Action Plans

OGP-Armenia the Second National Action Plan was approved by the Government Protocol Decision N 32 of July 31, 2014.

Since the end of 2013, the Government has initiated the development of a draft OGP-Armenia Second Action Plan. The project is based on proposals that came from both the Government and Civil Society.

The program did not include proposals that did not meet the OGP values ​​and principles. Proposals that intended the drafting and adoption of new laws, as well as the amendments to acting Laws, were also not included in the program, as the laws are adopted by the National Assembly, and the Government cannot guarantee their adoption.
Despite this, the Government has expressed its willingness to discuss the possibility of implementing and finding the mechanisms outside the OGP initiative for the not included proposals.

OPEN GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIP

Second National Action Plan of the Republic of Armenia (2014-2016)

The Republic of Armenia, being declared a democratic country by the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, always strives to achieve a functioning democracy through reforms. In the modern world, societies demand that their governments be open, accountable and effective, expecting more active civic participation in public administration. Based on this imperative, the Government of the Republic of Armenia continues to focus on increasing the efficiency of the public administration system. It's clear that our country could not stay out of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) process on this path. AND 2011 The decision of the Republic of Armenia to join the OGP initiative in the fall of 2011 demonstrates Armenia's readiness to ensure a higher level of transparency and accountability in the provision of public services. The OGP process is an important part of the Government's agenda, being under the direct control of the Government of the Republic of Armenia. The initiative provides an excellent opportunity to have institutions that will promote active citizen participation in decision-making and policy-making processes. The Republic of Armenia has successfully fulfilled its commitments under its first OGP-Armenia Action Plan for 2012-2013. Their main provisions were mainly aimed at improving the efficiency, transparency and accountability of the public administration system in Armenia, in particular, increasing the efficiency of public resource management, e-government development, improving the internal audit system, improving the public procurement process, ensuring transparency, improving the quality of public services. development, increasing the transparency of the tax administration, the fight against corruption, etc. In this context, it must be stated with certainty that Armenia occupies a leading position both in the volume of its obligations and the degree of its implementation. The support and efforts of all partners involved in fulfilling Armenia's commitments in this process are highly appreciated. The results of the implementation of the above program are summarized in the OGP Armenia Annual Self-Assessment Report, published in the fall of 2013. It should be noted that during these two years Armenia has significantly improved its position by a number of indicators. According to the World Bank և International Finance Corporation's October 29, 2013, Report on Settlement Perceptions for SMEs 2014, Armenia ranks 37th out of 189 countries in terms of doing business, up to three places from the previous year. In August 2013, Moody's rated Armenia as "stable" Ba2 instead of the "negative" of the previous year.

STEPS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA TOWARDS OPEN GOVERNANCE

The Government of the Republic of Armenia continues to adhere to its commitment to become more transparent and accountable to its citizens, as a result of which the system of governance is in line with their needs and aspirations. Strengthening the system of state institutions and effective management system is one of the priorities of the state և In the last decade the Armenian authorities have taken a number of measures in that direction, in particular: In the field of participatory, more transparent governance, posting of draft government decisions on the website is still under discussion.

Broadcasting of government sessions fo Posting the results of the control carried out by the RA Control Chamber on www.e-gov.am website.

Publication of declarations of high-ranking officials on the official website of the Ethics Committee of High-ranking Officials (www.ethics.am).

Review of regulatory legislation (Guillotine Regulatory Program) to alleviate the burden of regulatory business on citizens, reducing operating costs by at least two times. Introducing new principles and approaches to accountability in public administration

 Any measure or program of measures submitted by a public authority must contain a clear formulation of the results of the program, and those results must be measurable;

 Public administration bodies regularly submit performance reports, based on which the work performed by each of their employees is evaluated.

In the field of improving the quality and efficiency of the provided services

Issuance of a certificate of the country of origin

 Conducting an examination. Currently, exporters of up to 2.5 tons of agricultural products submit only 4 documents. Receive a certificate within 1 working day.

Possibility of paying a fee or administrative fines for state duty, local duty, services provided by state or local self-government bodies defined by the RA legislation, as well as online taxes.

