Region

Son of military officer, Igor Sargsyan had always dreamed of becoming a soldier. First he entered the Military Institute after Vazgen Sargsyan and then went to Italy – to continue his studies at the Italian Military Academy. After graduation, Igor was sent to Lebanon as part of the UN peacekeeping mission.

Twenty-five years ago, on January 29th 1992, the Republic of Armenia, which had recently become an independent nation, was admitted to the United Nations by the UN General Assembly. Several months later, in September 1992, an agreement was signed between the Government of Armenia and the UN, on the establishment of a UN office in Armenia.

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.