On December 22 representatives of 14 civil society organizations (CSOs) received certificates of completion of the educational certification program for civil society organizations at the American University of Armenia. 14 CSO representatives from Yerevan and marzes completed the training program.
The educational program is organized in the framework of the EU funded “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” Project, which is aimed at making the voice of the civil society more influential during public discussions.
Ms Ninel Hovnanyan, a representative of the “Soldier’s Mother” NGO, notes that the project promotes the capacity building of organizations and increases legal awareness. “There are organizations that work for themselves in ordinary way, but their activities are not regulated. This training provided much opportunity for the development of the internal capacity,” the graduate of the program said.
Ms Mari Chakryan, from “Public Awareness and Monitoring Centre” NGO, said that from the very beginning it was important for her to highlight the problems of dialogue around the policies, the problems that hinder them and what steps should be taken to eliminate the obstacles. “I am confident that the actions planned by us from now on will rise to certain extent, because we often conduct monitoring, evaluate the situation, and make some recommendations without taking into consideration such strategic documents that are laid down in the basis of the country’s development. It was very important that trainers drew our attention to those documents, which will make our actions more purposeful and more constructive and our voice and suggestions more substantial,” Mari Chakryan said.
It should be noted that the educational program is intended for about 120 CSO representatives from Yerevan and regions. Within the framework of the educational program the participants will be trained on the issues of public policy development, monitoring of public budget and public policies, coalition building and building CSO-Government constructive dialogue.
The educational program will continue after the completion of the “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project as well. CSO representatives will have the opportunity to gain new knowledge and skills in the above mentioned areas.
The “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project is implemented with the financial support of the European Union by a Consortium of civil society organizations, which are the Armenian Lawyers’ Association (lead organization), Agora Central Europe (NGO based in the Czech Republic), the Armenian Centre for Democratic Education-CIVITAS, the International Centre for Human Development, the SME Cooperation Association and the Union of Communities of Armenia.
