Urban Foundation for Sustainable Development (UFSD)

The Urban Foundation for Sustainable Development (UFSD) is a non-for profit organization. UFSD is the spin-off of the Urban Institute (Washington D.C.) team that successfully implemented a multi-million USAID funded Earthquake Zone Recovery Project in 1999-2005, which housed around 7,000 earthquake displaced households. The UFSD was legally registered in April of 2004 with the aim of utilizing the team’s expertise and experience in a number of areas and issues.

Vision: Decent Life in Healthy Environment

Mission: Promote the sustainable and harmonic development of Armenian communities through fostering local democracy, improving quality of life and developing regional collaboration.

Activity directions:

1. Democratization and transition and human rights

2. Integrated Community Development

3. Regional Cooperation

4. Institutional Development

By the means of around 70 projects implemented in the aforementioned directions, UFSD promotes integrated community development through community mobilization, participatory processes, improvement of urban economy and ecology and environmental education. The projects support cooperation and integration processes in the region, contribute to the establishment and development of democratic institutions, further promotion of local democracy, protection of human rights, especially with active participation of youth.

UFSD has good knowledge and extensive experience of work in Armenia’s communities, experience of collaboration with national, regional and international partners and donors. UFSD has a large network of grass root and local NGOs from different regions of Armenia, which adds a valuable dimension to its mission allowing to extend the outcomes of its activity far beyond the office in downtown Yerevan.

UFSD is the first organization in Armenia which:

• implemented housing provision through Housing Certificate mechanism and, through TA, handed the model over to Armenian Government;
• introduced source separation of solid waste (plastic bottles) in the communities from 2009 onwards;
• brought in technology for production of environmentally friendly construction materials due to recycling of plastic waste;
• developed and published a Participatory Management Toolkit for local government practitioners which was put into practice;
• introduced a model of apartment building stabilization through attracting loans by condominiums.