24/10/2008 The United Nations established its presence in Armenia in 1992 soon after Armenia became a UN member. Since then the UN Agencies in Armenia, in accordance with their basic mandate have been implementing programmes compliant to local priorities. Sharing the Government’s commitment to democracy and rights-based civil society, the UN Family has been supporting Armenia’s efforts to build a prosperous society, to adapt to the challenges of our time and to reach the Millennium Development Goals. Becoming a member of the UN Family, Armenia together with all the rest of UN Member States committed itself to promoting human rights and gender equality, tackling problems of climate change, fighting HIV/AIDS and other diseases, supporting education system, eradicating poverty, taking measures for disaster prevention, providing shelter for refugees, maintaining peace and food security, helping achieve a rule of law, thus implementing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to reach a Sustainable Human Development.
At present, the UN Agencies in Armenia -- UNDP, UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, WHO, UNAIDS, FAO, UNFPA, UNIDO, ILO and DPI -- work within the framework of the 2005-2009 UN Development Assistance Framework.
These agencies support the Government of Armenia to address poverty and corruption, focus on community development through active public participation in deciding own local priorities and strategic policy advice to the government. By ensuring citizens’ participation in the revision of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, supporting the municipal service and vocational education systems, Agencies provide effective policy advice in support of the current reforms.
Establishment of Clean Production is another programmatic direction of Agencies’ work. Through the decent work programme they promote good governance in labour administration and development of comprehensive anti-trafficking response in Armenia.
The UN Agencies strive to enhance the institutional capacity of the Government in managing the refugee protection and assistance and promoting durable solutions with regard to all refugees (ethnic and non-ethnic Armenian refugees alike).
In the area of health, the work of the Agencies aimed at both policy and programme implementation levels. They advocate for health policy development, population development strategies, strive to strengthen the health system functions through support towards drugs legislation revision. Improving adolescent, maternal and child health care, quality and access of health and nutrition, sexual reproductive health services are also amongst directions where UN Agencies intervene.
The UN Agencies strongly support national efforts in the education reform and child development, access to quality education, legal and administrative reform for child protection.
With regard to HIV/AIDS, UN Agencies support establishment of a national HIV/AIDS monitoring and evaluation system, advocate for increased governmental funding for HIV/AIDS, help with social mobilization, strengthening the network of the people living with HIV and building their capacity on advocacy.
In the area of food and agriculture, the Agencies assist the Government in food safety and security, agricultural biotechnologies and biosafety as well as with the brucellolsis control, transboundary animal diagnosis, surveillance and control. The Agencies also provide relief and recovery assistance to vulnerable groups through relief food distribution meeting the essential food needs of targeted poor populations in urban areas, food-for-education for children in vulnerable rural communities, labour-intensive food-for-work projects in the poorest rural areas, food-for-training on health and nutrition.
Besides these programmes UN in Armenia raises public awareness about UN global issues and problems. To promote the UN goals and principles and to be able to reach to all levels of the population Armenian-language publications are being prepared and disseminated. Through a variety of education outreach youth of Armenia participate in events and activities organized by the Agencies. | 
