Meeting with the Stakeholders' Committee Members at the US Embassy
In response to a request from the MCA-Armenia Stakeholders' Committee, MCC Resident Mission, together with the Embassy of the United States of America, invited Stakeholders Committee members on a presentation and discussion of the 2008 MCC Indicator Scorecard and the current political risks endangering the MCA program in Armenia.
The event was attended by 11 representatives of the Stakeholders Committee and the Governing Council environmental observer. MCC Resident Country Director Alex Russin made a presentation on the Indicator Scorecard as well as on the importance of the role of the civil society in the program implementation, which was followed by a question & answer, giving an opportunity to the Stakeholders Committee members to ask about the Indicator Scorecard and the Stakeholders Committee relationships within the program.
Then Mr. Joseph Pennington, U.S. Chargé d'affaires, joined the discussion directing it into a political field. Particularly the Stakeholders Committee members were interested in the future of the program, how seriously the MCC funding is endangered in the light of the recent political developments, what is the U.S. Chargé d'affaires’ point of view regarding Armenia's current political status.
"The program is not terminated and the US State Department and MCC do not want to terminate it",- said Mr. Joseph Pennington,- "But the Armenian authorities are expected to make significant reforms. We hope that the new Government will work hard to improve its indicators. But the most serious problems appeared after the Presidential elections and now we keep following the developments hoping that the democratic environment will be improved soon."