Armen Harutyunyan, Director General of the Union of Communities of Armenia, participated in the regional workshop titled "Dialogue with Communities of Armenia: Fiscal Decentralization and Policy Reform." The event was jointly organized by the Union of Communities of Armenia and SALAR International within the framework of the "Support to Decentralization and Local Self-Government Reforms in Armenia" (DeaLoG) project.

Speaking during the workshop, Armen Harutyunyan emphasized: "Strong and financially autonomous communities are the pillar of a modern, democratic state, and fiscal decentralization is not merely an administrative reform, but a direct path to improving the quality of community life, the efficiency of local self-government, and the well-being of residents. We must ensure that every community has sufficient financial resources, autonomy, and toolkits to effectively implement its own priorities and development projects. Only by fostering real responsibility and financial independence at the community level can we achieve balanced and sustainable development across the country."

The main objective of the workshop is to discuss, validate, and supplement the analysis of the current state and gaps in fiscal decentralization developed under the DeaLoG project through direct dialogue with communities. Discussions relied on participants' direct experience regarding local taxes, transfers, public financial management at the local level, and the exercise of various powers.

Representatives from all communities of the Republic are participating in this five-day workshop. This large-scale platform provided an opportunity to form joint "bottom-up" reform priorities, strengthening community participation and responsibility in developing the Fiscal Decentralization Roadmap, which will be submitted to the Government for discussion in September.