Author: Albert Nalbandian

 17:21,

YEREVAN, MAY 16, ARMENPRESS. The leaders of the CSTO adopted a joint statement after the summit in Moscow, addressing the need to ensure the security of borders in the organization’s area of responsibility.

The statement says that the CSTO is ready to ensure the security of its borders, including on the backdrop on the concerning situation in Afghanistan and other foreign borders of the organization’s members.

“The situation in Afghanistan and on other foreign borders of CSTO member states is concerning. In this context we express readiness to ensure the security of borders in the CSTO area of responsibility,” reads the statement.

The statement also mentions that the CSTO member states are ready to establish practical cooperation with NATO.

“Realizing our responsibility in ensuring sustainable peace in the Eurasian region, we emphasize the need for de-escalation in the continent and we affirm readiness to establish practical cooperation with NATO.”

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was also  in the CSTO summit.

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1083331.html?fbclid=IwAR2BTDrXGAeQvxtftfxvSLiJQ3m-5jI5NrboS9QxJJZtPVAiXC_I24AFquo

 19:14,

YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, who is in the Netherlands on an official visit, met with President of the Senate of the Netherlands Jan Anthonie Bruijn and the Speaker of the House of Representatives Vera Bergkamp.

ARMENPRESS reports Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Vahram Dumanyan, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan, Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan, Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Eduard Aghajanyan participated in the meeting from the Armenian side.

Nikol Pashinyan also met with members of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the two houses of the Dutch Parliament.

 10:59, 3 May, 2022

YEREVAN, MAY 3, ARMENPRESS. For already 7 years, the USAID-funded Civic Engagement in Local Governance (CELoG) Program has been supporting the increase of civic engagement in decentralization and local self-government reform in Armenia.

It provides citizens with reliable information and strengthens civil society’s capacity to promote effective, accountable and participatory local governance.

The program has been a platform for dialogue between government and residents of the communities.

USAID Project Management Specialist Arthur Drampian said during the ARMENPRESS Podcast program that the program has achieved all its original goals ever since its inception in 2014, and in 2018 additional goals were set.

Drampian said that the cooperation between 6 organizations as part of the program resulted in achieving rather tangible results.

The Program is implemented by a Consortium of local organizations led by the Communities Finance Officers Association (CFOA) in cooperation with the partner organizations: the Information Systems Development and Training Center (ISTDC), the Yerevan Press Club (YPC), the Asparez Journalists' Club (AJC), Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF), and the Caucasus Research Resource Center-Armenia (CRRC). 

Drampian said that there was a need for a dialogue platform in 2014 when the territorial and administrative reforms were announced.

“An open and simple conversation around all questions was much needed. There were several questions, concerns, and the residents of the communities had to be given the chance of engaging in an open dialogue with each other, with the community leadership, with representatives of the government and parliament, to collect all opinions and present them to the decision-makers, so that they’d be able to draft the reforms accordingly and implement the merging in a way that the risks get reduced with maximum benefits,” Drampian said. He attached importance to the fact that the program prioritized the involvement of youth.

In 2014, four InfoTuns were already launched under previous programs of the USAID. The InfoTun is a resource center where the youth come together to discuss various issues concerning their communities, learn media-literacy, civic journalism, watch films, engage in discussions and learn about volunteerism.

Another 6 InfoTuns were opened during the 7 years of the CELoG program. Now, one InfoTun functions in every province across Armenia. CELoG program is completed, but the InfoTuns will continue functioning.

Another notable initiative of the program is the School of Local Democracy, a mobile school which is moving from province to province. Participants learn leadership skills, human rights, community service, local self-government and other subjects.

The School of Local Democracy is now registered as a foundation and will continue to work.

“I want to say that we’ve had so many achievements during these 7 years that it is difficult to mention them all, but we can say that the CELoG program left a very serious legacy. I can confidently say that these programs developed a new culture in our communities. The residents and especially the youth in the communities understood and believed that it is possible to be involved in solving community issues, present clear demands and implement a number of reforms in their own communities,” Drampian said.

