Swiss and German governments to help Armenian communities in  overcoming economic consequences of COVID-19

ArmInfo.The governments of Switzerland and Germany will provide additional assistance to the communities of Armenia in overcoming the economic development  challenges caused by the COVID-19 epidemic.

As ArmInfo was told in the press service of the RA Ministry of  Territorial Administration and Development, in the context of the  Program for Improving the Local Self-Government System, the  communities will be allocated an additional 460,000 francs, which  will be directed to support the population in providing more  efficient public services.

Deputy Regional Director at South Caucasus Development Program of  Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Werner Thut expressed  his conviction that the right time has been chosen for the  implementation of the Small Grants Program, which will allow the  communities of Armenia to implement the processes of  administrative-territorial reforms in the context of the COVID-19  epidemic.  "We are very interested in investing and are very pleased  to be able to play our part in this," said Werner Thut.

In turn, Vice Ambassador of Germany to Armenia Klaus Wendelberg  stressed that given the difficult situation in Armenia, this  initiative may be especially important. "The consequences of the war  are added to the consequences of the epidemic. Thanks to the efforts  of the governments of Switzerland and Germany, this new grant scheme  allows communities to overcome the economic problems that have  arisen," the diplomat said.

It is noted that Switzerland and Germany are allocating 230,000  francs each to address the urgent needs of the Armenian communities.  To make better use of the existing potential for economic  development, these additional funds will be directed towards the  establishment of the Small Grants Program.

Grants will enable municipalities to improve social and economic  infrastructure, as well as create jobs, stimulate self-employment,  solve household income problems, etc. The program will stimulate  small and medium-sized projects to be presented by municipalities in  cooperation with local (non-governmental) economic organizations.

It is also reported that Municipalities and / or public-private  consortia can submit project proposals to organizations implementing  small grant programs.  GIZ will coordinate the grant application  process. The budgets of the project proposals can vary from 5,000 to  20,000 euros, funds will be provided through the GIZ. In exceptional  cases, up to EUR 50,000 can be granted, especially for intercommunal  projects.  The Local Government Improvement Program is implemented by  GIZ, the Council of Europe (CoE) and the United Nations Development  Program (UNDP).