Naira Badalian. UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia Shombi Sharp welcomes policy of the new government of Armenia, which focuses on a person. Sharp said this on the sidelines of the three-day conference on the "Role of social protection in the sustainable development agenda: leaving no one behind in Armenia'' that started on November 31.

According to the UN representative, today more than 1 mln people in Armenia live in poverty, 2% of them are extremely poor. Despite a number of events, over the past 10 years the republic has failed to solve the problem of the poverty of the country's population. At this stage, according to Sharp, the Cabinet of Ministers of the country, aimed at protecting the interests of all its citizens, will be able to fulfill the task if it primarily makes social support more targeted.

As UNICEF representative in Armenia Tanja Radocaj pointed out, perhaps over the past 10 years, steps have been taken to reduce poverty, but they were obviously not enough. One third of children in Armenia live below the poverty line, and in the Shirak region more than half. This, she said, is fraught with negative consequences for the future development of the country. Today, without paying due attention to this potential, the country is undermining its long-term economic development. To this end, according to Radocaj, the organization, in close cooperation with the Armenian government, is looking for more effective ways to overcome poverty. One way is to ensure access and quality education for children. "From time to time we face a shortage of quality education in rural areas of Armenia. Thus, we consider the possibility of obtaining quality education and relevant skills as one of the most efficient methods in improving the well-being of the population in the future," she said.

Sylvie Bossoutrot, Country Manager of the World Bank in Armenia, in turn, believes that social security can protect citizens from external negative shocks. And poverty and unemployment also lead to lower fertility rates. As a result, Armenia, like many developing countries, will face the problem of an aging population in the future.

To note, the level of poverty in Armenia in the conditions of last year's economic growth of 7.5% and with 220 thousand unemployed people makes up more than 30% of the population. At the same time, Acting Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Mane Tandilyan answering the question of ArmInfo stated that Armenia aims to reduce poverty by 0.5% or more annually. Today, Mane Tandilyan believes that the social protection system needs to be revised, first of all, to improve the targeting of financial support from the state.

According to the latest official statistics, the poverty rate in Armenia in 2015 was 29.8%, which is 0.2% less than in 2014. The total number of poor people in Armenia was 900 thousand people, 310 thousand of which are very poor, and extremely poor – 60 thousand people. In 2015, about 19.4% of the country's population were classified as poor, 8.4% were very poor and 2% were extremely poor. At the same time, according to statistical data, at the end of June 2018, unemployment in Armenia, calculated using the new method that does not take into account those employed in the household, was 20.6%, having decreased by 1.2% in y-o-y terms. According to the forecasts of the World Bank, the unemployment rate in Armenia in 2018 will be 18.1%. The World Bank predicts that the poverty level (with a purchasing power parity (PPP) of $ 5.5) may reach 38.2% in 2018, with a decline to 36.8% in 2019, while the PPP calculation of $ 3.2 may reduce the poverty level in 2018-2019 from 10.1% to 9.1%.