The Armenian Lawyers’ Association, attaching importance to continued oversight and involvement in the budgetary process, sent comments, suggestions and response letters from the state authorities to the RA Prime Minister, the Ministry of Finance and the NA Committees. It was also suggested that a separate provision in the work plans envisaged by the RA Prime Minister’s decision to launch a budgetary process in the coming years be provided, whereby the involvement of sectoral CSOs in the process of preparing budget requests (prior to submitting applications to the Ministry of Finance) would be mandatory.
In response to the ALA letter, the Ministry of Finance has stated that a draft schedule approved by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia on 2021 Budgetary Process will propose that, prior to submitting budget applications to the Ministry of Finance, applicants should submit their applications, including accounting justifications for the discussion with CSOs by organizing public discussions.
We are pleased to inform that the efforts made by the ALA to make the budgetary process in Armenia more transparent and controllable are already bringing to changes.
As we have reported earlier within the framework of the EU-funded “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project this year during the 29 March meeting with the First Deputy Minister of Finance of Armenia, among other issues, the Secretariat of the “Constructive Dialogue Network of Armenian CSOs Coalition” discussed the involvement of civil society organizations (CSOs) in the budgetary process. In particular, the ALA has expressed willingness to coordinate the involvement of sectoral CSOs and co-operation with public authorities and territorial authorities in order to make the process of budget submission more transparent, inclusive and therefore more effective.
Accordingly, the ALA has organized and coordinated more than two dozen public consultations with state bodies involving CSOs. As a result of public discussions, comments and recommendations from sectoral CSOs were presented to public authorities. They addressed both content and technical issues, the adjustment of which would greatly improve the effectiveness of financial planning and project implementation.