Action Plans

"Information system development and training center " Non-Governmental Organization

Local self-government bodies (upon consent)

What problem does the commitment aim to address?

The confidence of citizens in the representatives they have elected in that the latter will address their concerns aimed at the improvement of community life underlies the democratic development. This is especially important at the community administration level where the effectiveness and quality of provision of services are felt directly, and rendering of transparent and accountable decisions enhances the probability of social and economic development. The analysis of the current situation shows that a low level of citizen participation exists in Armenia at the local level despite the fact that the pre-conditions necessary for participation are ensured from the legal perspective.

As community budget relates to any resident of the community, decisions regarding the budget provide a great opportunity to engage residents in participatory democracy. Citizen participation in the process of local budgeting will help community authorities to be more informed and render more effective decisions, as well as will allow residents to see and understand that importance is attached to their voice and viewpoints, ideas and programs proposed by them are discussed, viewed and receive an opportunity to be implemented by the local self-government.

The Law of the Republic of Armenia "On local self-governance" prescribes guarantees and forms of community participation of citizens, and enshrines provisions relating to the discussion of the concerns the citizens have in the process of budgeting. The Law also prescribes liabilities on publicity and accountability of the budget. At the same time, many municipalities do not have relevant capacities, approaches and experience in engaging their citizens in the complex process of budgeting. Moreover, the practical experience in developing and enforcing participatory processes is also missing at all. That is why the commitment aims at providing local self-government bodies with a tool kit for introduction of an active and citizen-oriented participatory budgeting parallel to the full enforcement of the current legal framework, as well as public awareness-raising on the participatory opportunities and advantages.

Ensuring the participation of residents in the governance of the community is one of the necessary prerequisites for effective local self-government. Residents of the communities are the direct beneficiaries of the public decisions adopted at the local level, thus the task of local self-government bodies has to be being as close as possible to the residents of the given community, providing opportunities for the residents of the community to participate in local self-governance and involving them in the process of decision-making by local self-government bodies.

1. How will the commitment promote transparency?

The introduction of participatory budgeting will allow shifting from "isolated" forms of local self-governance to more open, transparent and participatory approaches, and making the process of community budget formation more transparent.

2. How will the commitment help foster accountability?

Participatory budgeting will create an opportunity for local self-government bodies (LSGBs) to be more accountable as it will lead to a more transparent administrative work style. LSGBs will become more responsive to people's needs and expectations.

The society, by participating in the budget process, will be more informed about drawing up the budget, the components thereof, and various stages of the process. Besides, upon being informed, citizens may carry out contextual discussions with stakeholders.

3. How will the commitment improve citizen participation in defining, implementing, and monitoring solutions?

In order to promote citizen participation in decision-making at the local level, it is proposed to:

- introduce a "participatory budgeting" electronic subsystem in the community management information system;

- develop a guide on participatory budgeting introduction and provide it to municipalities;

- introduce and apply the "participatory budgeting" subsystem in three communities of the Republic of Armenia;

- conduct public awareness on participatory budgeting.

The implementation of the mentioned measures will allow introducing and testing the "participatory budgeting" tool kit in the Republic of Armenia for the purpose of further dissemination and application in the remaining communities.