Podcast host: Gayane Gaboyan

Photos: Hayk Badalyan

 12:35, 3 May, 2022

YEREVAN, MAY 3, ARMENPRESS. On May 2, Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, who is on a working visit in the United States, met with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, the Foreign Ministry said in a news release.

The high dynamics of the development of Armenia-US relations was emphasized, and it was noted that since 2019 the cooperation has been raised to a new level of strategic dialogue. The sides expressed willingness to further strengthen the effective cooperation established in various fields, based on the common values of democracy, protection of human rights, rule of law, and the fight against corruption.

Ararat Mirzoyan and Victoria Nuland exchanged views on the issues of regional security and stability. The implementation process of the agreements reached between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Sochi and Brussels was discussed. They also touched upon the situation in Nagorno Karabakh, as well as the process of launching negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan on a comprehensive peace agreement. In this context, the Foreign Minister of Armenia stressed the importance of resuming the work of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship.

The humanitarian issues resulting from the 44-day war were discussed, particularly, the immediate release and repatriation of Armenian prisoners of war and other persons held, and the preservation of the Armenian cultural and religious heritage in the territories fallen under the Azerbaijani control.

The Foreign Minister of Armenia presented the recent developments on the Armenia-Turkey normalization process.

 19:28,

YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan chaired a consultation at the Government, during which the state program for the development of education in Armenia until 2030 was discussed, which was amended based on the results of the previous consultation, as well as the main provisions of the draft law on “Higher Education and Science”, ARMENPRESS was infomred from the Office of the Prime Minister.

In particular, reference was made to the changes made in the above-mentioned state program as a result of amendments, the vision and goals of the program. The officials stressed that the main goal of the program is to provide a competitive education that meets international standards.

It was noted that the program was developed in cooperation with international partners.

In the context of presenting the main provisions of the draft law on "Higher Education and Science", the provision of quality education by the universities, their compliance with the clear standards to be still defined, and the consistent solution of the existing problems in the university system were emphasized.

A number of issues related to the licensing and accreditation processes of the universities, the future activity of the departmental universities, the training of qualified personnel meeting the professional requirements of the labor market, the development of a new complete list of professions were touched upon. Various suggestions and observations were presented, around which an exchange of views took place.

Prime Minister Pashinyan specially emphasized the implementation of consistent work aimed at improving the quality of education, noting that a person should be able to satisfy the needs based on the education he received. “A person should be endowed with knowledge and skills from childhood, so that he can build a dignified life in his own country. We must rule out a situation in which any student with progress is dismissed from the university due to financial problems," said the Prime Minister, considering it necessary to have a clear plan of development measures for universities, which will solve the existing problems in a targeted way and will foster the development of the higer education system. At the same time, the head of the government attached importance to the existence of a research component in the universities, the link between science and higher education. "The future of our country depends on the development of education, it is of strategic importance for us," said the Prime Minister, considering it necessary to continue the discussions on the state program for the development of education until 2030 and draft law on "Higher Education and Science" for finalising them.

 18:06,

YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. An expanded Cabinet meeting took place on April 25 in Artsakh, chaired by President Arayik Harutyunyan.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the President of Artsakh, the Head of State presented the military-political situation in the Republic, the latest developments around Artsakh, in particular, in the context of the recent meetings with the participation of the Armenian PM in Moscow and Brussels.  The President stressed that at this stage no document on the status of Artsakh is being discussed and there is a clear agreement with the Armenian PM that in case of any discussion on the future status of Artsakh at the international level, the position of the Armenian side must be agreed with the opinion of the authorities and the people of the Artsakh Republic.

Touching upon the issues related to the cooperation between the two Armenian republics, President Harutyunyan noted that in the post-war period the need for Artsakh to have closer ties with the public administration systems of Armenia and to increase the efficiency of cooperation with the partner agencies of Armenia has increased. In this context, the President instructed the members of the government to take the initiative, emphasizing that steps will be taken at the state level to further strengthen these ties.