Social protection in Armenia

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Armenia was making gradual improvements to its business environment and establishing a track record of prudent macroeconomic policy management.

While Armenia's progress slowed in 2020 due to the pandemic and the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, the International Labour Organization forecasted the Armenian economy to grow by nearly 8% in 2021.

[1] The Ministry of Public Assistance was established in November 1918, at the time when the second government of the First Republic of Armenia was reorganizing.

1914–1920 were particularly challenging; the First World War, the Armenian genocide and lasting conflicts with Turkey had left behind hundreds of thousands of refugees.

When Armenia became part of the Soviet Union, Bolshevik leaders replaced Armenian government Ministers.

While the Turkish blockade of Armenia, immigration of displaced persons, the energy crisis, and high unemployment rates only made it worse.

The Ministry came to distinctly specify the poverty rate among needy families, as well as regulate the operative and unbiased distribution of humanitarian aid.

In November 2017, Armenia and the European Union signed the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement.

The agreement includes clauses focusing on improving social affairs, tackling unemployment, and supporting rural development.

[9] Between 2019 and 2020, UNICEF and the World Bank conducted an in-depth review of social protection systems in Armenia, with the aim to provide the Armenian government a baseline to address existing gaps and further reform the social protection system in response to emerging needs.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) actively cooperates with the Armenian government and local civil society organizations to support and implement social programs across the country and strengthen the capacity of the government to implement its broad social reform agenda.