DELEGATION FROM THE UK DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT VISITED ARMENIA

armradio.am
14.05.2008 17:42

>From May 12 to 14, the UK Department for International Development
(DFID) mission visited Armenia for an annual review of the Armenia
Regional Development Project (ARDEP).

During the visit, the delegation met Vache Terteryan, the Deputy
Minister of Territorial Administration, as well as visited Tavush and
Gegharkunik marzes, where they met the regional administrations, local
NGOs and the media. A meeting was held with the Head of the European
Commission Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Raul de Luzenberger. The
meeting of the UK-Armenia Memorandum of Understanding Steering
Committee summed up the overall activities of ARDEP, evaluated the
work done so far and pointed to future steps.

ARDEP aims to increase the capacity of regional administrations to
develop and implement multi-sectoral development programmes that will
contribute to poverty reduction in the regions. Regional development
projects (RDPs), developed and implemented with ARDEP assistance
by the regional administrations in Tavush and Gegharkunik, aim at
forming an institutional base for poverty reduction, for which DFID
has provided Armenia with £2 million (£1 million per marz).

The most distinctive feature of RDPs is that for the first time
the assessment of existing problems and setting the direction of
policy uses the principle of listening to the views of the local
population. In order to find the right way of reducing poverty it is
important to understand its nature and roots, which are inevitably
more visible for the population with the lowest living standards.

The most important achievement of the Armenia Regional Development
Project is the RDP monitoring and evaluation system implemented by
the structural departments of regional administrations. In addition,
in accordance with the principle of participation, an important role
is assigned to the NGOs by involving them in the monitoring process. In
the framework of the project, an important dialogue about the problems
of regional development took place between the representatives of
the governmental and non-governmental sectors.

ARDEP is finalising its activities in 2008, and currently the question
of implementing regional development projects in other marzes on
the basis of ARDEP experience is being discussed. The implementation
of this project is being undertaken by the Ministry of Territorial
Administration through the development of the "Strategy for the
institutional structure of planning and implementing regional
development projects", already presented for discussion to the
Armenian Government, as well as through negotiations with the EU
and other donor organisations, such as the EU "New Neighbourhood"
project and Asian Development Bank projects.

–Boundary_(ID_PDYmdqy8y2i9NNc7H7wZIA)- –

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress