Armenia
News and blog
Strengthening democratic governance in Armenia through participatory policymaking and budgeting
The participation of non-state actors – citizens, civil society organisations, the private sector, religious or minority groups, the media – in public policymaking is a core element of democratic governance. Yet in too many countries, mechanisms for participation exist only on paper, not in practice. In Armenia, the Basel Institute’s Public Governance team has been assisting the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC in developing a potential project to strengthen public participation in policymaking and budgeting. Key government officials expressed strong support for the future project concept at a working meeting of the Armenian Parliament on 8 May 2023 organised by the Standing Committee on Financial Credit and Budgetary Affairs. The Committee’s Chair, Gevorg Papoyan, emphasised that it would help Armenia transition: from a democracy that is based on the commitment of individuals to a model that is based on institutions. Werner Thut, Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Switzerland in Armenia and Regional Deputy Director of the Swiss Cooperation for the South Caucasus, commended the cross-party attendance at the meeting. He looked forward to a positive cooperation with a range of institutions, including the Ministry of Justice and Office of the Human Rights Defender as well as the National Assembly's Budget Office and Audit Chamber. Proposed project Speaking at the meeting, Claudia Baez Camargo, the Basel Institute’s Head of Public Governance, set out how the project would promote participatory inputs and responsive policies in key sectors such as health and education. Through the Basel Institute’s work in many different countries and contexts, we have seen how a lack of participation in policymaking and budgeting is a real and common problem even in democracies: State institutions lose touch with citizens and other non-state actors, pursuing policies in isolation and not considering inputs from the people that gave them their democratic mandate. Citizens lose motivation to participate: what is the point, they think, if nobody is listening and it won’t make a difference anyway? Non-state actors may lack the capacity to participate meaningfully in often complex processes of policymaking and budgeting. And when they try, they are often frustrated by the lack of uptake of their inputs. Both state and non-state actors benefit from increasing participation in policy design and budgeting. These benefits include more responsive policies, increased trust and social capital, and a culture of constructive engagement, evidence-based policymaking and democratic consensus making. Learn more See a local news article and photos in English . Learn more about the Swiss Cooperation in the South Caucasus. Learn about the work of our Public Governance team, which regularly assists leading development agencies with conceptualising, designing and implementing projects on anti-corruption, transparency and democratic governance.
ICAR to support Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Committee on asset recovery
We are pleased to have entered into a new partnership with the Anti-Corruption Committee of the Republic of Armenia, covering assistance with investigating and recovering assets acquired through corruption and other related crimes. Under the Memorandum of Understanding MoU , which was signed on 18 January 2022, our International Centre for Asset Recovery ICAR specialists will provide ongoing advice, technical assistance and training to the recently established Anti-Corruption Committee. The aim of the agreement is to strengthen the institution’s capacity to identify and recover illicit assets linked to corruption, other financial crimes or other forms of criminal activity, including those hidden in foreign jurisdictions. Sasun Khachatryan, Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Committee, signed the agreement alongside other members of the agency’s leadership during a two-day visit by senior asset recovery specialists from ICAR to the Armenian capital Yerevan. Thanking ICAR for the practical launch of the programme, he expressed confidence that the MoU would provide an effective basis for closer cooperation. Gretta Fenner, the Basel Institute’s Managing Director, congratulated Sasun Khachatryan on his appointment as Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Committee and looked forward to commencing support in line with the agreement. See additional photos and the press release of the Anti-Corruption Committee of the Republic of Armenia on the institution’s official Facebook page.
Training workshops on social accountability and power and influence analysis in Armenia
Within the context of the “Engaged Citizenry for Responsible Governance” project, funded by the USAID, experts from the Basel Institute’s public governance division conducted two training workshops for representatives of civil society organizations CSO in Yerevan, Armenia, from 4 – 8 May 2015. The aim of the project, implemented by a consortium led by Transparency International Anticorruption Center Armenia, is to increase civic engagement in, and oversight of reforms aimed at improving transparency and accountability of government actions and policies in Armenia. The project is organized in the framework of the USAID’s “Promoting Transparency and Accountability through Advanced Civil Society Participation” programme. As part of its contribution to the project and building on its research expertise, the Basel Institute delivered a three-day training on “Social Accountability and Participatory Monitoring” as well as a two-day training on “Power and Influence Analysis” PIA . The aim of the social accountability methodology developed by the Basel Institute’s research team is to uncover the essential elements that are needed to enable citizen participation to translate into positive incentives for service providers. The PIA is a research approach that is intended to provide information to identify and evaluate corruption risks taking into account the social, economic and political factors that permeate the local context. It is a flexible research tool that can be tailored to different sectors and contexts and has been developed to provide insights into the underlying causes for identified governance weaknesses. Consequently, the PIA is also a tool that can generate the necessary information to develop evidence-based anti-corruption strategies. The trainings brought together some 30 representatives of Armenian CSOs, active in the field of anti-corruption, human rights and the media. Following up on the trainings, the BIG will issue two practitioner handbooks on social accountability and on participatory monitoring, which will be made available upon request.
ICAR attends 19th Egmont Group Plenary in Armenia
ICAR attended the 19th Plenary of the Egmont Group on 11-15 July 2011 in Yerevan, Armenia. In cooperation with the Operational and the IT Working Groups, ICAR gave presentations on the Asset Recovery Intelligence System ARIS which is already successfully deployed in a number of FIUs. In addition ICAR, jointly with the Operational Working Group organised a workshop on combatting corruption and recovering stolen assets. The workshop has launched a long term project to identify and explore the role of the FIU in these areas.
Publications
Anti-corruption Reforms in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Progress and Challenges, 2016-2019
Corruption remains high in the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Governments have undertaken many reforms to tackle corruption. However, empirical data and perception surveys show a poor enforcement track record and that countries have not fully aligned their laws with the international standards. This report takes stock of the actions that countries in the region took to address corruption since 2016. It identifies progress achieved as well as remaining challenges that require further action by countries.
The report summarises outcomes of the fourth round of Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan monitoring that covered nine countries in the region: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan is an initiative of the OECD Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN).
The report analyses three broad areas of anti-corruption work, including anti-corruption policies and institutions, criminalisation of corruption and law-enforcement, and measures to prevent corruption in public administration and in the private sector. Examples of good practice from the OECD and other countries and comparative cross-country data help to illustrate the analysis. The report also reviews the role that the OECD/ACN played in supporting anticorruption efforts in the region.
The State of Corruption: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine
Corruption remains a major problem in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, threatening economic development and political stability as well as the credibility of governments. While some progress has been made in adopting anti-corruption laws in all five countries, the capture of important institutions by powerful interests is seriously undermining the effective enforcement of these laws.
In order to address the problem, Transparency International national chapters conducted in-depth research on the strengths and weaknesses of more than 60 institutions responsible for preventing and fighting corruption across the five countries. This report presents the results of this research, identifies trends and issues of common concern across the region, highlights promising developments in the field of anti-corruption and makes concrete proposals for reform.