Extreme poverty problem eased in Armenia: Prime Minister says

YEREVAN, April 26. /ARKA/. Over the past two years the government of Armenia managed to ease extreme poverty related problems, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said today speaking at the opening of an international conference in Yerevan on social work in the context of contemporary social reform.

"The global financial crisis hit above all the socially vulnerable segments of the population, and although the level of poverty in Armenia has not changed dramatically, over the last two years the government worked hard to ease the problems of this segment of population," said Sargsyan.

According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, more than 270,000 Armenian citizens appeared below the poverty line between 2008 and 2010. Tigran Sargsyan said presently about 120 thousand families are poor.

"This level of poverty is primarily due to the fact that quality education is not available to all. Our studies have shown that about 60% of poor families do not have a family member with higher education," he informed. 

Another factor contributing to high rates of poverty is lack of jobs, according to Sargsyan. He said a set of social pilot programs have shown that the availability of competent social workers makes the government policies on poverty reduction very effective.

The international conference is organized by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia jointly with the Yerevan State University and the Association of Social Workers with the assistance of USAID, Fund for Armenian Relief, UNICEF, EU, Child Health Now and World Vision Armenia. The conference has brought to Armenia 60 delegates from Europe and neighboring countries. 

According to the National Statistical Service, the number of poor citizens in the country amounted to about 1.2 million people (about 35.8% of the population) in 2010. Actually every third citizen of the country lived below the poverty line. -0-