YEREVAN, JUNE 22, ARMENPRESS. Armenia Workforce Development Activity first national conference, funded by USAID, launched in Yerevan today.

Chip Laitinen, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of the United States of America in Armenia, highlighted the cooperation between different structures that will support the government of Armenia in the activities of the Employment national strategy. “Human capital is one of the most important assets of Armenia. We continue supporting workforce development as they are developed and competitive people who will allow the country to fully use the economic potential”, he said.

Natia Natsvlishvili, the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Armenia, also attached importance to the active collaboration. “We are here to support promotion of employment in Armenia. We know that this problem has existed here for years. We see much higher unemployment among the youth, women and girls. We believe that the efforts of the international partners and the Armenian government will be directed to solving the current issues”, she said.

Director of the Enterprise Incubator Foundation Bagrat Yengibaryan said that the basis of the Armenia Workforce Development Program are youth. This is one of the programs that creates future. “In other words, we create a person who should think, create and resist the future challenges”, he said.

Armenia Workforce Development Activity (AWDA) is a five-year program, designed to provide the youth and women with the opportunities to improve their skills in line with labor market needs and find employment in the fields of ICT/high-tech, agriculture, tourism and hospitality. The program is funded by the US Agency for International Development and will be implemented by Enterprise Incubator Foundation with Armenian National Agrarian University, Fund of Armenian Relief and CIVITTA Armenia.