Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia Suren Papikyan and USAID Armenia Mission Director Deborah Grieser today held a remote meeting to discuss the achievements made during the process of administrative and territorial reforms implemented in Armenia through the cooperation between the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure and the USAID and earmark the future scope of cooperation.

Expressing gratitude for the assistance geared towards the reforms in local self-governance in Armenia, Minister Papikyan expressed confidence that the inconveniences caused by the novel coronavirus won’t have an impact on the friendly ties between the governments of both countries. Grieser also highly appreciated the rich experience of partnership for strengthening of local democracy and reaffirmed the USAID’s willingness to support the Armenian government’s initiatives for community capacity building and decentralized governance within communities.

During the conversation, Minister Papikyan touched upon the actions and legislative reforms that the Armenian government has implemented to consolidate communities and stated that the new phase of consolidation of communities will be launched with the establishment of the enlarged Ijevan and Lermontovo communities. In terms of legislative reforms, the minister also attached importance to the introduction of a proportional electoral system for local self-government bodies within communities with many settlements.

In her turn, Grieser stated that the commitment to supporting the community capacity building will continue to be a part of the plans of the USAID’s new five-year strategy.