Foreign Operations Assistance: Armenia

United States Department of State
Office of the Coordinator of U.S. Assistance to Europe and Eurasia
Foreign Operations Assistance Fact Sheet, April 2012 *

ARMENIA

United States Government (USG) assistance to Armenia supports democratic, economic, and social reforms designed to promote regional stability and supplement U.S. diplomatic efforts to resolve Armenia’s long-running conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, and reopen the closed borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey. USG programs are designed to help Armenia sustain its development into a stable, democratic partner at peace with its neighbors that respects human rights and the rule of law, and ensures that the benefits of sustained economic growth are widely shared.

Recent Successes by Areas of Focus:

Peace & Security

• Trained eleven Armenian military personnel in military courses in the U.S. such as International Defense Management, Law of Armed Conflict and Human Rights, Medical Strategic Leadership, and others. The Ministry of Defense consistently places graduates of USG programs in positions of greater responsibility.
• Facilitated the continued safe operation of the Armenia Nuclear Power Plant, which supplies approximately 40 percent of Armenia’s energy needs.

Governing Justly and Democratically

• BY ACCOUNT	FY 2011 ACTUAL	FY 2012 ESTIMATE	FY 2013 REQUEST
  TOTAL ($000s)	$44,417	$44,250	$36,608
  Assistance for Europe, Eurasia and Central Asia	$39,725	$40,000	0
  Economic Support Fund	0	0	$27,219
  Foreign Military Financing	$2,994	$2,700	$2,700
  Global Health Programs - USAID	$399	0	$2,500
  International Military Education and Training	$449	$700	$600
  International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement	0	0	$2,824
  Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining and Related Programs	$850	$850	$765

  Increased public awareness of human rights and access to justice through the provision of free legal aid increased by twenty percent. The Case Law Database of the Chamber of Advocates’ is now accessed by 15,000 users. Legal and mobile clinics provided legal aid to 1,200 persons.
• Helped strengthen and expand direct ties between Armenian and Turkish civil society and business communities, undertaking 30 cross-border activities that directly involved more than 700 persons.
• Increased citizen participation and confidence in the electoral processes through support for public debate of revisions to the Electoral Code, which resulted in the passage of a more transparent code ahead of 2012 parliamentary elections.
• Supported 50 civic advocacy campaigns promoting public participation, environmental issues and human rights.
• Contributed to the improvement of two key laws by supporting 15 open public hearings by three standing committees of the National Assembly.
• Trained 1,000 journalists and supported 60 online media outlets, which resulted in nearly 150,000 citizens increasing their access to a diverse range of news content.
• Helped organize a National Conference of Women in Politics, bringing together over 300 women to promote women’s inclusion in political and economic processes.

Investing in People

• BY OBJECTIVE	FY 2011 ACTUAL	FY 2012 ESTIMATE	FY 2013 REQUEST
  TOTAL ($000s)	$44,417	$44,250	$36,608
  Peace and Security	$8,631	$9,165	$8,857
  Governing Justly and Democratically	$11,771	$12,498	$11,147
  Investing in People	$9,488	$6,664	$5,000
  Economic Growth	$13,527	$14,773	$10,804
  Humanitarian Assistance	$1,000	$1,150	$800

  Improved health care financing mechanisms, including the introduction of a pay-for-performance system. This system incentivizes providers who meet minimum quality standards, allowing for a more effective use of available but limited resources. In FY 2011, incentives were awarded to 190 primary health care facilities that demonstrated quality services.
• Worked closely with the Government of Armenia (GOAM) and civil society to deliver vital social services to vulnerable populations, build sustainable models of social services delivery, and strengthen the capacity of the GOAM to implement its broad social reform agenda.
• Supported shelter services and a telephone hotline serving over 150 victims of domestic violence.

Economic Growth

• To create employment opportunities for youth, sponsored the first ever youth career fair, which was attended by 3,500 people. Assistance to the poorest communities generated 10,000 short-term and long-term employment opportunities.
• Helped reduce the tax compliance burden through a risk based audit selection and automated Value-Added Tax (VAT) refund systems and training of over 200 tax professionals.
• Trained 250 IT professionals, helped create around 20 start-ups, and assisted 27 IT companies to acquire IT and business-related skills.
• Developed curriculum for nuclear-related programs at two local universities, supported a number of assessments on renewable energy generation and transmission, developed a transmission modeling scenario for regional integration of Armenia’s power system, and trained more than 50 energy professionals.

Humanitarian Assistance

• Completed six small reconstruction projects, benefitting approximately 10,000 people, and delivered one airlift and 27 surface containers of humanitarian aid.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Coordinator's Office Annual Reports
U.S. Embassy Website
www.foreignassistance.gov
Millennium Challenge Corporation

*This fact sheet does not reflect Peace Corps funding or centrally managed or regional Foreign Operations funding that is not specifically budgeted Armenia.