Impact Hub Yerevan Announces New Project on Circular Economy

‘CirculUP!’, a new project aiming to increase the capacity and awareness of the circular economy, has been launched in Armenia. The project is led by Impact Hub Network, Impact Hub Yerevan, and the Environment and Health NGO, and funded by the European Union in Armenia. 

“CirculUP! aims to ignite a systemic shift in the Armenian economy and society at large toward circularity,” says the project’s press release. “Over the next three years, financial support of €525,000 will be provided to start-ups, SMEs and CSOs working towards circularity in Armenia.”

The project invites climate, circularity, or sustainability organisations, or other organisations implementing programmes related to these topics, to engage in CirculUP by filling out an online form.

Online Form

“Tax for SDGs” Initiative in Armenia

A UNDP Experts Team visited Yerevan last week within the framework of the Tax for SDGs Initiative, funded by the Governments of Finland and  Norway, to support the Government of Armenia in implementing tax policies and administration reforms for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

The UNDP mission had a series of events involving key ministries, UNDP specialists, other partners and donors operating in Armenia.

The main objective of the visit was to foster the implementation of the Country Engagement Plan, agreed between the Government of Armenia and UNDP, blending Armenia’s national financial priorities and the SDGs with a specific focus on taxation.

More specifically, under the Country Engagement Plan, UNDP is closely cooperating with the Ministry of Finance and the State Revenue Committee to better align the taxation system to the SDGs with a core point on tax expenditures, define tax policies to enhance good health and wellbeing through the reduction of tobacco consumption and sugary drinks,  enhance the tax administration’s capacity to tackle aggressive tax planning exploiting digitalization opportunities such as creating a digital forensic laboratory.

Social Innovation to Restart Human Rights

On 23 March, the official ceremony summarizing the results of the “Social Innovation to Restart Human Rights” contest took place, organised within the framework of the European Union funded “Accountable Institutions and Human Rights Protection in Armenia” project implemented by UNDP in Armenia in partnership with the Human Rights Defender’s Office of Armenia.

The aim of the contest was to raise the level of awareness about human rights through innovative ideas, presenting projects aimed at solving the problems in the field. Out of 38 applications, six teams were selected and went through the mentoring stage with specialists in the fields of human rights, marketing and communication. The ideas were then submitted to a jury, which included international and local experts.

The teams were welcomed and awarded by the EU Ambassador to Armenia Andrea Wiktorin, UNDP Resident Representative in Armenia Natia Natsvlishvili, RA Human Rights Defender a.i. Hrant Jilavyan.

All participants received certificates and the teams presenting the three best ideas were announced and received the following awards:

● 1st place: Safe Childhood - 1,000,000 AMD

● 2nd place: Kanani Podcast - 650,000 AMD

● 3rd place: Diana Apcar AR Visualization - 300,000 AMD

The contest was organised within the framework of the EU funded “Accountable Institutions and Human Rights Protection in Armenia” project, implemented by UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and the OSCE.