Ms. Consuelo Vidal, UN Resident Coordinator / UNDP Resident Representative and Mr. Vache Terteryan, First Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration, within the framework of UNDP Community Development project

20.10.2009

Today Ms. Consuelo Vidal, UN Resident Coordinator / UNDP Resident Representative and Mr. Vache Terteryan, First Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration, within the framework of UNDP Community Development project, presented to the public "RoA Rural and Urban Communities" database and the "Performance budgeting" concept in local self-government system.

Representatives of the Government of Armenia, local self-government bodies, international and local organizations, as well as mass media participated in the event. Welcoming the guests, Ms. Consuelo Vidal said, "These two initiatives that UNDP has implemented with the RoA Ministry of Territorial Administration Armenia are highly important to support the decentralization and local governance processes in Armenia."

"RoA Rural and Urban Communities" database includes data on 865 rural and 48 urban communities as of 1 January 2009. The database, among others, includes territorial and socio-demographic indicators, namely population, social groups, level of education, migration and employment for rural and urban communities. The database includes also indicators that assess the state of the community’s facilities and infrastructure, such as healthcare, cultural, art, sports and other facilities. Also, economic characteristics that include administrative territory of the community, land distribution according to the types, forms of property and irrigation, as well as the existence of industrial enterprises and the level of employment in them. Also reflected in the study are the harvesting indicators of cultivated rural lands, as well as their market price.

The "Performance budgeting" concept in local self-government system includes tools for planning, distribution, use and oversight of budgetary means of the targeted communities, which will enable to use the limited resources in the most efficient way, taking into consideration the community priorities.

"Performance budgeting is not only about efficient planning and use of scarce local resources, but it is also about meaningful participation of citizens and accountability of local authorities to their constituents. These, efficient use of resources and accountability, are especially important in a time of very scarce availability of resources as in the context of this economic crisis," said the UN RC/UNDP RR.

The concept has been piloted during the last two years in more than 20 rural and urban communities of various regions of Armenia. The theoretical provisions have passed a practical experience, while practical points were supplemented with expert recommendations and situational adjustments.

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