A delegation led by Sweden’s Minister for International Development Cooperation Mr. Peter Eriksson visited Armenia 21-22 March 2019. The purpose of the visit was to discuss the implementation of the decision to scale up Sweden’s assistance to Armenia, in response to the democratization process and the strong political will to undertake necessary reforms in the country.
Discussions were held with deputy prime minister Tigran avinyan and with deputy prime minister Mher Grigoryan on Armenia’s policy on inclusive growth, Agenda 2030, reform priorities and CEPA implementation.
The delegation visited AUA centre for the Environment, where first deputy minister of nature protection Irina Ghaplanyan and Alen Amirkhanian, director of AUA Acopian centre for the environment, presented challenges on three areas: solid waste management and recycling, hazardous waste management, sustainable mining, and discussed possibilities of Swedish-Armenian cooperation in these fields.
The visit to AUA was part of "Policy discussion on Agenda 2030 and three challenges to sustainable development" round-table discussion. The SDG Lab lead Stepan Margaryan and Louise Skärvall, SDG liaison officer at UNDP Armenia, presented the activities of the Lab for evidence-based policy-making and how the UNDP is working together with the Armenian Government on Agenda 2030.
The SDG Lab has acquired funding from Government of Sweden for “Armenia-EU CEPA and Georgia-AA: Commitments and Reforms in the Context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)” report which is mapping Armenia's and Georgia's reform priorities under the prism of EU approximation and the SDGs. The report was also presented during the round-table.