On March 11, the Open Society Foundations-Armenia and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Georgia and Armenia announced the official launch of the project “Enabling Civil Society’s Collective Monitoring and Advocacy to Pursue Credible and Systemic Reforms Entailed in the Armenia – EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA)”. The project is implemented by the OSF-Armenia with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Georgia and Armenia.
The last two years have been a period of major political changes in Armenia. These developments have created a favorable environment for carrying out transformative institutional reforms in the country. In this regard, the CEPA, which is the first binding and the most comprehensive reform framework Armenia is to implement, presents a unique opportunity to assist the country’s democratic and economic advancement. Importantly, the CEPA has elevated civil society involvement in Agreement’s oversight to the institutional level. By closely engaging the civil society, the document has a potential to initiate inclusive and evidence-based policy discourse in Armenia.
The two-year project aims to contribute to integrity of the CEPA implementation by organizing collective monitoring and advocacy of the reforms, based on longtime monitoring experience of Armenia’s civil society. The project intends to influence the reform process in Armenia in a way that the policies and their implementation correspond to the internationally established standards.
The impact of CEPA is highly dependent on public awareness of the necessity of reforms and public demand for change. The project will promote informed discussions around the reform agenda through regular communication with the public. The project will stimulate policy discourse between the government of Armenia, the European Union and civil society, contributing to the development of a new culture of governance in the country.
“Active engagement of civil society is very important for a successful implementation of CEPA. I very much welcome collective monitoring and advocacy of reforms, as well as stimulation of the policy discourse between the government of Armenia, the European Union and civil society. I believe this project, carried out by Open Society Foundation with the support of the Embassy of the Netherlands, can be a significant contribution to this process”, said Maaike van Koldam, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Georgia and Armenia.
Thematic areas for collective monitoring include but are not limited to human rights, judicial, electoral reforms, fight against corruption, transparent and accountable governance. In the framework of the project, civil society organizations have developed a roadmap to monitor the reforms in these areas.
The project methodology will draw on the experience of Georgian civil society in conducting the monitoring of the implementation of Association agreement with EU.
“The value of CEPA has dramatically risen after the revolution because there is no more fear that it can be manipulated as numerous previous reform agendas before the revolution. It now can serve as a roadmap for comprehensive and systemic democratic, economic and social transformation. Civil society’s role as a watchdog for proper implementation on one hand and a policy warehouse that shall support deep and comprehensive nature of the reform is indispensable in the course of the CEPA implementation. Our project is aimed to serve both these purposes”, said Larisa Minasyan, Executive Director of Open Society Foundations Armenia.
OSFA will coordinate the monitoring process engaging a large group of civil society actors. Partner organizations of the project are Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly – Vanadzor, Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center, Journalists’ Club “Asparez”, Union of Informed Citizens NGO, Non-discrimination and Equality Coalition, Helsinki Committee of Armenia, Law Development and Protection Foundation, Protection of Rights without Borders NGO, Center for Rights Development NGO, Analytical Center for Globalization and Regional Cooperation and Coalition to Stop Violence against Women.
“The solution of problems raised in the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement will require political will from the Armenian authorities to consolidate the systemic and fundamental reforms of building democracy and the rule of law, which began with the Velvet Revolution,” said Artur Sakuntz, President of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor Office.
The findings of the project will be presented to both the EU and Armenian government to stimulate policy discourse and contribute to evidence-based implementation of the reforms.