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Europe and Central Asia Dept,
DFID, 1 Palace St, London, SW1E 5E
Tel: + 020 7023 0000|Fax: 020 7023 1107
Map courtesy of the FCO
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Armenia
Background
Armenia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Although it has
suffered severe economic and social dislocation following the collapse of the
Soviet Union, Armenia has made considerable progress during the last several
years.
- Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth has been in the double digits during 2002-2006, exceeding
13% in 2006.
- The 12 month inflation as of end-2006 was 5.2% showing some
acceleration compared to previous periods.
- Poverty has fallen from around 50% in
2000 to about 30% in 2005.
Yet, the strong economic growth in recent years has
not translated into substantively improved living conditions or enhanced
employment prospects for the majority of the population. There are major issues
concerning poor governance, endemic corruption and lack of civil society access
to the process of policy development.
By expert opinions, Armenia is unlikely to
meet at least three of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
- child
mortality,
- school enrolment, and
- HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis (TB) incidence.
For more information about the political and economic situation in Armenia
please see the Foreign
and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Armenia site.
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DFID in Armenia
DFID started its activities in Armenia in April 1996. Since then, diverse
projects have been implemented in different Ministries at the request of the
Armenian Government. DFID has maintained a bilateral programme in Armenia and
has provided on average £1.8 million of technical assistance annually. For the
period 2004-2006 DFID provided £2.5 million annually on public sector reform,
reform of the budgetary process and regional development. DFID allocation for
Armenia in the fiscal year 2007/08 will be over £3 million.
The current key activities are:
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The Armenia Public Sector Reform Programme (APSREP). This project aims to
achieve national, regional, and local administrations throughout Armenia with
the ability to implement pro-poor policies;
- The Armenia Regional Development Programme (ARDEP) is a project, which seeks
to strengthen the capacity of two pilot Regional Administrations to develop and
implement pro-poor programmes and to influence national strategy;
- Support to the Roll-out of Programme Budgeting in Armenia (PBP) is a project
aiming to support the Government of Armenia to develop and implement a programme
budgeting reform strategy for the whole of the Government.
More information on DFID programmes in Armenia
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Other Donors
DFID works effectively with other key donors and governments to establish
improved coordination mechanisms in Armenia. DFID will continue to contribute to multilateral organizations
such as The World Bank, European Union, and the United Nations (UN) agencies, e.g. United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which have programmes in Armenia. The UK,
through DFID, contributes a significant amount of the EU's aid resources
overall, approximately 18%. Both the World Bank and International Monetary Fund
(IMF) are important partners. The Structural Adjustment Credit for Armenia has a
strong focus on private sector development and social safety nets.
World Bank
support has also covered:
- institution building,
- public sector reform,
- irrigation
rehabilitation,
- power maintenance,
- social investment support,
- infrastructure,
- agriculture, and
- enterprise development.
The European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (EBRD) Country Strategy highlights energy, banking and
telecommunications as priority sectors. Armenia also receives substantial
amounts of assistance from the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) and the Millennium Challenge Initiative (MCI)
The European Commission has developed its new
European neighbourhood and
Partnership Instrument (ENPI) for delivering assistance to the region
for the 2007-13 period. The
ENPI Country Strategy Paper for Armenia
covers the period 2007-2013 is the main
framework for providing EU assistance to the country.
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Links
Last updated: 23 May 2007
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