5 ARMENIAN CITIES WILL DEVELOP WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE UNO
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[04:57 pm] 08 June, 2006
Today, five cost-sharing agreements were signed with five
municipalities and Memorandum of Understanding with the US Agency for
International Development (USAID) for projects in the scope of UNDP
Armenia Performance Budgeting project. In addition, United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) presented the Performance Budgeting
Manual.
The ceremony, held in UN House in Yerevan, was attended by
municipality teams, experts of the project, USAID representatives,
as well as representatives of the US Treasury Department, Armenia
Social Investment Fund, Government and the media.
The “Performance Budgeting in Local Government” training manual
presented today is a product of a comprehensive and in-depth work
in the framework of the Performance Budgeting initiative supported
by UNDP. The manual presents experiences gained during training
courses, advisory meetings, and joint seminars and actual budgeting
processes conducted in the five pilot towns of Armenia (Ijevan, Masis,
Abovyan, Vedi and Dilijan). It provides a detailed description of local
performance budgeting principles, framework, budgeting process phases,
and budget planning, execution, and oversight. It is designed to become
a step-by-step guide for other communities in Armenia and abroad.
According to the manual, the UNDP will assign 20 000 USD to each
community which in its turn is to add 20 000 USD to that sum. The
only exception is Ijevan as the money assigned to this community by
the project will be doubled and will be 80 000USD.
According to Narine Sahakyan, head of the UNDP social-economic project
each community will spend the money in its own way. “For instance,
in Abovyan the money will be spent on heat supply of kindergartens.
In Masis the entrances of blocks of flats will be reconstructed. The
busiest street will be reconstructed In Vedi and finally in Dilijan
in addition to all above mentioned matters illumination problem will
be solved. As for Ijevan, the garden of sculptures will be set up,”
she says.
Since its inception in 2005, the Performance Budgeting Project
has generated much interest among local self-governance bodies
in Armenia. The goals of the project are to support further
decentralization in Armenia, strengthen the capacities of local
self-governance bodies, and facilitate accountable and measurable
public expenditure management. It assists in the implementation of
performance budgeting during community planning, monitoring, and
evaluation processes ensuring citizens’ participation in the whole
process. This is new to not only Armenia, but also to the region.
Ms. Consuelo Vidal, UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident
Representative made a welcoming speech and ensured the transparency
of the project. She urges that this is a good chance for Armenian
regions to combat against poverty and to eliminate that phenomenon.
Mayor of Ijevan Varujan Nersisyan attaches great importance to the
project and joint cooperation with the UNO and claims that a number of
community matters will be solved. “We have registered 30% growth in our
income which is an excellent result for the city and if we work at the
same rate we voice hope that next year our income will increase more.”