On 26 June, the final event of the “Social Entrepreneurship as a Community Development Mechanism” sub-grant project which is implemented by the Association of Social Enterprises of Armenia (ASEA) took place. On the same day the official funding from state budget of Armenia to in the area of social entrepreneurship was fixed.
The summarisation of the project was launched early in the morning at the RA Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, where Deputy Minister Vache Terteryan and President of the Social Enterprises Association of Armenia Satik Badeyan signed a Memorandum of understanding on the implementation of effective programs for the development of social entrepreneurship in Armenia.
The “Social Entrepreneurship as a Community Development Mechanism” sub-grant project which initiated the signing of the Memorandum, is implemented by the Association of Social Enterprises of Armenia (ASEA) in the scope of the EU funded “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” Project, which is implemented by the Consortium led by the “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO.
The objective of the project is to contribute to the formation of the LSG – SE partner model and the creation of mechanisms for providing of grants from community budgets to create and develop SEs for the solution of community problems by LSGs.
“Social entrepreneurship is of great importance in the development of communities, but in order to achieve real tangible results it is important that all stakeholders related to the sphere shall collaborate with each other to use their existing resources and mechanisms effectively and in a targeted manner. I think this program was a good example of such a cooperation platform,” Mr. Karen Zadoyan, CCD Project Manager, President of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association said.
An open competition was held for the communities within the framework of the project. As a result of the competition, two local self-government bodies were selected from 12 applicants, which expressed willingness to provide financial support from the community budget for the implementation of the social entrepreneurship initiative in their community. In fact, for the first time in Armenia the state officially invests in social entrepreneurship. Community authorities provide financial support to social entrepreneurship and the Armenian Social Enterprises Association provides methodological support to both the local self-governing bodies and the SE initiative groups.
One of the selected ideas will be implemented in the Lchashen village of Gegharkunik marz and the other in the Bagavan district of Ashtarak city. During the event memorandums were signed between the leadership of Ashtarak and Lchashen communities which will support the the implementation fo the winning ideas and the Association of Social Enterprises of Armenia. “The project is being summed up, but our work with community leaders and citizens that have CE ideas is just beginning,” Ms Satik Badeyan, President of ASEA said. “We are convinced that the pilot implementation of this format will help us to make the LSG – SE collaborative mechanisms more complete and disseminate them to other communities.”
“I think that from the point of view of the implementation of the initiative is much more important the fact that your Social business idea is supported by your community authorities, because it’s a feeling that your idea is partly due to the taxes you paid, and on the other hand, community leadership itself is not simply a consumer but also a part of the team implementing that idea, sharing responsibility for its effective implementation,” says Papin Muradyan, the author of the SE idea in Lchashen village said.
During the event, the Association also presented the online demo platform ddp.am (Direct Democracy Platform), created in the framework of the project, which enables to raise community issues in target communities and propose SE ideas for their solutions.
Social Entrepreneurship is a business enterprise with the business model based on the solution of social issues and the creation of social values, and most of its profits serve for the implementation of social reform and solution of social issues.