Reduction of the monetary term of urban development permit procedures, in certain cases, elimination of the design task, order of design documents պահանջ expertise requirement when building a residential house.

 2012 Launch of the "Armenian Real Estate Information System" electronic system for managing the real estate cadastre from January 1 (www.e-cadastre.am).

 In the field of traffic police, reforms in the registration of vehicles, issuance of driver's licenses, fines և introduction of an electronic payment system.

 In order to facilitate the process of issuing certificates for import of medicines, pharmaceuticals, to ensure the quality of services provided to citizens;

 As a result of the major reforms implemented in the field of tax administration, expansion of e-services, improvement of taxpayer service. It is noteworthy that the OGP Independent Reporting Mechanism (hereinafter referred to as the IMA) especially praised the implementation of software budgeting, improvement of procurement procedures, transparency of property and income declaration, standardization of the content of official websites, and improvement of public servants' knowledge of freedom of information. , promoting transparency and objectivity in tax administration processes, as well as steps to fight corruption.

Based on the IMF's call to develop these steps, taking into account the unprecedented experience gained in developing and implementing the first program, the Government of the Republic of Armenia, together with civil society representatives, has developed an OGP-Armenia Second Action Plan.

It should be noted that the final summary of the program դրա its approval by the Government of the Republic of Armenia coincided with the resignation of the Government of the Republic of Armenia headed by the Prime Minister և the formation of a new government. Therefore, the fact of approving and submitting the program by the decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia with a slight deviation from the established schedule is conditioned by the above-mentioned circumstance.

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Continuing its efforts to improve the efficiency of the public administration system, since the end of 2013, the Government of the Republic of Armenia has initiated the development of a draft OGP-Armenia Second Action Plan (hereinafter referred to as the Program). The project was developed based on the basic principles of the OGP initiative, as well as the lessons learned from the OGP-Armenia First Action Plan. The project is based on proposals from both the government and civil society, including in areas such as mining, health, education, local government, freedom of information, and more. Taking into account the fact that the improvement of public services, effective management of public funds, promotion of public trust are among the main challenges of OGP, the Government of the Republic of Armenia was guided by the principle of including relevant commitments to overcome the above-mentioned challenges. Each commitment included in the program is targeted և selected as a result of comprehensive discussions. The initial version of the program was developed on the basis of proposals submitted by government agencies. Then the project was posted on www.ogp.am to receive public awareness and suggestions from civil society. In parallel, the draft was discussed several times during the meetings of the relevant working group (in particular, September 9, 2013, November 26, 2013). In order to continue the public discussions, the Government of the Republic of Armenia, in cooperation with the Freedom of Information Center NGO, with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development and the United Nations Development Program, in 2014. On April 5-6, Aghveran organized "OGP-Armenia. Transparency և accountability. Cooperation between the government և civil society աշխատանքային working discussion. During the event, both the draft program and the new proposals submitted by state bodies and non-governmental organizations were discussed. At the same time, in order to include new proposals in the program, to ensure public awareness, a number of meetings were organized by the Asparez Journalists' Club of Gyumri, as a result of which proposals provided by a number of non-governmental organizations were submitted to the RA Government. In order to discuss the above-mentioned proposals, to receive additional clarifications, in 2014 On June 5, a working meeting was organized in the staff of the Government of the Republic of Armenia with the participation of representatives of civil society and state bodies. The final version of the project was discussed and approved in 2014. The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia held on July 15, 2014 During the meeting of the working group established by the decision N 656-A of July 15, 2010. The final public discussion on the project took place in 2014. The event was held on July 18 in Yerevan in cooperation with the Freedom of Information Center of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, as well as within the framework of an event organized with the financial support of the OSCE Office in Yerevan. In addition to the members of the above working group, the workshop was attended by representatives of a number of other civil society organizations and international organizations. The program did not include proposals that did not meet the OGP values. Proposals for the drafting and adoption of new laws, as well as for amendments to existing laws, were also not included in the program, as laws in the Republic of Armenia are adopted by the National Assembly, and the government cannot guarantee their adoption. Despite this, the Government of the Republic of Armenia has expressed its willingness to discuss with civil society the possible implementation mechanisms of the proposals not included in the program outside the OGP initiative.