and transit and enhance the movement of people across the border.

UNDP’s role as an implementing partner is to assist the Government of Armenia in modernisation of Bagratashen, Bavra and Gogavan border crossing points (BCPs) of Armenia for aligning them to the IBM international standards aimed at the facilitation of the movement of people and goods across the border.

UNDP’s innovation programmes are conducted through the Kolba Innovation Lab: an outward-facing platform that acts as a network to facilitate the connection of ideas, groups and initiatives. Through Kolba Lab, UNDP offers a platform for citizens and innovators to involve themselves in the development process, defining the problem they want to solve, and providing the space to incubate their idea, project, or social start-up. Kolba Lab has generated citizen-led projects in local governance, human rights, and the green economy.

The overarching goal of the Project is to contribute to the progressive fulfilment of the rights of persons with disabilities so that they receive services and support in accordance with their needs and have increased participation in social and economic life.

“#Inno4Dev: Innovation for development” is the initiative of UNDP in Armenia and is funded by the European Union. The project will be implemented by Kolba Innovations Lab in 2015-2018. This EU-UNDP partnership will create more opportunities and mechanisms for citizen engagement and introduce tools and systems for more effective and open governance.

The UNDP designed the “Support to the Electoral Process in Armenia (SEPA)” project in response to the Government of Armenia request for technical assistance for the implementation of the newly introduced electronic voter authentication process at the polling stations in Armenia. The 15-month project will deliver effective assistance to support the Armenian stakeholders in improving the electoral process in line with the government’s commitment to organize credible and inclusive elections.

Lessons from a devastating earthquake in 1988 forced national authorities to reconsider its response to natural disasters in order to reduce related risks for people in Armenia. One of the 60 most disaster-prone countries in the world, Armenia faces a heightened risk of catastrophes including earthquakes, drought and flooding.

Armenia’s forest ecosystems have been identified as a global conservation priority. It has been listed by WWF as a Global 200 Ecoregion, and by Conservation International as a biodiversity hotspot.

Armenia is a developing country where protected area (PA) management is viewed as a fundamental government function. The basic PA legislation is in place, but funds are scarce. The main part of the project is the co-financing of the emerging Caucasus Protected Area Fund (CPAF), currently the Caucasus Nature Fund. The philosophy underpinning the CPAF is that the best way to support the PA system and the bio-diversity it supports is to strengthen the government in its park protection and management functions.

Armenia is part of WWF’s “Global 200” and “Caucasus Hotspot”. The National Protected Area System was established in 1958 to protect high number of flora and fauna diversity.

The overall objective of the project is to equip decision makers and other stakeholders with tools and evidence demonstrating how to incorporate an Ecosystem Services (ES) approach into existing decision-making processes, plans and budgets linking poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. The project builds on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment approach that expands the focus beyond how development affects ecosystems to include how development depends on ecosystems.

Armenia still suffers from the legacy of a centralized command economy. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, an Union-wide program was initiated to collect the accumulated banned and expired pesticides from the distribution system and dispose them in landfills or burial sites. In 1990, it was estimated that 600 storehouses existed in Armenia.

This nationally executed project aims to respond to the objectives of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in accordance with its commitments as a Party to the Convention. It will enable Armenia to present the updated information on Convention implementation in a consistent, transparent and comparable manner.

Urban lighting costs of Armenian municipalities account for more than USD 5 million per annum (power costs and maintenance). The capital city of Yerevan has the largest energy consumption and saving potential in its lighting sector: it accounts for 90 percent of all urban lighting energy use in the country and consume about 56,000 MWh/year.

The objective of the project is to reverse the existing trends and reduce consumption of electrical and thermal energy and associated greenhouse gas emissions in new, restored and primarily residential buildings in Armenia.

The Government of Armenia continues to take a number of measures to preserve ecosystems of Lake Sevan and its water collection pond, restore ecological balance of the lake and ensure proper and balanced development of biodiversity and sustainable use of natural resources.

In 2009 the current national consumption of ozone depleting hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) in Armenia was estimated to be about 131 tons. 98 tons of HCFCs were used for refrigeration servicing purposes, 25.5 tons for refrigeration commercial equipment manufacturing and 7.5 tons for manufacturing of foam applications – commercial refrigeration/panels. In total, the ozone depleting potential (ODP) for the HCFCs used in the country was calculated to be 7.83.

The mountain forest and rangeland ecosystems are an important productive asset for Armenia’s population 50 percent of which lives in rural communities, thus depending on ecosystem goods and services. The latter ensure population well-being and economic development, including agriculture (23 percent of GDP). However, high level of rural poverty rate, poor economic conditions and destruction of infrastructures, along with weak institutional and management capacities in governing structures create cumulative negative impact resulting in degradation of ecosystems, including the loss of vulnerable habitats and species, reduction of ecological functionality and the growing insecurity of ecosystem services.

Armenia is one of the countries at risk of climate change impact and seriously suffers from natural disasters like earthquakes, landslides, mudflows, floods, hail, drought, and soil erosion. The recognition of the climate change risks and considering the strategies aimed at minimizing negative impacts on communities and economies fields, particularly in agriculture is of great importance for Armenia.

Armenia’s First Biennial Update Report 2014 to the UNFCCC will build on the findings and recommendations of Third National Communication. It will update national greenhouse gas inventory, provide information on progress in GHG mitigation policies and actions and identify needs, as well as provide recommendation for addressing the needs.

In Armenia, biodiversity conservation is applied mostly in Specially Protected Areas, which constitute about 10 percent of the territory and 60 percent of biodiversity species. More than 80 percent of lands are exposed to degradation, including contamination by chemicals and heavy metals. Despite the high cost of energy carriers in the country, the great potential of solar energy is not adequately utilized.

The long-term solution sought by the “Mainstreaming Sustainable Land and Forest Management in Mountain Landscapes of North-Eastern Armenia” project is to facilitate the shift from the current unsustainable to sustainable forest management in North-Eastern Armenia. To achieve this, the project objective will ensure sustainable land and forest management to secure continued flow of multiple ecosystem services.

The objective of the project is to strengthen Armenia’s capacity to use environmental education and awareness raising as tools to improve the capacity of stakeholders involved in the management of natural resources The achievement of this objective will strengthen the capacity of staff in the public sector, raise the public awareness about global environmental issues and the related international conventions, strengthen the links between sectors, including the mainstreaming of environmental concerns in development policies and projects, and finally contribute to an ecologically safe and sound environment.