Social Investment Fund III

closed

The Armenia Third Social Investment Fund Project aims to support the Government's policy to raise the living standards of the poor and vulnerable groups through (1) improving the quality and access, and increasing the coverage of community infrastructure and services in poor communities, especially the most vulnerable groups; and (2) promoting complementary institutional capacity building at the community and municipal level so as to improve the quality and sustainability of service delivery and municipal investments, increase accountability, and enhance greater stakeholder empowerment. There are three project components. Component 1, Community Investments, supports social and economic infrastructure micro-projects in the poorest communities of Armenia. Technical assistance, advisory services, and training would also be provided for micro-project design and supervision and for field work. Component 2, Local Level Institutional Strengthening, Monitoring and Evaluation, complements the community investment component by providing technical assistance, training, and support services to local governments in such areas as financial management, budgeting, accounting, and asset management. It is designed to increase the competences and accountability of municipal administration to support the Government's decentralization initiatives. Special studies, technical assessments, workshops and study tours to support and enhance monitoring and evaluation of project activities at the local level, will also be carried out. Component 3, Project Management, provides institutional support to the Armenia Social Investment Fund covering operating cost, financial audits and maintenance of the management information system.