From designing public services with citizens to holding pop-up innovation labs in government ministries and building funding models based on the private sector, UNDP in Armenia is revolutionizing the way that development organizations contribute to public good.

On the 25th of September 2015, during a historic United Nations summit in New York, more than 150 world leaders signed a document, which defined to a great extent the direction humanity intends to move towards. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development proposed an ambitious plan to transform the world.

Exclusive interview with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Mr. Edward Nalbandian about Armenia’s 25 years of membership in the United Nations.

Regional Post talked to the UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in Armenia, Mr. Bradley Busetto, about the most important initiatives of the organization in Armenia, as well as the challenges it faces, and opportunities for a bright future.

Throughout history, the Caucasus has continually acted as an arena of conflicting political interests and wars. Assyrians, Medes, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Mongols, Turks, and Russians conquered this part of the world during different periods. It is not much better today – conflicts involving Artsakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia still remain unresolved and the level of animosity between people is only increasing. It seems like nothing can unite Armenians, Azerbaijanis and Georgians and other ethnic groups of the region, with their different languages, religions, customs, etc.

The amount of Israeli-made weaponry used in the recent Four-Day War in April 2016 and the subsequent visits by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Azerbaijan and Iranian President to Armenia give an impression that Yerevan and Baku are taking sides in the Israeli-Iranian rivalry. This is an ominous news for the region, against the backdrop of the Trump Administration’s Iranian policy, which seems to be reversing the brief détente achieved during Obama’s presidency.

In spring 2017 voters in Armenia, Iran and Turkey will enter the voting booths. Armenians will be voting in a parliamentary election, Iranians will be choosing a president and voters in Turkey will have to make up their mind on a constitutional reform. Why are these votes important? And what results should we expect?

“Armath” engineering club and laboratories designed for school children of grades 5-12 was launched in 2014. In 5 to6 years they are likely to become mandatory for all school children that will teach programming, robotics and 3D-modeling.

Whilst establishing the Agribusiness Teaching Center at the Armenian National Agrarian University back in 2000, the founders were confident that the project result will be a groundbreaking and a leading national and regional-level educational institution in agribusiness. All partners – US Department of Agriculture, Texas A&M University, and the Armenian National Agrarian University – were aware of the existing needs and challenges within the Armenian agribusiness sector. Armenia needed well-trained specialists and leaders with important managerial decision-making skills, capable of building a knowledge-based economy.

Last September, the CIS Armenia school opened its doors in the center of Yerevan. It is notable not only for its comprehensive curriculum based on the British model (developed by the University of Cambridge and recognized by universities all over the world) but also for its modern approach to education. Here, everything is done to ensure students are happy whilst studying and are supported to discover their real talents. We talked about the changes in education all over the world with the director of CIS Armenia Mr. Runar Salimullin.