Armenia-Diaspora Rural Poverty Eradication Program
Interview with Vartan Oskanian, Minister of Foreign Affairs
May 17, 2006
Armenia TV
Armenia TV: Minister Oskanian, you were in the United States recently, where
you talked about a new Armenia-Diaspora program. What is this program?
Vartan Oskanian: It’s a very broad effort to eradicate rural poverty in
Armenia. The strategic objective of this program is reducing poverty in
rural Armenia’s border villages through an integrated approach. The program
will provide the necessary intervention in the form of infrastructure and
technical support, and in partnership with the residents of the village, the
program will support economic development in order to enable the
sustainability and viability of rural communities. We’re proud that Armenia
has evolved so much over this decade and a half that we are now in a
position to imagine and launch such a far-reaching program.
Armenia TV: Everyone who has visited Armenia comments on the discrepancy in
lifestyle and standard of living between the cities and the rural areas.
Armenia’s economic growth indicators are impressive, but that growth really
has not reached the villages, has it?
Vartan Oskanian: You’re right. Even at this current fast pace, it will take
decades before we reach even the average European level of prosperity. If we
want to ensure that these rural communities are not destined to remain
stagnant, permanent pockets of poverty, if we want to ensure that Armenians
are not born into a cycle of poverty, then we cannot allow development to
simply take its course. We must take practical steps to intervene, to take a
short-cut towards an improved quality of life for our rural citizens.
Armenia TV: What is the scope of this program? There are nearly 1000
villages in Armenia. How will you decide where to begin?
Vartan Oskanian: Of those 1000 villages you just mentioned, 200 are within 3
miles of our borders. The effects of rural poverty and hopelessness on
migration, regional stability, geo-strategic and economic security are
obvious in these villages. That is why we have decided to begin with Armenia’s
border areas.
And, actually, in many of these villages, international organizations,
individual Armenians and the Armenian government are already engaged.
However, the extent of the damage wrought by the economic collapse and the
energy crisis was profound. As a result, it’s going to take a focused,
targeted collaborative effort to improve life for our compatriots in these
critical border areas.
In each of these villages, necessary infrastructure is simply non-existent.
Some have no paved roads, others have no running water, some have no gas or
electricity. Imagine trying to raise a family or make a living without these
basics. Then, in addition to weak infrastructure, they also are often not
economically self-sufficient. They either lack the markets for their
products, or lack the means to get the product to market. In some cases,
they have no viable product even. This is a problem throughout Armenia, but
I don’t think anyone will doubt that the border is critical.
Armenia TV: Why launch such an ambitious and novel program now?
Vartan Oskanian: Why now? There are three main reasons.
First, we want to build on the international momentum that already exists.
Over the next five years, the Millennium Challenge Corporation will build
roads and bring irrigation water to Armenia’s rural areas. In addition,
there is the generous new Lincy program that will build roads and schools
within and outside Yerevan. There are massive World Bank, USAID, DFID and
IFAD programs throughout Armenia. The Armenia Fund, too, has programs
throughout Armenia, as well as Karabakh, of course. We want to leverage
these programs and locate additional funds in order to bring comprehensive
development to the villages. Imagine that a village will, in a few years,
have irrigation water and roads, thanks to the MCC, for example. But imagine
that there will be no drinking water, no health care, no school, no gas or
electricity in that village. Imagine children growing up in a 21st century
rural community that has roads and water and electricity, but is without
access to telephone, television or internet. We can’t let that happen. Now
imagine what we could do together if the Armenian government, Armenia’s
business community, international organizations, and the Armenian Diaspora
came together to leverage the MCC contributions and to build on the MCC
momentum. Imagine a country where development is comprehensive, even, fair
and just.
The second reason to do it now is to sustain the pace of economic
development. Look, we’ve had high growth, at least in part because our point
of departure was low. Our economy had collapsed. But the more the economy
grows, the harder it will be to maintain double-digit growth. Additional
infusion and intervention is necessary and why not target that infusion
towards the areas that need it most?
Finally, Armenia has, over these 15 years, held a leading role in this
region. This may sound surprising, but it’s true. Georgia has a more
favorable geographic position and access to the sea, Azerbaijan has already
been pumping massive amounts of oil – more than 300,000 barrels a day over
the last several years, yet, according to the World Bank, per capita income
is still higher in Armenia. This is something to be proud of, but it’s also
something we must work at. We have to keep that edge even with the prospects
of additional oil revenues expected for Azerbaijan. We can do that only if
we aggressively mobilize our resources and clearly set comprehensive
economic development as our goal.
Armenia TV: In other words, you are reinforcing the adage that the Diaspora
has to make up for Azerbaijan’s oil.
Vartan Oskanian: I am saying that Armenia and Diaspora should decide that we
want every Armenian to be able to live in dignity, to be able to have hope,
to be able to believe in the future, to know that his children will be
educated, that her family can reach a doctor. That is development, that is
the path to a democratic society. Hopeless people don’t believe in
themselves or their leaders, they don’t protect or defend their votes, they
don’t care who wins or who pays them to win. We want a population that has
hope in the future, that believes in themselves, and that has the will to
take on responsibility and hold their leaders accountable.
