End of Commitment Report – Establishment of the “Green Development” Platform

Name of Evaluator

Anahit Gharibyan

Email

anagharibyan@gmail.com

Member Name

Yerevan, Armenia

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... Title

Action plan – Yerevan, Armenia, 2023 – 2024

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...

Establishment of the “Green Development” Platform

1.1 What was the overall level of progress in the commitment implementation at the time of this assessment?

Substantial

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

The action plan devised by the municipality achieved its greatest success when, during the summit held in Estonia, Yerevan was acknowledged as the winner among 100 cities worldwide. This recognition was attributed to the “Green Deal, Green Seal” program. As part of this aspect of the commitment, energyEnsuring universal access to sustainable, dependable, and affordable energy is critical to every aspect of prosperity. Increasing public oversight and transparency in the energy sector can help to ens... More data was gathered from over 400 organizations within its jurisdiction. Based on this information, an energy database was established, and a questionnaire was developed as a result of its analysis. The questionnaire was then distributed to those 400 organizations. Upon completing the questionnaire, the municipality could conduct a needs assessment and determine in which facility energy-efficient or energy-saving measures could be implemented to reduce the energy consumption of that structure or facility. Consequently, one community organization was declared the winner (kindergarten) and received the benefits of the program, which were intended for the winning applicant.

Provide evidence that supports and justifies your answer:

In-depth interviews

1. Inga Zarafyan – “EcoLur” Informational NGO president
2. Viktorya Burnazyan – “EcoLur” Informational NGO
3. Nune Saqanyan – “Women in Climate and Energy”
4. Meri Harutyunyan- Yerevan Municipality/ Deputy Head of the Department of Development and Investment Programs
5. Mane Madoyan-Freedom of Information Center NGO
6. Tigran Mughnetsyan – 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 International Anticorruption Center

Links

• To establish the “Green Development” platform outlined in the Yerevan 2023-2024 action plan, as part of the Local Open Government Partnership initiative, a working discussion was conducted with civil society representatives in the municipality.
• Yerevan Municipality joined the “Open Governance Week” initiative, within the framework of which a flash mob was organized.
• In order to form the “Green development” platform undertaken by Yerevan’s 2023-2024 action plan under the initiative of “Local Open Government Partnership”, a working discussion was held with civil society representatives in the municipality.
• The “Green Seal-Green Deal” initiative is planned to be implemented by the 3rd commitment undertaken by the action plan of Yerevan for 2023-2024, developed within the framework of the Local OGP.
• Yerevan applied for the “Inspiring Reforms” category in order to participate in the OGP award ceremony.
• Yerevan became the winner of the “Inspirational Reforms” award ceremony at the OGP Global Summit.
• Yerevan, as the winning city, was assigned a pavilion where visitors were presented with the main goals, implementation stages, and results of the ‘Green Seal-Green Deal’ initiative.

1.2 Describe the main external or internal factors that impacted implementation of this commitment and how they were addressed (or not).

Throughout the fulfillment of nearly all commitments, external factors influencing the process were connected to the country’s security issues, heightened emotional instability of the population, as well as the blockade of Artsakh and the ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population. The influence of these external factors is primarily evident in the low participation and interest of citizens and civil society in the activities implemented within the commitment framework.
Simultaneously, the gradual decline of indigenous citizens within the population of Yerevan contributes to an indifferent attitude towards the commitment issue and poses challenges in generating public interest in these matters.
The internal processes that could impact are associated with the engagement of the responsible person in other duties and the tight deadlines for commitment completionImplementers must follow through on their commitments for them to achieve impact. For each commitment, OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) evaluates the degree to which the activities outlin... More. However, as per the responsible person, the impact of this factor was not significant, but in the future, it would be appropriate to develop the work plan for a longer period.
Meanwhile, the responsible person for the commitment mentioned that while the electionsImproving transparency in elections and maintaining the independence of electoral commissions is vital for promoting trust in the electoral system, preventing electoral fraud, and upholding the democr... More and frequent personnel changes within the municipality didn’t significantly affect the commitment, they did require extra efforts to communicate the commitment’s importance and implementation process to the newly appointed officials. This, in turn, led to a waste of time and the extension of the outlined steps in the action plan.

1.3 Was the commitment implemented as originally planned?

Most of the commitment milestones were implemented as planned

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

Among the CSO representatives listed in the commitment’s action plan, both TIAC and the Freedom of Information Center explicitly stated their non-participation in the commitment’s implementation. In light of this, they requested the removal of their names from the action plan. On the other hand, the primary representative from the CSO was the Ecolur Information Center, a key organization actively involved in the implementation of the program. However, there is no information about them in the Action Plan. Similarly, representatives from the Freedom of Information Center mentioned that they played a minor role in the program and had limited participation in the organized meetings and discussions.
According to information obtained from Ecolur NGO, the municipality invested all its efforts to maximize the effectiveness of this commitment. However, objectively, it was not possible to achieve some of the planned results to the intended extent.

