Armenia Development Strategy for 2014‐2025.

Taking into consideration developments and new realities induced by the global financial and economic downturn, the Government of the Republic of Armenia has revised the Sustainable Development Program (SDP) adopted in 2008. The period covered under the strategy is until the year 2025.
The Sustainable Development Program (SDP) had three sets of objectives: (i) reduction of poverty in 2008‐2021, and extreme poverty will be totally eliminated and will no longer be a significant social phenomenon, (ii) elimination of human poverty and ensuring accelerated human development, as a result of which, in a few years, the country should have moved from the group of countries with average human development to the group of countries with high level of human development, (iii) mitigation of disproportions of the territorial development and acceleration of economic growth of underdeveloped regions by developing and implementing a relevant territorial policy.
In order to achieve the mentioned objectives, SDP envisaged three sets of priority strategies: (i) economic policy for ensuring sustainable and accelerated economic growth, (ii) active social and income policy for vulnerable groups of population (including the poor), (ii) modernization of governance system, including improved effectiveness of state governance and ensuring accelerated growth of the resource envelope at the disposal of the state.
In order to make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable, the SDP plans to implement the following strategies: (i) improve use of resource potential of farms, particularly full use of arable lands, increase of crop and animal productivity and through intensified production, (ii) public assistance projects in the spheres of primary seeds production, renewal of plants’ sorts and seeds provision, (iii) development and implementation of projects of agricultural animals deceases control, activities aimed prevention of deceases and revision of strategic measures applied with that purpose, taking into account international experience and efficiency of its application in local conditions.
Regarding the reduction of the rural poverty, possibilities for non‐agricultural employment in the agricultural production chain should expand in this SDP. Possibilities for creating new jobs will be opened in the supply chain (seeds, seedlings, machinery, and equipment), as well as services and sales in the production process. In this regard, it is important to note that the government of Armenia should draft an exit program for subsidizing measures it currently implements, which will create the basis for the private sector to take on those functions. In case if agricultural value full chain formation, it is expected that the number of non‐agricultural employed in rural areas will grow by 8 thousand by 2017 and by additional 10 thousand during the 2017‐2025 period. In addition, the SDN plans to enlarge the capacities and opportunities of the poor and socially vulnerable population mostly by the provision of social services and by assistance in realization of their education, health, housing and other needs, as well as in their inclusion in the labor market.
To increase the resilience of livelihoods to disasters, the magnitude, frequency and impact of disasters have been increasing, government plans to implement the following strategies: (i) improvement of environmental monitoring system in order to ensure application of unified monitoring approaches and standards, collection of reliable information on ecological situation as well as statistical data from other sources, (ii) means of transportation which are the main source of atmospheric air pollution in Yerevan city, including through the development of public electric transportation means providing energy efficient and low emission (green) transportation, (iii) activities for implementing comprehensive measures for ecological education, public awareness and public participation will become more intensive, (iv) draft and include the methodology for assessing the component of environmental pollution and overuse of natural resources in the main macroeconomic forecasts .
In the context of governance, in accordance with the Agreement signed between the Government of RA and Civil Cooperation Network (CCN) in February of 2013, the CCN will represent the interests of wider society during the implementation, monitoring and evaluation as well as revision of the program, if the later would be required. For the successful implementation of the program, it is important to ensure participation of CCN in the activities carried out for the development of policies and for the evaluation, monitoring and supervision of decisions taken by public governance bodies. With this purpose, the State will support the measures implemented by the civil society to develop participatory institute and the steps undertaken for its formalization. In the frames of the participatory process, the CCN will set up its structural units based on the principles of self-regulation and will define their respective rights and obligations, whereas the public bodies responsible for the implementation of the program will take necessary actions to guarantee cooperative and transparent environment.