The Government of the Republic of Armenia

The Demographic Situation Improvement Council met on April 23, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan.

In his opening remarks, the Deputy Prime Minister noted that the global pandemic and the war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh in 2020 had a negative impact on the socio-economic and demographic situation in Armenia, as well as on the possibilities for continued sustainable development, which makes a priority for the Government to ensure increased birth rate, life expectancy and increased number of marriages.

The Deputy Premier said that ever since the establishment of the Council in 2019, the Government has been regularly discussing population projections and international best practices in cooperation with international partners. As a result, several programs have been developed and implemented with a view to increasing the birth rate, supporting young families and providing housing to large families with children.

In this context, he highlighted the increase in the one-time childbirth allowance, in the monthly allowance for working mothers for caring for a child of up to two years, the provision of benefits to families living in villages for caring for a child of up to two years, as well as the approval of the State-supported 2020-2023 housing program for families with children in three components: Lump-Sum Financial Support, Prepayment Insurance and Childbirth Assistance.

Tigran Avinyan stressed the need to make these reforms permanent. According to him, the Government must be ambitious in its policy on improving the demographic situation by providing such incentives as may help achieve the goal of having at least three children in every Armenian family.

Statistics on the current demographic situation were presented. The demographic challenges facing Armenia and possible solutions were discussed during the meeting. Special attention was paid to the draft law of the Republic of Armenia On Large Families and to the Repatriation Support Program.