The History

The Communities Association of Armenia was established in 1997, uniting all rural and urban self -governance bodies of Armenia.

Initially acting as a non-governmental organization, the Association was reorganized into a union of legal entities in 2009. The main statutory goals of the Association are to promote the development of local self-governance, protect the interests of  member communities, strengthen the capacity of local self-governance bodies, and promote co-operation among member communities.

The President of the Union is the Head of the Armenian Delegation to Strasbourg, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (henceforth, the Council of Europe).

The mission and vision

By 2020 the Association shall play a significant role in the development of local self-governance and local democracy in Armenia and promote effective decentralization in the state policy-making process by making the voice of Armenian communities heard through advocacy and strengthening partnerships with government agencies. As a result of Association work, communities in Armenia will be financially more independent and have broader powers with more mature local democratic systems and processes.

In the present stage of local self-government and the development of the Republic of Armenia, the mission of the Association represents the organization's aspiration to be a mature and ambitious structure that is ready and able to address the challenges of local self-governance. Therefore the Association defines its mission as being a unified and representative voice of its members guided by the principles of its members' autonomy, rights protection, collegiality and non-discrimination in Armenia and in the outside world, with strong institutional solidarity and structures. The Association strives to have a strong and credible voice of local self-governing bodies in the political system with a view to influencing the political agenda on a common agenda and in co-operation with state bodies in the interests of citizens, communities and local democracy.