Armenia’s National Report on Millennium Development Goals is presented

The presentation of the report was attended by Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan. He stressed that Armenia achieved certain goals with notable success (reduction of child and maternal mortality, availability of basic education and access to drinking water). According to the Prime Minister, other goals registered some progress but still require plenty of efforts.

“We will continue taking consecutive steps to improve the respective indicators. The new Agenda for Sustainable Development includes 17 goals and 169 targets. We have to choose such goals and targets for Armenia, which are in accordance with our national and strategic plans. Regardless of what the new goals or projects are called, we all want the same - to ensure a prosperous, peaceful and safe life for our people, which requires hard work daily from Armenian state system, as well as respective public and international organizations,” said Hovik Abrahamyan, stating that he hopes that the UN-Armenia cooperation will strengthen in the future.

UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia Bradley Busetto noted in his speech that the 17 Goals of the Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030) are universal and can be carried out in any country. He said that the goals should be chosen in accordance with the given country’s cornerstone and strategic plans.

“Large coalitions should form around the implementation of the agenda; the whole public should unite efforts to shape and achieve the goals. This isn’t only the issue of the UN and Armenian Government, but that of the public and media. Messages should be addressed to the public on how important it is to eradicate injustice and ensure development,” said he.

Sevak Hovhannisyan, an expert from IV Consulting that made the report, stated while presenting the results that Armenia achieved 18 MDGs, 16 targets and 65 indicators.

“The targets were achieved by 34%, with 15% out of which registering essential progress. 46% of targets were not and cannot be achieved in the next few years, judging by the current circumstances,” said he. 

The head of IV Consulting team Gagik Gabrielyan noticed that the implementation of MDGs faced challenges as targeting was sometimes incorrect and certain data wasn’t taken into consideration when the indicators were set.

He attached importance to effective management, creation of a respective data base, necessary knowledge and skills and a more systematized approach to these matters.

Mediamax earlier reported on the “Armenia - National Progress Report” in the framework of the “Armenia and 2030 Agenda” special project.