2.1.1. – Did the government disclose more information; improve the quality of the information (new or existing); improve the value of the information; improve the channels to disclose or request information or improve accessibility to information?

Yes

Degree of result:

Marginal

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

According to representatives from Ecolur NGO, the municipality has appropriately responded to information requests within the framework of the research conducted by them. Other CSO representatives share the same opinion, emphasizing that none of the questions they sent remained unanswered. Although there were instances of incomplete answers, they were able to obtain the necessary information through follow-up inquiries. Additionally, aside from information requests, commitments have greatly improved communication between civil society and the municipality.
During this period, the OGP partners invited the municipality to participate in the Climate Democracy Acceleration Program.
It is a grant program aimed at strengthening the connection/dialogue between civil society and the community. The main idea of the program was for the community and the CSO to sign a memorandum of cooperation and work together to develop a joint program. The funds designated for the project’s implementation were meant to be transferred to the NGO to enable them to execute the project. The municipality is working together with the NGO to create a plan and make joint decisions on how to allocate the funds. The municipality has a memorandum with Ecolur NGO because Yerevan applied for the grant program and won by the way, being the only city in the entire region that won this grant program.
Within the mentioned framework, a program is being implemented with Ecolur NGO. Over a period of 6 months, the municipality and Ecolur NGO will collaborate to determine the priority areas for project implementation.
Specifically, the implementation of the program by the Ecolur information platform from the CSO sector has created an opportunity to conduct awareness campaigns among a larger number of people.

2.1.2. – Did the government create new opportunities to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation inform or influence decisions; improve existing channels or spaces to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation/ inform or influence decisions; create or improve capabilities in the government or the public aimed to improve how the government seeks feedback from citizens/enables participation/ or allows for the public to inform or influence decisions?

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

As part of this commitment, the municipality aims to enhance existing information resources and present itself to the public with the most professional and developed content. This is evident from the plans to establish the Green Platform, which, unfortunately, cannot be evaluated yet as the platform is not operational and not accessible to the public.
In this regard, the municipality signed a memorandum with the Ecolur NGO for the creation of the Green Platform. Moreover, this is the first initiative of its kind implemented between the municipality and a representative of the CSO sector. According to the Ecolur NGO, this cooperation is highly effective because they offer professional and technical support to the municipality for organizing events, conducting public discussions, and providing expert information. Therefore, the platform being created can significantly enhance the coverage of ecological issues in Yerevan, thereby increasing the accountability and responsibility of the municipality in addressing these problems.
At the same time, it’s worth noting that the Yerevan Municipality spared no effort in disseminating and raising awareness about the basic principles of the OGP to the public. They expressed their solidarity with the OGP through various flash mob actions, organized meetings, and public discussions.

2.1.3 Did the government create or improve channels, opportunities or capabilities to hold officials answerable to their actions?

Not Applicable

2.1.4 Other Results

Not Applicable

2.2 Did the commitment address the public policy problem that it intended to address as described in the action plan?

Yes

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

Yerevan faces pressing ecological issues that demand immediate attention. The municipality, authorized to address these challenges, has pledged to identify and map the city’s ecological problems while outlining its vision for sustainable green development. This issue is a persistent concern for both civil society and citizens. While the municipality hasn’t actively engaged in public discussions and awareness campaigns about it in the past, it is now endeavoring to initiate a more transparent and participatory process for the public. As previously mentioned, although the green development platform has yet to be made available to the public, there are plans to host a public discussion soon in partnership with the Ecolur information platform before its launch on the Yerevan Municipality website.

3. Provide at least one lesson or reflection relating to the implementation of this commitment. It can be the identification of key barriers to implementation, an unexpected help/hindrance, recommendations for future commitments, or if the commitment should be taken forward to the next action plan.

One of the key takeaways from this project is that being recognized with an award serves as a strong incentive and motivator for the implementing organization to maintain their hard work. In this regard, experts suggest that it would be beneficial to organize similar competitions among other cities in Armenia that are members of the local OGP. This would foster mutual cooperation and enhance recognition of the program.
Furthermore, during the award ceremonies, countries gain insights from each other, learn about one another, and have the opportunity to adapt successful commitments and experiences to their local contexts. In other words, it represents an exchange of experiences, bringing novelty and freshness to the dialogue.
To ensure the success of the commitment, it has been suggested to expand the participation of CSOs and individuals involved in fulfilling the commitments.
Although nearly all actions planned to fulfill the commitment have been implemented or are nearing completion, some CSO representatives express concerns about the visibility of the Municipality’s contributions. They claim that the progress and results of the commitment were not adequately communicated to them.
However, the representative of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures, also the authorized body for fulfilling this commitment, noted that while the municipality attempted to make the implemented measures visible to the general public, they require further expansion. Though they attended some meetings during the fulfillment of the commitment, not all of them were adequately informed about the subsequent processes and struggled to recall the content of the commitments.
Another takeaway is that awarding a green seal to energy-sustainable organizations sparks significant enthusiasm among them. This inspires them to become advocates for energy efficiency within their communities and influences other organizations to follow suit.