ACG Presented Results of Country-wide Representative Survey on Public Perceptions of Armenia’s Territorial and Administrative Reforms

ACG Presented Results of Country-wide Representative Survey on Public Perceptions of Armenia’s Territorial and Administrative Reforms

Avenue Consulting Group, together with IMR - International Marketing Research, shared the results of a major survey about how people in Armenia view the country’s Territorial and Administrative Reforms (TARA). These findings were presented at a conference in Yerevan titled “Results of the Territorial and Administrative Reform in Armenia: Challenges and New Opportunities.”

 

TARA, which started in 2015, aimed to fix Armenia’s fragmented system of 915 municipalities that varied greatly in size and resources. The reforms reduced the number of municipalities to 71 and brought in changes to improve local governance, manage finances better, and provide better public services. New tools like the Municipal Management Information System and Citizen Offices were also introduced to make services more efficient and transparent.

 

The conference explored how these reforms have impacted local government and highlighted both successes and areas where more work is needed. A survey of public opinion showed that while some improvements in services have been noticed, there is still a need to involve people more in local governance and raise awareness about the reforms.

 

Speakers at the event included Gayane Bakhshyan, CEO of IMR; Aleksandr Grigoryan, Senior Research Analyst at Avenue Consulting Group; and Karen Hovhannesyan, Senior Local Government Expert at Avenue Consulting Group. Hayk Chobanyan, Strategic Development Partner at Avenue Consulting, also joined a panel discussion about the future of decentralization reforms in Armenia.

 

The conference was supported by the Good Governance for Local Development in the South Caucasus Programme, run by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. This program, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), works to strengthen local governance in Armenia. The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia was the program’s main political partner.

 

Ursula Läubli, Deputy Head of Mission at the Swiss Embassy in Armenia, called the conference a key step in promoting better decision-making based on evidence. She also announced an additional CHF 1.2 million in Swiss funding for local governance. Madeleine Rauschenberger, GIZ Country Director, praised the progress made since TARA began and emphasized the goal of building stronger, more resilient communities.

 

The conference was a significant moment for Armenia’s local governance reforms, providing a platform to reflect on achievements and plan for the future.