UNICEF Representative in Armenia: Actions aimed at reducing poverty  have possibly been taken over the past 10 years but obviously they  were not enough

ArmInfo.UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia Shombi Sharp welcomes policy of the new government of Armenia, which focuses on a person. Sharp said this on the sidelines of the three-day conference on the "Role of social protection in the  sustainable development agenda: leaving no one behind in Armenia''  that started on November 31.

According to the UN representative, today more than 1 mln people in  Armenia live in poverty, 2% of them are extremely poor. Despite a  number of events, over the past 10 years the republic has failed to  solve the problem of the poverty of the country's population. At this  stage, according to Sharp, the Cabinet of Ministers of the country,  aimed at protecting the interests of all its citizens, will be able  to fulfill the task if it primarily makes social support more  targeted.

As UNICEF representative in Armenia Tanja Radocaj pointed out,  perhaps over the past 10 years, steps have been taken to reduce  poverty, but they were obviously not enough. One third of children in  Armenia live below the poverty line, and in the Shirak region more  than half. This, she said, is fraught with negative consequences for  the future development of the country. Today, without paying due  attention to this potential, the country is undermining its long-term  economic development. To this end, according to Radocaj, the  organization, in close cooperation with the Armenian government, is  looking for more effective ways to overcome poverty. One way is to  ensure access and quality education for children. "From time to time  we face a shortage of quality education in rural areas of Armenia.  Thus, we consider the possibility of obtaining quality education and  relevant skills as one of the most efficient methods in improving the  well-being of the population in the future," she said.

Sylvie Bossoutrot, Country Manager of  the World Bank in Armenia, in  turn, believes that social security can protect citizens from  external negative shocks. And poverty and unemployment also lead to  lower fertility rates. As a result, Armenia, like many developing  countries, will face the problem of an aging population in the  future.

To note, the level of poverty in Armenia in the conditions of last  year's economic growth of 7.5% and with 220 thousand unemployed  people makes up more than 30% of the population. At the same time,  Acting Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Mane Tandilyan answering  the question of ArmInfo stated that Armenia aims to reduce poverty by  0.5% or more annually. Today, Mane Tandilyan believes that the social  protection system needs to be revised, first of all, to improve the  targeting of financial support from the state.

According to the latest official statistics, the poverty rate in  Armenia in 2015 was 29.8%, which is 0.2% less than in 2014. The total  number of poor people in Armenia was 900 thousand people, 310  thousand of which are very poor, and extremely poor - 60 thousand  people. In 2015, about 19.4% of the country's population were  classified as poor, 8.4% were very poor and 2% were extremely poor.  At the same time, according to statistical data, at the end of June  2018, unemployment in Armenia, calculated using the new method that  does not take into account those employed in the household, was  20.6%, having decreased by 1.2% in y-o-y terms. According to the  forecasts of the World Bank, the unemployment rate in Armenia in 2018  will be 18.1%. The World Bank predicts that the poverty level (with a  purchasing power parity (PPP) of $ 5.5) may reach 38.2% in 2018, with  a decline to 36.8% in 2019, while the PPP calculation of $ 3.2 may  reduce the poverty level in 2018-2019 from 10.1% to 9.1%.