Today the World Bank Country Manager for Armenia Sylvie Bossoutrot and President of the Armenian Association of Social Workers (AASW) Mira Antonyan have signed a Grant Agreement for “Promoting Social Inclusion and Self-Reliant Livelihood Activities in Armenia” project.

The funds for the project are provided by Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF) through a three-year grant of USD 2.7 million.

The project has been designed by the World Bank in partnership with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia and will be implemented by the Association of Social Workers– a non-governmental, not-for-profit national professional representative body of social workers in Armenia.

“We are pleased to sign this Agreement with a civil society organization, as a recipient and implementing agency for this Project supported by a Japanese Grant. This project will aim to better integrate vulnerable people and help them become active participants of society by improving their employment opportunities,” said Sylvie Bossoutrot, World Bank Country Manager for Armenia.

“On behalf of Japanese Government, I would like to highlight the extreme importance of this project. I am deeply convinced that this project contributes to the enhancement of the life of vulnerable people, especially in the regions of Armenia, through the capacity building of social workers and vocational training for targeted people,” said Yun Yamada, Ambassador of Japan to Armenia.

The project is expected to help increase access to social assistance benefits and services and provide self employment support to about 11,000 vulnerable members of society in urban and rural communities in Ararat, Armavir, Kotayk, Lori and Shirak marzes of Armenia. Beneficiary selection criteria will favor Family Benefit Program (FBP) recipient households with a disabled member(s), children up to 5 years old, and a working age adult with high motivation.

“The project objectives are strongly aligned with current reform agenda of the Government, especially from the perspectives of encouragement of employment and entrepreneurial initiatives of vulnerable groups as the most reliable way to overcome poverty. The Ministry will continue its support to the project implementation to promote beneficiaries’ self-reliant livelihood mechanisms,” said Zaruhi Batoyan, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of Armenia.