Country Development Cooperation Strategy FY 2013-2017

Armenia has made strides in its development over the past twenty years, but it remains far from ready to "graduate" from assistance. The country faces significant challenges, including a concentration of power among ruling elites, poverty and unemployment, and a small, close-knit society where Western ideas compete with an Eastern legacy. The Mission has developed a more focused and opportunistic strategy to address these challenges, built on extensive evidence-based analysis. The strategy aims to result in a more engaged, prosperous, and well-governed Armenian society. The vision for Armenia in 2017 is a country with a competitive and diversified economy, a government that is more evenly distributed and responsive to citizens' concerns, and a decline in poverty, malnutrition, and communicable disease. To achieve these results, the Mission will pursue two Development Objectives and one Special Objective. Development Objective 1 (DO 1) aims to increase broad-based economic growth that generates productive employment and promotes equality of opportunity. This will be achieved by strengthening a diversified mix of competitive industries and improving economic governance. Development Objective 2 (DO 2) focuses on more participatory, effective, and accountable governance, targeting areas where a consensus for reform has emerged between civil society and the government. The common threads running through both Development Objectives are governance, competition, and "going local." Governance is essential for allowing citizens, civil society, and businesses to have a voice and participate in benefits. Competition is an essential element for viable economic and democratic systems, and "going local" is critical for addressing poverty rates and marginalization in areas where opportunities for more democratic governance are greatest. The Special Objective for "quality and utilization of selected healthcare services improved in priority areas" will track discrete results and effectively phase out assistance to the sector. The Mission will focus resources on leaving legacies of USAID's twenty years of investment and addressing outlying issues in three priority areas: maternal-child health, family planning, and multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. The proposed approach is strategically focused, highly selective in areas of intervention, and builds on opportunities and comparative advantages.