The international community joins efforts to support the National Assembly of Armenia to enhance its overall efficiency as a policy-making institution and strengthen the capacity to deliver on its mandate and monitor the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through modern and innovative governance tools and mechanisms.

Today, Ararat Mirzoyan, President of the National Assembly of Armenia; Judith Farnworth, Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Armenia; Birger Karlsson, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Embassy of Sweden to Armenia; Shombi Sharp, UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia; Dmitry Mariyasin, UNDP Resident Representative in Armenia, officially announced the start of a 4-year project on parliamentary assistance - “Modern Parliament for a Modern Armenia” - which will be implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Armenia.

The project is aimed at strengthening the legislative body of Armenia to carry out its key functions of law-making, oversight and representation in its new and fundamentally enhanced role within the governance system, focusing on improved quality, transparency and inclusiveness of parliamentary operations in line with the SDGs and global 2030 Agenda of leaving no one behind.

In his welcoming speech, emphasizing the importance of the program, the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, mentioned: "The programme "Modern Parliament for a Modern Armenia" which is aimed at capacity building of the National Assembly of Armenia, is a significant contribution to the growing role of National Assembly and increasing the efficiency of the Parliament activities in parallel with the reforms taking place in Armenia. We are thankful to our international partners for their direct involvement and support in these reforms."

At the project launch event, Ambassador of the UK to Armenia Judith Farnworth stated: “I am delighted that the UK is supporting this initiative with funding from the UK Good Governance Fund. One of the aims of GGF is to support strengthened democratic institutions. In Armenia, as in the UK, parliament is the institutional backbone of democracy.”

“Sweden is proud to be a partner in this important project. We are stepping up our support to the reforms in Armenia, including for the further strengthening of democracy where Parliament plays a special role,” said Birger Karlsson, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Embassy of Sweden to Armenia.

“Today, more than ever, promoting democracy is at the core of the National Assembly’s mandate. To perform this function the parliament will be equipped with innovative governance tools to address complex challenges, increase accountability, mainstream the practice of evidence-based policy making to engage with the public, including civil society, and enable them to contribute to the legislative and oversight processes,” noted Dmitry Mariyasin, UNDP Resident Representative in Armenia.

The project will be implemented in close cooperation and coordination with relevant national and international partners to ensure full synergies and complementarity with the ongoing and upcoming parliamentary assistance programmes supported by the UK, European Union, Germany, USAID, and others.