Monday, 7 April 2014
Government, Civil Society Discuss Open Government Partnership (OGP) Armenia Action Plan
On April 5-6, 2014, the Government of Armenia and the Center for Freedom of Information co-hosted a working debate on draft Open Government Partnership (OGP) Armenia Action Plan.
Attended by 30 representatives from the Government and civil society, the event was organized with the financial support of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Held in a government-civil society format, the debate was aimed at ensuring the contribution and participation of civil society in the stage of development, mobilize civil society’s opinions and ideas, programs and activities in order to comply with the civil society’s needs, as well as to make a joint effort in order to improve the 2014-2016 OPG action plan, as a final result.
Addressing the audience, Deputy Minister-Chief of Government Staff, OPG program Armenia coordinator Tigran Gevorgyan welcomed the guests and highlighted the importance of similar meetings and discussions, noting that the government-civil society cooperation and dialogue is the pledge of open and transparent governance, which in turn is the basic principle behind the OPG initiative.
President of the Freedom of Information Center Shushan Doydoyan said that the best impact might be achieved through continued contact between the government and society. It is important that the second OPG Action Plan reflects the CS proposals and approaches.
The representatives of government and civil society dwelt on the ongoing OPG processes in Armenia and the results of the first Action Plan (2012-2014), the lessons learned and the opinion of civil society. Then, the coordinating task force-developed second action plan came under discussion.
During the primary business meeting, the participants discussed those commitments included in the draft and the new proposals, recommendations and approaches submitted by civil society based on the guidelines developed on the part of international experts.
The workshop resulted in a final set of recommendations to be submitted to the government, after which the Armenia Action Plan will be sent to the OPG initiative’s central authority as a final document in June, 2014.
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The OPG initiative was established in 2011 by 8 countries (Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, the Philippines, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States). The initiative has already been joined by 61 countries. The Republic of Armenia adhered to the initiative in November, 2011. The OPG Declaration states that it aims to increase transparency in the operations of government officials, promote public participation in the management of public life, as well as to have more transparent and accountable governments.
Comprehensive information on OPG processes can be received at www.opengovpartnership.org and www.ogp.am websites.
