An online discussion in the format of a public-private dialogue on the development of the “5th Open Action Partnership (OGP) National Action Plan” about Public Integrity and Public Procurement was held on 11 May.
The event was organized within the framework of the “Supporting Co-Creation Process of the 5th OGP Action Plan” project implemented by the Armavir Development Center, the Armenian Lawyers’ Association and the Freedom of Information Center NGO with the support of the Open Government Partnership, within the framework of the “EU for Integrity Programme for the Eastern Partnership” funded by the European Union.
During the online meeting, Ms Narine Avetisyan, a representative of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, mentioned that a concept on banning the acceptance gifts by officials had been developed with the Ministry of Justice, which is one of the programs for implementing reforms in the sector of public service.
“The idea was to develop a common policy of banning the acceptance of gifts by public servants and the issue of exercising more effective control over the sector,” the representative of the CPC said.
According to her, the current legislation is not completely regulated by the current legislation that is why the Commission started working out the concept on the ban on accepting gifts.
Ms Syuzanna Soghomonyan, Program Expert of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, mentioned in her speech that the impression is that a symbolic document has been developed and it will not bring to the objective for which it was created. According to her, in that case the experience of several countries is instructive, for example, Australia, Great Britain and Argentina.
“Regulations on representation expenses are also important and there are no set standards as such. We learn from media publications that this or that official has donated brandy or souvenirs of high value within the framework of representative meetings and visits. We think that certain norms and standards should be developed,” Syuzanna Soghomonyan said.
Ms Lilya Afrikyan, OGP Coordinator/Point of Contact, Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, mentioned that it is important to create both a gift register and an integrity system.
“The war and COVID showed that the existing systems are not enough, there are quite notable shortcomings. But this crisis is another opportunity to make improvement. Armenia is in a crisis situation and capacity development is important,” Ms Afrikyan said.
Expert Mariam Zadoyan highlighted the creation of feedback mechanisms within the framework of the program, enabling citizens to work with procurement data, such as audits, “red flags” of risk indicators or hotlines. In addition, cooperation with citizens aimed at developing gender-sensitive public procurement policies is important.
“Stakeholders must be identified and consulted before the development of the contractual platform to understand users’ requirements. Open contract reform should be targeted at high-risk areas such as extraction and healthcare. In addition, assurance that the data is open, usable and complete in accordance with the guidelines of the standards,” Mariam Zadoyan says.
The participants of the discussion reached agreements regarding further work.