A new significant grant Project was announced during an info-session in the hall of Lori Marzpetaran (regional administration) with the participation of Marzpetaran officials, community leaders, the Armenian Association of Social Workers, representatives regional centers of Unified Social Services, non-governmental organizations and other interested stakeholders.

The “Armenian Association of Social Workers” Non-Governmental Organization implement the “Promoting Social Inclusion and Self-Reliant Livelihood Activities in Armenia” Project. It was developed with the support of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia and is implemented under the coordination of the World Bank with the funding of the Government of Japan.

Within the Project, it is envisaged to provide various social services to the families registered in the family benefit system, as well as to the families left out of that system, as well as to enhance the capacity building of the social workers.

On behalf of the Governor of Lori, Valeri Jaghinyan, the Head of the Social Security Administration of the Health and Social Security Department of the Marzpetaran, to greet those present, expressed his appreciation to the organizations responsible for the initiative of launching such a program. He emphasized his readiness to support the implementation of the Project.

Welcoming the participants and thanking them for attending, Mira Antonyan, President of the Association, mentioned that it is planned to improve the social condition of more than 11,000 people in five regions of Armenia: Lori, Ararat, Armavir, Kotayk and Shirak by developing and localizing the social case management system and promoting entrepreneurship.

In the process of the Project implementation, beneficiary families will be selected, who will get an opportunity to overcome the obstacles of having a source of own income and to develop their entrepreneurial skills.



The Association of Social Workers intends to develop a new social cases methodology within the framework of the Project, and test poverty reduction through clear innovative mechanisms of activation and inclusion, which will allow to be more prepared and resilient in the process of responding to various social risks.

"Our goal is to carry out the whole process, from organizing trainings for social workers to providing tools, guiding the successful completion of the project, ensuring the correct meeting of the needs. The ultimate goal should be to make the needy family self-reliant. We need to create a stable source of income for them”, Mira Antonyan said.

The Project Manager Ruben Markosyan, mentioned that within the Project, 300 families will be selected from the beneficiaries (according to the proportion of beneficiaries, it is assumed that 50-60 may be from Lori region), who will be provided with a small grant equivalent to 4 thousand USD to start their own business.

As a result of the Project, about 200 community social workers from the regional centers of the Unified Social Service will have the opportunity to acquire and develop knowledge and practical skills in social case management. In particular, social workers will develop the skills to work individually with the case, to act with need-based approaches, thus increasing the efficiency of services provided to beneficiaries.

Accordingly, an approach will be introduced in the social protection system, which assumes a complex, comprehensive response to complicated cases, preventing and overcoming the vulnerability of people. An active discussion was also held on the progress of the Project with the participation of interested structures.

Publication in full, according to the public television "1lurer.am" website and the publication of the official website of Lori Marzpetaran.