OSCE Office in Yerevan enhances co-operation with Syunik province

YEREVAN, 19 April 2005 - Improved co-operation with the leadership and civil society of Armenia's most remote Syunik province was the aim of a recent visit by a delegation led by Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin, the Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan.

During meetings with a Working Group, established in 2003 to promote the province's economic development, the delegation focused on concrete projects based on the study on "Perspectives of Syunik Marz Socio-Economic Development" prepared with the Office's support in 2004.

"Development of small and medium-sized enterprises and similar institutions is high on the OSCE agenda," said Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin at a meeting with the Syunik governor and members of the Working Group. "They are the so-called middle class of society, the basis of a democratic state."

The delegation also presented a project called "Successful First Steps," which aims to increase the professional capabilities of start-up businesses. It will provide professional information and training courses and help promote networking among all participants, local administration and the business community.

Another objective of the visit was to establish a local Aarhus Centre.

"Human health and security are very much dependent on environmental safety," said Ambassador Pryakhin. "Therefore, the OSCE attaches high importance to promoting the Aarhus Convention, which provides for access to environmental information, justice and decision-making".

Suren Khachatryan, the Governor of Syunik, welcomed the idea of establishing the first local Aarhus Centre in the province saying: "The district's administration will support it as a unique example of close co-operation between the administration and civil society for addressing environmental problems on the local level".

Referring to the 30th Anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act this year, Ambassador Pryakhin introduced the activities of the OSCE Office in Yerevan and key OSCE principles to a forum in Goris, which brought together some 50 local officials, members of the business community and the media. Copies of an OSCE textbook in Armenian, recently published with the support of the Office, were distributed during the event.

The delegation included representatives of the Ministry of Nature Protection, "Promotion of Small and Medium Entrepreneurship Programme," a project supported by the German development agency GTZ, the Public Environmental Information Centre (Aarhus Centre) and the OSCE Office.