On 2 April, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia hosted the young specialists and CSO/Media representatives participating in the second stream of the budget training programme within the framework of the “Budgets for Citizens” project. Ms Syuzanna Soghomonyan, representative of the Armenian Lawyers Association noted that the main objective of the visit was to familiarize the participants with the budgeting process of the social sphere, study the functions of the ministry in the state finance management system and acquire practical knowledge about the budgeting process.

Ms Svetlana Hovakimyan, Head of Summary Analysis, Monitoring and Evaluation Department of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Mr. Artak Mkrtchyan, Head of the Budgeting Division of the Finance and Accounting Department, and Ms Anahit Hamzyan, Expert of the Summary Analysis, Monitoring and Evaluation Department received the participants.

Ms Anahit Hamzyan, Expert of the Summary Analysis, Monitoring and Evaluation Department, introduced the budgetary processes of the Ministry and presented in details the procedure for developing and approving the applications of the medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) for the budget of 2026-2028. She spoke about the citizens’ budget as well and emphasized in this context the importance of presenting the information about the public finances to the citizens in the possibly simple and accessible way. It should be noted that the largest part of the state budget is allocated to the social sphere, ensuring the social protection of the country’s population.

Further the participants were provided an opportunity to ask the question on the issue of their concern to the representatives of the Ministry. The discussion focused on the mechanisms for providing and calculating pensions, the support provided to compatriots forcibly displaced from Artsakh, as well as the toolkit for providing benefits.

In response to the question of Zhaneta Vardanyan, a student ASUE, participant in the budget training program for young specialists, about the mechanisms for calculating and providing pensions, the representatives of the ministry explained that there are a number of mechanisms for calculation in place, the implementation of which is reserved for the relevant departments.

At the end of the meeting, the representatives of the ministry expressed willingness to continue cooperation with young specialists and CSOs/Media representatives.

The “Budgets 4 Citizens” (B4C) action (8 December, 2022 – 7 December, 2026) is being implemented with the financial support of the European Union by the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, in cooperation with partners “Economic Development and Research Center” (EDRC) NGO and “Agora Central Europe” NGO (Czech Republic).