During the very short period, Armenia has passed a respectable path in terms of democratic achievements in a geopolitically challenging situation. Switzerland, and numerous international actors value the important great achievements of Armenia’s democracy, as said by the Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Switzerland in the Republic of Armenia, and equally the Regional Deputy Director of the Swiss Cooperation for the South Caucasus Werner Thut.
On May 8, the RA NA Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs organized a working discussion on public participation in policy design and participatory budgeting in Armenia.
“The aim of the project is to build trust between the structures, institutions and ordinary citizens, and in our opinion, is an important and timely proposal. The end goal is to promote resilience of democracy and support reform agenda in Armenia.
Switzerland has committed to support the democratic reform agenda of Armenia since 2018,” Werner Thut noted.
The project is to encourage the citizens’ participation in the spheres of public policy building through innovative tools. Participatory budgeting will also be particularly stressed as a means to engage the citizens at all phases of public policy design and make their participation meaningful.
Presenting the considerations of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the Deputy Head of Mission of Embassy of Switzerland mentioned that the participatory budgeting is the most important approach. In this context he also valued the role of parliament as a representation body which accepts the budget and controls its execution.
Werner Thut thanked the Chair of the NA Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs Gevorg Papoyan for showing interest and leadership approach. To his observation, the cooperation with the NA Budget Office and the Audit Chamber is also necessary for implementing the project.
The project also involves the RA Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Human Rights Defender for cooperation by the proposal as important partners. Werner Thut noted the presence of representatives from opposition parties and emphasized the importance of their engagement in the future project. The proposal is designed to form a culture of dialogue in the framework of the project, on the basis of which is the mutual respect towards the political differing opinions and approaches.
With an online intervention, the Head of Public Governance at the Basel Institute on Governance Claudia Baez Camargo presented the concept of the project: the agenda is ambitious, and will be carried out in 10 years.
Gevorg Papoyan expressed his gratitude towards Werner Thut for his important observations. “Democracy for us, really, is a high value, and we try to institutionalize the achievements: It is time to move from a democracy that is based on the commitment of individuals to a model that is based on institutions,” the Committee Chair mentioned.
At the discussion, where representatives from the executive body and NGOs took part, reference was made to the boosting of participatory budgeting, the works to be done in the communities and in the society, the formation of the social capital and the development of skills.
Werner Thut thanked the representatives of the state structures for their participation and readiness to cooperate, interesting advice and carrying out a fruitful discussion.
National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia