Support to decentralisation and local self-government reforms in Armenia (DeaLoG)

Armenia has inherited a culture of centralised political system, but with signing the European Charter of Local Self-Government the country has began a transformational process to develop and support the political, administrative and financial independence of local authorities. The DeaLoG project assists Armenia in its transition from a centralised political system to one that empowers local authorities.

The project has been developed in cooperation with the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure (MTAI), Ministry of Finance (MoF) and other government bodies, as well as in consultations with local actors and relevant representative organisations in Armenia. The overall objective of the Project is to increase political and institutional awareness, commitment, competence and trust among national and local stakeholders to advance decentralisation. This entails support to manage the change processes and expand local government autonomy, responsibilities, capacities and accountability vis-a-vis citizens.

The focus of SALAR International’s work in Armenia

Insistutional Framework for Decentralisation
Facilitate political dialogue, advocacy, and reform communication to promote evidence based decentralisation reforms.

Fiscal Decentralisation
Build consensus on key fiscal decentralization concepts among stakeholders, strengthen capacities at central and local levels in public financial management, and develop models for financing decentralized functions.

Education Decentralisation
Build consensus on key education decentralisation concepts among stakeholders. Promote collaboration between municipalities and schools through structured cooperation frameworks, encouraging shared responsibility for educational outcomes and local development.

The following strategies are used

Policy Dialogue & Advocacy

• Two Advisory Group Meetings on decentralisation
• Strategic Communication Workshop with stakeholders
• Signing of Memorandums of Under-standing with MTAI, Ministry of Finance, and MoESCS

Education Decentralisation

• Partnerships with 10 municipalities and 34 schools
• Development of the Maturity Model for school-municipality cooperation
• Development of methodology for functional review in education sector

Fiscal Decentralisation

• Publication of the “Blue Book” on fiscal decentralistion
• Baseline study on tax policy and participatory budgeting tools

Capacity Building & Study Visits

• Two study visits to Sweden for government and municipal officials
• Over 20 field visits to Armenian municipalities

Next steps

DeaLog is currently in its second phase, which will conclude in February 2026.

Project website