PRESS RELEASE
United Nations Development Programme / Armenia
14 Petros Adamyan St., Yerevan 0010
Contact: Mr. Hovhannes Sarajyan, Communications Associate
Tel: +37410 566 073
E-mail: hovhannes.sarajyan@undp.org
Web site:
UNDP Supports Socially Disadvantaged Communities in Armavir Region
United Nations, Yerevan – On 9 July, 2008 Ms. Consuelo Vidal, the
United Nations Resident Coordinator / UN Development Programme (UNDP)
Resident Representative in Armenia visited Karakert, Shenik and
Yervandashat rural communities in south-western Armavir region to
monitor on-site the community-based development projects implemented by
UNDP Community Development Project in partnership with the Children of
Armenia Fund (COAF) and the USAID Global Development Alliance. These
villages have been in the focus of UNDP since 2005 as they are among the
most socially disadvantaged in the region, with a high rate of
unemployment and poor conditions or lack of major socio-economic
infrastructure.
In cooperation with the USAID Global Alliance and the COAF, UNDP
renovated secondary school #2 in Karakert community, including
installation of a new heating system, which improved the quality and
accessibility of secondary education for 750 children in Karakert
community. In 2006-07, the same partners undertook the full
reconstruction of the local Community Center, which offers 4,150
residents of Karakert and neighboring villages with services and leisure
activities, such as the community library, Internet club, leisure room
for chess, table tennis, and a performance hall with a capacity of 320
seats.
In Shenik community, UNDP, together with COAF and the USAID Global
Development Alliance, fully renovated the secondary school, which in
December 2007 opened its doors to 176 children and the staff.
In 2006 UNDP helped Yervandashat community to produce its 2006-08
development plan, which resulted in prioritizing the implementation of
several projects. At the end of 2007, UNDP in partnership with the COAF,
completed the renovation of the community’s 5-kilometer long potable
water network, which serves 750 households of the community supplying
them with clean water round-the-clock.
The installation of a dried fruit vacuum packaging workshop in
Yervandashat supported the revival of the local private sector and the
creation of seasonal jobs for the local residents. As a result, the
annual volume of dried fruit production over the last two years
increased by 20%.
With technical assistance and guidance from UNDP, Yervandashat
Development Center NGO was established in 2006. The Center, in addition
to many other activities, tries to integrate socially vulnerable groups
by involving them in business sector activities. It also publishes a
local periodical on a quarterly basis highlighting the daily life of the
community. Financing of the periodical is organized through the leasing
mechanism of the dried fruit packaging workshop project.
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UNDP is on ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own
solutions to global and national development challenges. UNDP in Armenia
was established in 1993 and supports the Government of Armenia to reach
its own development priorities and the Millennium Development Goals by
2015.