Organization and implementation of open, transparent and participatory public discussions (AMERV0001)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: Action plan – Yerevan, Armenia, 2023 – 2024
Inception Report: Inception Report – Action plan – Yerevan, Armenia, 2023 – 2024
Commitment Start: Mar 2023
Commitment End: Jan 2024
Institutions involved:
- Yerevan Municipality
- "Freedom of Information Center" NGO
- USAID’S ARMENIA INTEGRITY PROJECT (AIP)
- “Transparency International, Anticorruption Center” NGO
Primary Policy Area:
Primary Sector:
OGP Value:
- Civic Participation
- Public Accountability
Inception Report Summary
Verifiable: Yes
Relevance to OGP Values: Yes
The commitment is a new regulation, policy, practice or requirement.
The commitment activities will result in a change of the rules, practices or policies that govern a policy area, public sector and/or relationship between citizens and is binding or institutionalized across government or specific institution(s).
To view the detailed final assessment of this commitment read the End of Commitment Report
Description
Commitment ID
AMERV0001
Commitment Title
Organization and implementation of open, transparent and participatory public discussions
Problem
To promote publicity, participation, awareness and transparency in the process of organizing and implementing public discussions in the local self-government system by introducing a new public and transparent notification system (pilot version).
In order to ensure the transparency of public hearings in the Yerevan Municipality, before they are held, announcements are posted to the official websites e-draft.am, yerevan.am, as well as in the daily newspapers.
Regular public discussions and open hearings are held in Yerevan Municipality regarding the consideration of the municipal budget, development plans, drafts of local fees and tax rates. The purpose of cooperation with the OGP is to expand the scope of awareness of the citizens through addressed messages and behavioral interventions.
Status quo
Taking into account the low indicators of citizens' awareness and participation that have arisen from the organized discussions, apart from the use of awareness measures determined by law, additional mechanisms have been established in order to increase citizens' interest in public processes and the interest due to them.
In order to more effectively implement the process of informing the population, the process of making the mentioned process more transparent, more accessible for citizens, and more accountable is initiated within the framework of the OGP.
Action
The main goal of the proposal is to ensure a participatory decision-making process among residents and young people in the fields of community management and democratic processes. The proposal also aims to support the formation of human-centered policies, raise the level of awareness among citizens and support the accountable public administration through enhanced community-resident dialogue.
Yerevan Municipality will apply behavioral science tools in all 12 administrative districts, which will stimulate citizens' interest and promote active participation.
Develop the conceptual foundations of communication and information policy, modernize the functional system of institutional management and introduce innovative models of communication, public awareness, information addressing process at public discussions organized by the municipality through planning and implementation of the communication. It is planned to introduce additional mechanisms, in addition to the use of awareness measures defined by the law so far, to increase the interest in participating in discussions and to apply more flexible methods of awareness.
How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem described above?
Results expected:
- The readiness of Yerevan Municipality to work more flexibly and willingly with citizens, NGOs, Civil Society Organizations will be confirmed.
- The continuity of ensuring participatory, transparent, accountable management practices will be confirmed through the use of innovative mechanisms.
- With the implementation of the commitment, we expect that the activities between Yerevan Municipality and citizens will become more transparent, information about the services provided by the municipality will become more accessible, public participation will be ensured in the decision-making process, innovative mechanisms will be used and community-citizen cooperation will become more effective and accountable.
Primary Policy Area
Inclusion, Social Accountability
Primary Sector
Legislature, Public Services (general)
What OGP value is this commitment relevant to?
| Civic Participation | This commitment is fully in line with OGP values. When implementing this commitments, we will have public activity in making socially significant political decisions, encouraging the participation of citizens. |
| Public Accountability | Along with ensuring citizen awareness and participation, the city government also commited to ensure public accountability by presenting an annual and five-year development plan reports, as well as annual budget execution. |