PRESS RELEASE
The Eurasia Foundation
Representative Office in Armenia
4 Demirchyan Str., Yerevan 375019, Armenia
Contact: Alisa Alaverdyan
Tel: (374 10) 586059, 586159
E-mail: alisa@eurasia.am
Web:

eurasia foundation increases inter-municipal cooperation

Yerevan, Armenia- The Eurasia Foundation Representative Office in Armenia
recently awarded more than $100,000 to ten municipalities and community
unions for the promotion of inter-municipal networking and cooperation. By
creating networks between urban and rural municipalities, community members
and municipal leaders will have an opportunity to jointly identify and solve
community problems. Strong local government is critical to Armenia’s
development because local authorities ensure the delivery of services that
respond to community needs.

The grant recipients were selected through an open competition that was
announced in July following a series of informational seminars on project
design. Recipients include the municipalities of Berdavan, Martuni, Masis,
Metsamor, Sisian and Vedi, as well as the inter-community unions of Aparan,
Ararat, Noyemberyan and Tumanyan. Both the employees of rural and urban
municipalities and residents of Armenia’s communities will benefit from the
projects supported by the Foundation. These projects will:

* Create inter-municipal networks, which will be equipped with
Intranet systems that will host legislation databases and allow the exchange
of information between municipalities on issues of common interest;

* Support trainings for municipality and community union employees
on the use of these systems and management skills;

* Support the development of inter-municipal strategies for
increasing the efficient use of community resources and improving services
to citizenry.

“The Eurasia Foundation is promoting effective local governance by
developing municipalities’ technical and professional skills and fostering
cooperation between local authorities. As a result of these projects, we can
expect to see the establishment of vibrant inter-municipal networks,” says
the Eurasia Foundation Armenia Country Director Ara Nazinyan.

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Privately managed with support from USAID and other donors, the Eurasia
Foundation has made more than 7,500 grants totaling over $153 million in 12
countries of the former Soviet Union since 1993. The Eurasia Foundation has
operated in Armenia since 1995 encouraging the development of civil society,
public administration and private enterprise. For additional information
about Eurasia Foundation activities in Armenia and a list of our independent
advisory board members, please visit <;
or

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This press release was made possible through support provided by the Office
of Economic Growth, Bureau for Europe and Eurasia, U.S. Agency for
International Development, under the terms of Award No.
EMT-G-00-02-00008-00. The opinions expressed herein are those of the
author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Agency for
International Development.