On June 4, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia (MLSA) organized a public discussion regarding the draft of the 2027-2029 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), including the development of the 2027 state budget, with the participation of interested civil society organizations. Arpine Hakobyan, President of the “NGO Center” Civil Society Development NGO, and Nane Mkhitaryan, a junior budget specialist, attended the meeting on behalf of the organization.
During the public discussion, the Deputy Ministers of Labor and Social Affairs presented the main objectives for the next three years, emphasizing the importance of measures aimed at increasing the efficiency of the social protection system, promoting employment, expanding access to social services, and providing support to vulnerable groups. The discussion also touched upon the reforms being implemented in the sector, the principles of result-oriented budgeting, and the necessity of targeted and efficient use of state funds.
The digitalization processes in the fields of pension security, social support, housing provision, and state employment programs, as well as services for children, the elderly, persons with disabilities, women, and victims of human trafficking were presented. As a result, a toolkit of electronic services will be introduced to save time and resources for citizens.
The meeting was held in a question-and-answer format, which allowed participants to raise pressing issues, discuss the expansion of services, new tools for organizing care, and the strengthening of state-civil society cooperation.
Partner CSOs of the “NGO Center” also participated in the public discussion. This contributes to increasing the transparency of the process and strengthening the cooperation between the state and civil society.