PRESS RELEASE
United Nations Development Programme / Armenia
14 Petros Adamyan St., Yerevan 0010
Contact: Mr. Hovhannes Sarajyan, Communications Associate
Tel: +37410 566 073
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site:
Partnership for Social Housing
Yerevan, 22 March 2012 – Today, an international conference on
“Partnership for Social Housing” took place at Ani Plaza Hotel, at the
joint initiative of the National Social Housing Association (ASBA) and
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Armenia.
The conference was attended by Arthur Baghdasaryan, the Secretary of
the RA National Security Council and the Chairman of the Board of ASBA
foundation, Dafina Gercheva, UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident
Representative in Armenia, and Angele Samura, Deputy Head of Mission,
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Leading specialists from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Montenegro,
Bulgaria and Romania also attended the conference. Armenia was
represented by partner ministries, local authorities, as well as
representatives of non-governmental organizations.
Greeting the participants of the international conference and
emphasizing the importance of project, the Chairman of the board of
the ASBA foundation, Secretary of RA National Security Council Arthur
Baghdasaryan said, “Finding a solution to the housing problem is of
high importance from the point of view of Armenia’s sustainable
development and national security strategy. It is impossible to
address the issues of demography, migration, territorial development
without solving the housing problem. Today’s international conference
is the proof of the fact that our state pays serious attention to the
development of social housing, which will contribute to the solution
of the problem of housing of vulnerable families and the development
of middle class. I am convinced that in a very short period of time,
with the help of our international partners, we will be able to
develop sustainable social housing in our country. This will
contribute to the establishment of a favorable legal framework for
long-term investments in this area, as well as provide targeted
assistance to vulnerable families.”
UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative Dafina Gercheva,
highly appreciating the fact of holding an international conference,
said, “It is less than a year that UNDP and ASBA signed a Memorandum
of Understanding on joint actions aimed at development of social
housing in Armenia. Today, we can register that the cooperation is
productive and the organization of this conference proves it. UNDP
supports initiatives that promote Armenia’s sustainable
development. Development of social housing is one of the most
important issues for the country, and the welfare of Armenian people,
the country’s economic and social progress, the future of young
families and the social security of elderly people depend on finding
viable solutions to this problem. I anticipate that the productive
discussions during the conference will serve as a basis for the
national strategy of development of social housing in Armenia.”
The participants of the conference discussed the process of social
housing development in Armenia observing it in the framework of
international experience.
The international, in particular the Netherlands experience, shows
that the efficiency of the project depends on the productive
cooperation between the state and local government bodies, the private
sector and civil society. In the opinion of local and international
experts, social housing can solve many problems facing our society,
which include negative demographic changes, migration, population
aging and poverty.
The social housing development project in Armenia is implemented with
the financial support of “Matra” social reforms project of the
Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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National Social Housing Association is a non-profit organization,
which aims to provide low and middle-income families in Armenia with
affordable and quality housing and its services. The Trustee Council
of the NSHA includes Armenian and Dutch experts.
***
UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build
nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of
growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground
in 177 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and
local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations.
UNDP in Armenia has been established in March 1993 and supports the
government to reach national development priorities and the Millennium
Development Goals by 2015.