In New York, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan participated in the open discussion organized by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) entitled "Democracy Delivers", Armenian Prime Minister’s press office reports. Leaders of different countries, representatives of governments and international organizations took part in the event.
Before giving the floor to Prime Minister Pashinyan, USAID Administrator Samantha Power noted that this spring she had the opportunity to go to Brussels to discuss the concrete steps that can be taken to support Armenia's democratic and peaceful future. According to Power, she arrived in Yerevan in July to give a new impulse to this progress and to get personally acquainted with the efforts of the Armenian people towards democracy. "Now I would like to take this opportunity to announce that we are working with the Congress, USAID, and the US State Department to provide $20 million to Armenia to promote cyber, border, and energy security, as well as increase resilience," Samantha Power said.
In turn, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan thanked for the opportunity to speak and noted. "I would like to share with you what democracy has given Armenia after the revolution of 2018, which was a velvet, democratic and peaceful revolution. After this revolution, there is no longer any doubt in the Armenian society that the official elections reflect the real will of the Armenian people. This is an issue that has already been solved, and I am sure that there is no return to doubtful elections.
The next thing, which is also very important, is that democracy gives opportunity for free economic activity to all people. Before the revolution, we had monopolies and restrictions on certain economic activities in Armenia. Now this issue is also resolved. One of the most important results of democracy is that society now has the opportunity to raise questions, revise stereotypes, and discuss the past, present, and future. I think this is a very important circumstance, because the fact that the Government has adopted the peace agenda is also a result of democracy, and it is very important for this agenda to be successful.
The next result may be about revising traditional views again. It is about the role of women in society. Definitely currently women are more active and engaged in our country, and our people and society perceive that it is an important component of the social, economic and political development of our country. And I am very happy that we are encouraging women to be more active. Their reaction is not as active as we would like, but the process has started and there is no doubt that we will have real changes. It will be a real result of democracy for our women, also for men, for our society in general”.
