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January was full of planning, and the start of February was marked by a study visit of high-ranking Armenian officials to Sweden. During the study visit, meetings were held with senior representatives of the Swedish Government and public institutions, including senior officials from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, mayors, council members and other representatives of Stockholm, Flen and Botkyrka municipalities. The Delegation also visited Swedish Parliament. Visits like these are invaluable — they offer state stakeholders a first-hand perspective on how decentralisation works in practice, helping to sharpen the vision and build the political will needed to drive reforms forward.
March was another busy and productive month in our calendar. On 10 of March, we held our third Annual Municipal Forum 2026, which this year was organised, for the first time, jointly with the Union of Communities of Armenia. The Municipal Forum 2026 was attended by more than 100 participants from around 50 municipalities across Armenia, state agencies, international partner organisations, and representatives of local government associations from Moldova, Ukraine, and Georgia, as well as the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe (NALAS). Once again, the Municipal Forum served as a unique platform for inter-municipal dialogue, the exchange of experience, and discussion of the decentralisation agenda.
Another important milestone in March was the third Advisory Group Meeting of our project. Gathered around one table, high-ranking officials and key focal points of Project partner ministries, representatives of SALAR International and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) discussed the progress within DeaLoG project, highlighted the importance of the current results, and outlined priorities and future steps together.
One of the most important milestones of 2026 was the meeting with the RA Prime Minister on 26 of March. We were delighted to successfully present and discuss the package of Policy Proposals on further introduction of fiscal decentralisation in Armenia, which has been elaborated based on findings of a Comprehensive Gap Analysis on Fiscal Decentralisation, carried out within DeaLoG project. The meeting was chaired by the Prime Minister and attended by the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, the Chairman and the Board members of the Union of Communities of Armenia. We have received positive feedback — a clear demonstration of governmental interest, a strong signal that this work is needed and valued, and clear instruction for further steps.
Back in February, together with the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports and the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, we launched an education pilot. It is the first pilot initiative implemented within of the 4 sectors identified by the RA Government Programme to be decentralised, which is especially important in a context of recent territorial reforms since 2015 and the education sector development reforms. The pilot will also include the application of a new “Governing Together” (STYRSAM) toolkit, which has been elaborated by SALAR and introduced in a range of Swedish municipalities.
Since April DeaLoG project has already entered the pilot implementation phase, having visited all three pilot municipalities— Tatev, Akhuryan, and Vayk and newly established school-hubs located respectively in Tatev, Keti and Martiros villages. Recently we have received warm letters of appreciation from Vayk and Akhuryan municipalities, and these expressions of appreciation remind us why this work matters.
In the scope of pilots, in May, we held a joint online workshop - training with all pilot municipalities and school-hubs. It featured a seminar on critical and creative thinking by our education expert Serob Khachatryan within capacity building pillar of pilot initiative. Besides, participants exchanged around school–municipality cooperation plans, as well as had an opportunity to reflect on government's decentralisation agenda presented by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure. Around 25 people joined - from principals to municipality officials.
The summer is already off to a busy start. On June 29, we are welcoming a Swedish delegation to Armenia — SALAR education experts and representatives of Västervik municipality, where the "Governing Together" (STYRSAM) approach has been put into practice. Since this approach, together with the Maturity Model, has also been adopted within our own pilot initiative, the visit is a valuable chance to exchange experience in the context of our decentralisation and education reforms. Visits to our pilot communities are already planned!