Children are the most at risk

Daily life for educators and kids will improve soon. A reconstruction project that runs until 2020 is rehabiltating nearly 150 kindergartens in Yerevan to make them energy efficient and resilient to possible seismic activity and the big temperature swings from summer to winter. Dangerous cracks will be fixed and walls reinforced, insulation will be added to roofs, new heaters will be installed as well as LED lighting and solar energy systems, and the interiors will get new plaster and new paint.

“Renovation of just our doors and windows is extremely important, as children are more susceptible to disease,” says Anoush Davtyan, whose four-year-old son, Karen Apresyan, is in kindergarten No. 110 in Yerevan.

The work is supported by a EUR 5 million grant from the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership. The European Investment Bank helps administer this fund, and the money comes from the European Union and other donors to help energy projects in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus. The fund shows countries how to save money on energy use, reduce carbon dioxide emissions and protect the environment.

Cutting emissions and expenses

The grant for the kindergartens, signed in June 2018, comes on top of a EUR 7 million EIB loan signed in 2017 to help Yerevan make energy-efficiency improvements in public buildings across the capital.