Law & Society

A decades-long effort to expand Yerevan’s metro reveals a familiar cycle of ambitious promises, shifting timelines, and stalled execution. The long-delayed Ajapnyak station underscores deeper structural challenges in governance, planning and accountability behind Armenia’s unfinished infrastructure.

An in-depth look at Armenia’s shift from institutional child care to family-based welfare explores the roles of poverty, disability, stigma and law. Tigran Melikian examines recent positive reforms, remaining gaps and what it will take to ensure every child grows up in a family.

Armenia has launched universal health coverage, replacing out-of-pocket payments with a national insurance system. After years of delay, the reform expands access and reframes healthcare as a social right rather than a privilege. The challenge is effective implementation, writes Hranoush Dermoyan.

From chaotic intersections to the challenges of getting a driver’s license, navigating Yerevan’s roads reveals deeper issues of enforcement, infrastructure and culture. Through personal experience and research, Hranoush Dermoyan explains what it takes, and what it costs, to drive safely in Armenia.

Armenia’s long, troubled journey toward biometric passports reveals much about its institutional weaknesses and European aspirations. As the EU moves forward with visa liberalization and new border controls, the country’s ability to deliver secure documents will shape its citizens’ access to Europe.

Armenia’s electric vehicle market is booming, driven by import incentives and global trends. But as EV adoption accelerates, the country faces a looming challenge: how to safely recycle lithium-ion batteries in a system unprepared for hazardous waste disposal.

Facing limited childcare options and short parental leave, many Armenian mothers are forced to choose between career and caregiving. Hranoush Dermoyan explores the systemic failures behind Armenia’s childcare crisis, and what it means for women, families and economic growth.

Inmates in Armenia’s penitentiary system describe a pattern of medical neglect, medication shortages and systemic delays. Astghik Karapetyan investigates the failures of prison healthcare, based on firsthand accounts and reports, and the government’s reluctance to respond publicly.

While some efforts have been made to improve conditions for inmates with disabilities, accessibility measures in Armenia’s penitentiary institutions remain piecemeal. Most facilities are still ill-equipped to accommodate people with mobility issues, creating daily challenges for those behind bars.

In Armenia’s prisons, work and education offer rare paths to purpose, income and potential early release. Astghik Karapetyan explores how inmates, including those serving life sentences, are learning trades, earning degrees and pushing for systemic change.