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United Nations Development Programme / Armenia
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The United Nations in Armenia and Armenian Missionary Association of
America Discuss Plans for Future Cooperation

Yerevan, 18 April 2009 – Today, Ms. Consuelo Vidal, UN Resident
Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative (UN RC/UNDP RR) met with
Mr. Andrew Torigian, Executive Director of Armenian Missionary
Association of America (AMAA), and Rev. Dr. René Léonian,
Representative of Armenian Missionary Association in
Armenia. Mr. Armen Baibourtian, Senior Adviser to UN RC/UNDP RR was
also present at the meeting.

Welcoming the guests, Ms. Consuelo Vidal gave a brief expose on the
recent activities of the UN, international financial institutions (WB,
IMF) offices in Armenia aimed at supporting the government to address
the social impact of the global financial and economic crisis. She
stressed that it is becoming apparent that what started as a financial
and then an economic crisis, has the potential to become a human
development crisis as well, linked to the increase in poverty. The
damage to human development could be more severe and the negative
consequences of the crisis can be more lasting on human development,
especially in the regions of Armenia, where there is a high level of
unemployment.

The sides underscored the importance of community development projects
in the regions of Armenia to support the most vulnerable layers of the
society. As the alleviation of the impact of crisis in the regions of
Armenia is a common interest of the UN and AMAA, the interlocutors
agreed to look into the possibilities of initiating labor intensive
and other projects in the regions, targeting the vulnerable groups of
the society, especially women. These joint endeavors may become model
projects that can be implemented throughout the country in time of the
crisis.