Support to decentralisation and local self-government reforms in Armenia

Armenia has inherited a culture of centralised political system, but with signing the European Charter of Local Self-Government the country has began a transformational process to develop and support the political, administrative and financial independence of local authorities. The SALAR Project aims to support the Armenian government with decentralisation reforms and strengthening of local self-governments.

The project has been developed in cooperation with the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure (MTAI), Ministry of Finance (MoF) and other government bodies, as well as in consultations with local actors and relevant representative organisations in Armenia. The overall objective of the Project is to increase political and institutional awareness, commitment, competence and trust among national and local stakeholders to advance decentralisation. This entails support to manage the change processes and expand local government autonomy, responsibilities, capacities and accountability vis-a-vis citizens.

SALAR International’s work in Armenia consists of two areas of support:

1. Institutional framework for decentralisation with focus on political dialogue, advocacy and reform communication to advance evidence-based decentralisation reform
2. Fiscal decentralisation focusingon establishing a consensus about key concepts of fiscal decentralisation among all reform stakeholders, strengthening capacities of the actors at central and local levels on different aspects of management of public finances and fiscal decentralisation, developing models and tools for financing of decentralised functions

The following strategies are used:

• Strengthening political leadership and local governance reform by providing policy advice and advocacy support to the Ministry of Territorial Administration
• Awareness raising about the decentralisation, its benefits, the principles of the European Charter of Local Self-Governments and its meaning. providing mentoring, analytical and advisory support to improve capacities of actors on central, regional and local levels. Support to the design and implementation of a more decentralised democratic governance system.
• Supporting the creation and communication of horizontal and vertical cooperation and consultation mechanisms and frameworks between relevant actors in the targeted local government competence areas

The Project is implemented in phases and its first implementation phase runs from September 2022 to February 2024. This phase should result in selection of sectors or policy areas to be addressed by the Project. Based on the previous experiences and expertise of SALAR International, theareas for consideration are: policy dialogue, fiscal decentralisation and education decentralisation. 

Facts about the project

Domains of change:

Democracy and accountability

Field of expertise:

Decentralisation reform, European charter for local self-government, Fiscal decentralisation, Gender equality, Good governance, Human rights

Funding:

Swedish International Development Agency (Sida)

Duration:

September 2022 - February 2024 (Phase I), March 2024 - February 2026 (Phase II)

Partners:

Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Deputy Prime Minister Office, National Assembly, local self-governments, other development partners.