ANCA asked US Secretary of State to provide Millennium Challenge  Corporation`s STEAM grant to Armenia

ArmInfo.The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) again appealed to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with an appeal to support the new Millennium  Challenge Corporation grant for Armenia. The grant will allow  Armenian youth within the framework of the educational program in the  field of natural sciences, technology, engineering, art and  mathematics (STEAM) for public schools in the country to receive $ 1  40 million, which, in turn, will expand their opportunities in terms  of obtaining high-quality education.

According to ANCA reported to ArmInfo, ANCA chairman Raffi Hambarian  asked the secretary of state to review the financial analysis carried  out by the World Bank, which classified Armenia as a middle-income  country. "This very controversial definition leads to the fact that  Armenia does not fit the criteria of the corporation, since poverty  reigns outside Yerevan, especially in the regions of the republic,"  Hambarian emphasized.

The organization also reminded that this issue had already been  addressed to Pompeo in May this year, and the latter expressed hope  that the Armenian government would make progress with regard to the  eligibility criteria of the corporation this year, in which case the  board of directors could consider Armenia during the annual selection  countries for the grant.

The organization also emphasized that ANCA is in favor of providing  Armenia with a STEAM grant from Millennium Challenge Corporation,  recalling that neighboring Georgia recently received such an  opportunity, and more than $ 75 million will be allocated from the  corporation to improve Georgia's school infrastructure, $ 30 million  for STEAM educational projects. , $ 15 million for vocational  education programs.

Millennium Challenge Corporation is an innovative and independent US  foreign affairs agency that helps combat poverty in the world. It was  created by the US Congress in January 2004 with the active support of  both parties.