Armenia TV: What will happen to the various organizations already working
towards rural development?
Vartan Oskanian: This program will make every effort to partner with all
existing organizations and programs in order to achieve maximum
effectiveness and efficiency. We have already spoken to every single
organization, individual and agency (more than 100 in number) with programs
in Armenia’s villages. Our program is not intended to replace or compete
with existing programs. On the contrary, we will work with them to build on
their efforts, to increase their capacity. Our website will reflect their
efforts as well, so that donors and participants receive a complete picture
of what is being done, and what is still needed.
Armenia TV: How will you seek support for this program?
Vartan Oskanian: This very serious and far-reaching program can only succeed
with the active engagement and involvement of a variety of actors and
participants. Individual countries have already expressed a willingness to
focus their development assistance on our rural areas. International
organizations are already focused on rural development. As are individual
Diasporans and Diaspora organizations. Now, we must also engage and involve
Armenia’s businessmen, and new elements of the Diaspora. Those who have
previously looked for specific projects and not found them will find them
now. This project is varied and broad enough that individuals can find a
variety of ways of getting involved. It will be implemented over 5 years,
and this should make it easier to fundraise.
Armenia TV: On the one hand, it’s good that the Diaspora is being offered a
concrete program. On the other hand, some in the Diaspora are not prepared
to engage full-heartedly or to make long-term commitments.
Vartan Oskanian: We know and understand that there are many aspects of this,
or any new program, which will have to be explained in detail in order for
individuals and organizations in the Diaspora to feel comfortable about
engaging and giving. That is why this topic will form the focus of the
agenda of the 3d Armenia-Diaspora Conference, to be held in Yerevan,
September 18 – 20. There, we will explain the program’s purpose, how it will
be implemented, how the funds will be raised and managed, and the key issues
of transparency and accountability will be addressed. We think that it is
possible to use this program as a model for how to handle fundraising and
program implementation, and to do it in a way that inspires confidence and
ensures maximum participation.
Armenia TV: Will the management of the program remain within the MFA and the
Diaspora Conference?
Vartan Oskanian: Between now and the Armenia-Diaspora Conference, we will
have completed the design of the program, the management structure and begun
the process of assessing needs and finding sponsors for villages. After the
Armenia-Diaspora Conference, we envision that the Armenia Fund is best
situated to take over as the umbrella which will appoint a governance board,
a fiscal agent, as well as the management team. This ambitious program is a
natural expansion of the Armenia Fund’s mission – to facilitate
infrastructure and development programs that are beyond the government’s
capacity.
It was a visionary step to create the Armenia Fund, soon after independence,
when its additional resources were sorely needed. It has since completed
projects which have invaluable, strategic significance for Armenia and
Armenians. Now, we are at a stage when we can and should broaden that
vision. Fifteen years after independence, we are no longer desperate and
focused on everyday survival. Today, we must project a vision for Armenia in
2020. Our task is to develop the Armenia Fund into the kind of structure
that will make possible the creation of a prosperous, evenly developed
Armenia for our children. This program is the catalyst for that kind of
transformation. If Armenians needed to strengthen Karabakh to ensure
Karabakh’s survival and prosperity, there can be no doubt that only a strong
Armenia can ensure Karabakh’s long-term future. This rural development
program, which will work to improve the life of all Armenians in Armenia and
Nagorno Karabakh will go a long way toward ensuring the irreversibility of
those links.
Of course, the breadth and scope of the program will require the Fund to
increase capacity, to provide even greater transparency and to involve wider
segments of the Diaspora.
Armenia TV: Tell us more about the Armenia-Diaspora Conference. What else
will be on the agenda?
Vartan Oskanian: This conference will be held in the midst of the
celebrations of Armenia’s 15th anniversary. We’ve come a long way over this
decade and a half. We’ve survived against great, great odds. Over the next
15 years, we must work to transform Armenia into the land of your dreams.
That can happen if Armenia’s expectations of the Diaspora and the Diaspora’s
expectations of Armenia are more evenly matched. This conference will also
focus on those issues. In other words, with independence comes the need to
succeed economically. The rural development plan addresses that concern and
makes it possible for the Diaspora to participate in that direction. At the
same time, with independence come questions about identify, about
homeland-diaspora relations, about language and religion, about political
parties and diaspora institutions. And if our traditional organizations used
to look at these questions one way, today’s youth approaches these issues
very differently. They are looking for new answers to old questions. That is
why the second half of the conference will focus on exactly that – New
Answers to Old Questions – A Nation-State in the 21st Century.
This way, we will have addressed the two fundamental issues facing a people
and a country – identity and development — who we are and who we want to
become.
Armenia TV: Minister Oskanian, Thanks for taking the time to talk with us.