Statement by H.E. Mr. Edward Nalbandian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia on the High-Level Event: “Open Government Partnership 5 Year Celebration”

20 September, 2016, New York

Honorable Co-chairsThe leadership of the Steering Committee is made up of four co-chairs who provide strategic guidance and support to advance OGP’s overarching priorities. Co-Chairs serve two-year terms beginning on ...;

Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen,

We express our gratitude to the Government of South Africa for its efforts towards advancing the important agenda of Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More in the past year and wish the Government of France all the success in its upcoming chairmanship. Our appreciation also goes to the civil society co-chairs for their dedication and support to the OGP principles and objectives.

As one of the first countries to join the OGP movement, between 2011 and 2016 Armenia has implemented two action plans, advancing reforms in budgeting, mining, healthcare, municipal management, freedom of information and lawmaking. The drafting process of the next Action PlanAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... (2016-2018) marked a new benchmark, introducing such cutting-edge tools as crowdsourcing and co-design.

The OGP Armenian team has designed a crowdsourcing campaign to collect citizen suggestions for the 2016-2018 Action Plan. For the very first time, the Armenian Government has “outsourced” its policy-making to citizens, not just NGOs. More than 130 users were engaged through targeted outreach meetings with the communities in the regions of Armenia. High-level government officials came together with Civil Society Organizations, experts and private sectorGovernments are working to open private sector practices as well — including through beneficial ownership transparency, open contracting, and regulating environmental standards. Technical specificat... More partners to discuss and elaborate the suggested action plan commitments.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Armenia continues its efforts aimed at consolidating democratic institutions, strengthening the rule of law, national mechanisms for the protection and promotion of human rightsAn essential part of open government includes protecting the sacred freedoms and rights of all citizens, including the most vulnerable groups, and holding those who violate human rights accountable. T... and sustains strong partnership with the international organizations and initiatives. Our new constitutional reform, which followed an inclusive process of broad public discussions aimed at achieving a new and improved governance system with increased transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More and accountability, was approved by the nation-wide referendum last December.

At the Open Government Partnership last global summit, Armenia received a top award and was recognized as a leader in the entire region for increased efficiency in the activities of its local self-governance authorities and improved public services based on the principles of open governance. The efforts of the Armenian Government were recognized also by Civil Society Organizations at the national level receiving the national Golden Key award and prize for advancing freedom of information principles and for the commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... on joining the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative.  

In Armenia, we have vibrant civil society, which is an indicator of our growing democracy, and an integral part of Armenia’s public life with increasing participation in and contribution to effective governance.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We, in Armenia, are cognizant that considerable challenges still remain. Armenia is resolute to continue its efforts to meet the Open government partnership goals. Our new Action Plan is aimed at exploring new technologies to directly connect to the society, to mainstream the OGP principles in all domains of governance, and to apply human-centered approaches in policy making. With this in mind, we are looking forward to the upcoming OGP Summit in Paris.

Thank you.