Fundamentals of social policy and solutions to current problems, including

Overcoming the poverty

• Define minimal salary in the amount of minimal consumer basket;
• Moralize and conduct supervision over social protection mechanisms and administration;
• Increase benefits and pensions and define in the amount of minimal consumer basket;
• Create 150 000 jobs with wages exceeding the minimal consumer basket in 40%-50%.

Reduction of polarization of society

• Reduce unemployment and implement effective employment policy;
• Ensure real growth of population’s incomes and consolidate the social protection system.

Creation of employment

For reduction of unemployment and increased level of employment it is necessary to:
• Undertake urgent revision of the Labor Code;
• Trigger operation of employment services for the purpose of creating new jobs, providing re-specialty services and developing the self-employment market;
• Develop and implement certain policy against rural labor force, eliminate labor abuse, conduct legislative supervision over employer/employee relations, give legal verification to non formal relations;
• Ensure real protection of labor right of the vulnerable society;
• Legalize shadow market employees, protect their rights and give social guarantees.

Reduction of emigration

Emigration is already a real threat to the Republic of Armenia and its existence as a sovereign state, and the party believes that accentuated reduction of emigration, homecoming of emigrants and presence of immigration may be achieved only through improved moral and psychological situation in the country, recovered believe in the future, reduced inter-society polarization, rapidly decreased volumes of corruption through serious anti-corruption measures, guaranteed provision of perfect economic competition. In “Heritage” Party’s opinion, formation of the new, legitimate authorities should target the above.

Improvement of public health care system

Affordable and high quality health care requires:
• Increase and ensure target use of the state budget funds allotted to the health care system;
• Improve health services all over Armenia to become physically and financially affordable;
• Improve health care system management and internal administration;
• Apply efficient mechanisms for state regulation over tariffs in private medical care and services;
• Ensure appropriate use of the medical equipments and pharmaceuticals delivered to Armenia in the form of aid;
• Render sustainable, free medical care to the vulnerable population;
• Revise the policy for import of pharmaceuticals, equipping the market with efficient, safe and high quality pharmaceuticals;
• Take serious measures against forged pharmaceuticals; enhance customs control, reduce and totally eliminate the smuggler import of pharmaceuticals;
• Recover the VAT privilege over circulation of pharmaceuticals, which was cancelled in January, 2001;
• Immediately reduce and totally eliminate shadow circulation of pharmaceuticals (this is assessed within the limits of 70%-75%);
• Develop efficient policy for providing pharmaceuticals to the vulnerable population.

Social security and insurance systems reforms

For the purpose of ensuring the constitutional social rights of country’s population, the party attaches importance to the following:
• Urgently introduce mandatory medical insurance;
• In order to encourage medical insurance, allow business entities operating in the Republic of Armenia reduce their profit, and count as expense, if they undertake to pay 30% of employees’ medical insurance;
• Switch to accumulative methods of social insurance;
• Ensure high quality housing and public utilities, as well as quality transport services;
• Protect the family, motherhood, childhood.
Those who have devoted their lives and health to freedom in Armenia and Artsakh, including those in the frontier sentry duties deserve the utmost attention and care of the state.

Education system reform

Develop long-term and target programs for training narrow-specialty professionals in higher, secondary and vocational education sectors.

The party believes that it is necessary to impose more stringent requirements against higher education, which will eliminate or mitigate manifestation of mediocrity and motivation of just holding an education diploma.

Lending mechanisms should be applied in higher and vocational education systems.

It is necessary to apply much stricter certification criteria for private higher educational institutions, and regulate the process of preparing human resources necessary for the economy of the Republic.

It is essential to promote vocational education as an important factor to country’s economic development.

To “Heritage” party the following objectives are of high priority: defining secondary education by constitution as a civil obligation, considering education dismissal as an illegal act in accordance with the law on education, safeguarding education right of children, who need extraordinary conditions for education in all cities and villages of the country and covering education costs for children of the disabled and other vulnerable families.

All sources of corrupt affairs and practices in all layers of education should be fiercely struggled over.

Development of science

The party believes that development of science is not just a matter of national dignity; it is a serious pledge to economic development.

For the purpose of equipping scientific institutions with modern facilities, increasing remuneration of scientific workers, extending funds for development of scientific topics, it is necessary to gradually increase the allocation of funds therein up to 4%-5% of budget expenses, as well as find alternative financing solutions and sources for them. Development of applied science should be under special attention, considering it as an important guarantee for economic development of the country.

Culture

Culture has played a leading role throughout the life of Armenian people not only on the level of general civilization but also from the point of national guardianship. Consequently, development of national culture through formation of relevant legislative framework should be a priority objective for the state, including creation of favorable conditions for satisfaction of residents’ cultural needs.

Sport

Sport should be filtered from corruption, since it is one of the most important aspects of manifestation of Armenian citizens’ potential, health protection and ensured military efficiency. It is necessary to develop a complex state policy targeting development of sport. Increase, sport sector budget financing for the current 0.35% to 1%.

Other /Youth problems/

The party believes that future of the Republic of Armenia depends on the new generation. The youth should be brought up in the spirit of state and society of our dreams. The souls of Armenian youth should be implanted with:
• supremacy of spiritual values over material;
• supremacy of freedom over non-freedom;
• supremacy of the law over arbitrariness;
• supremacy of democracy over autocracy.