Rural development, including water supply systems and waste management, is one of the three priority areas identified by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its interim operational strategy for Armenia. The two other priority areas are private sector development and regional cooperation. Armenia joined the ADB in September 2005.

Donor involvement in Armenia’s water sector has been limited, focusing mainly on urban areas (World Bank, Germany and Japan) [1] The total investment in the rural drinking water infrastructure, in the period 2000-2004 amounted to US$ 6.4 million (EUR 5 million), funded primarily by different international organisations such as Save the Children, the Armenian Social Investment Fund (ASIF), KFW (Germany), and the World Food Programme (WFP). In 2004, the World Bank estimated that a further US$ 43 million (EUR 33.4 million) was required to improve Armenia’s rural drinking water supply infrastructure [2].

Armenia, a former country of the Soviet Union, has a population of 3 million. Water supply coverage in 2002 was 99% for urban areas and 80% for rural areas, and sanitation coverage was 96% and 61% respectively [3].

[1] EBRD (2006). Strategy for Armenia : as approved by the Board of Directors on 7 February 2006. Download here

[2] World Bank (2004). Rural infrastructure in Armenia : addressing gaps in service delivery. Download here

[3] WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation

Web sites: ADB – Armenia - ; World Bank – Armenia

Source: ADB, 3 Aug 2006

Tags: policies & legislation