Welcoming his colleagues at the Ministry of Environment, the Minister highly appreciated the work of UNICEF both in Armenia and around the world.
The Minister stressed the importance of UNICEF programs aimed at countering climate change among children and adolescents, given the fact that children and adolescents living in poverty are most vulnerable to climate change.
"The Ministry of Environment is the authorized body that develops climate policy, and we consider UNICEF an important partner in this regard.
It is no secret that children are considered the most vulnerable to climate change, and we want to further strengthen our cooperation with UNICEF in order to mitigate the risks of this impact," the minister said.
Children and teenagers should serve the environmental challenges of the future better than our generation."
The Minister informed his colleagues that the Ministry of Environment is currently developing a draft law "On amendments and additions to the Law on Environmental Education and Upbringing".
"The draft law is planned to be posted on the e-draft public discussion platform within the next two weeks, therefore, given the rich experience of UNICEF in this area, we also expect your proposals on the draft law.
And in general, I would like to start new cooperation programs with UNICEF and enrich the agenda of cooperation," the minister said.
During the meeting, the possibilities of implementing joint educational, eco-cultural programs to raise awareness of environmental problems were discussed.
The Minister also touched upon the eco-educational activities carried out by the Ministry among school-age children in communities adjacent to specially protected natural areas.
At the end of the meeting, Minister Hakob Simidyan noted the importance of the information available in society about the risks caused by climate change and its accessibility in general, and expressed readiness to cooperate with UNICEF to solve these problems.
"On behalf of the Ministry of Environment and on my own behalf, I confirm my readiness to cooperate in order to raise public awareness not only about climate, but also about general environmental problems, the implementation of eco-educational programs.
The Ministry of Environment is ready to make efforts and, together with its partners - the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports and the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, as well as UNICEF - to implement programs that will help raise awareness and readiness to confront environmental problems and challenges of society as a whole," the Minister said.