Enhancing Equity Mechanisms in Participatory Budgeting, The Integrated Municipal Development in Armenia (IMD) project
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) (July 2025 – present)

The objective of the proposed project is therefore to analyze and develop practical, flexible, and context-sensitive solutions that ensure fair and equal opportunities for project proposals from small and remote settlements within Armenia’s participatory budgeting process—ultimately supporting a more inclusive, equitable, and trusted model of local governance.

With financial and technical support from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the participatory budgeting (PB) process was piloted in Armenia for the first time in 2023. In 2024, the government introduced a dedicated participatory subvention program, which by 2025 included 21 municipalities.

Experience from the first years of participatory budgeting and the results of an independent evaluation conducted by EDRC in 2024 show that projects submitted by small communities often lack competitive opportunities and can be excluded from the process, reducing their participation.

To address these challenges, GIZ initiated a participatory process for methodological improvements aimed at promoting small communities’ participation and ensuring the competitiveness of their submitted projects.

EDRC, taking into account international experience and the local context in Armenia, is developing a practical voting model to ensure equal opportunities for small communities.