On 8 February an evaluation of the "Open Government Partnership (OGP) Armenia 2022-2024 Action Plan"

was held jointly with the RA Prime Minister's Office and the OGP Armenian Secretariat.  The concluding event was dedicated to the presentation of the evaluation report.

The general purpose of the report was to evaluate the “OGP Armenia 2022-2024 Action Plan”, develop strategic proposals that can be integrated into the further implementation of the project. The evaluation of the “OGP Armenia 2022-2024 Action Plan” was carried out with the financial support of the European Union (EU) within the UNDP Kolba Lab’s " Future Today. Empowerment of women, youth and children for deepening democracy in Armenia" project.

Natia Natsvlishvili, UNDP Resident Representative in Armenia, Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin, Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Haykuhi Harutyunyan, Chairperson of the Corruption Prevention Commission, Avag Avanesyan, RA Deputy Minister of Finance, Peter Varga, Open Governance Partnership Initiative Eastern Partnership Program Lead, and Naira Arakelyan, Head of "Armavir Development Center" NGO had opening remarks.

Lilya Afrikyan, Open Government Partnership –Armenia Coordinator from the Prime Minister’s Office, presented the “OGP Armenia 2022-2024 Action Plan” ․

Natia Natsvlishvili stressed the importance of the Government of the Republic of Armenia joining the “Open Government Partnership” initiative back in 2011 and implementing four national action plans since then. The action plans were aimed at improving the agenda of reforms assumed by the Government, making them more transparent, accountable, participatory, and innovative”. UNDP Resident Representative in Armenia emphasized the strong and productive partnership with the Office of Prime Minister of Armenia and OGP Armenia Secretariat through UNDP’s Future Today project, where all partners jointly achieved remarkable results in the last two and a half years. She also expressed her gratitude to the European Union and their contribution to supporting democratic processes in Armenia.

Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin, Head of the EU Delegation welcomed the guests and thanked all partners for fruitful collaboration, emphasizing that the “the Open Government Partnership is based on the idea that an open government is more accessible, responsive, and accountable to citizens, and that improving the relationship between people and their government has long-term benefits for everyone. Therefore, the OGP's objective is to build a better version of democracy, anchored in open government values of transparency, accountability, public participation, and inclusion. The civil society plays a crucial role in ensuring that the OGP remains a platform for inclusive and participatory democracy.”.

Haykuhi Harutyunyan, Chairperson of the Corruption Prevention Commission, welcomed the guests and stressed thanked all the partners for their continuous collaboration.

Peter Varga, Open Governance Partnership Initiative Eastern Partnership Program Lead introduced that OGP was launched around 10 years ago and proved to be a successful model.  He noted, “We are all here today, as we want governments to be more open and inclusive.  There are strong foundations in Armenia to bring strong outcomes”.  He also shared with the participants that soon OGP excellence award will be launched.

Speeches were also addressed by high-ranking representatives of the administration and local communities, addressing the main activities that were carried out within the action plan and as well as achieved results.

Ani Harutyunynan from Armavir Development Center NGO presented the "Open Governance Partnership Initiative’s process in Armenia" evaluation.  The event was concluded with a Q&A session.

OGP action plans are subject to independent evaluation, through which both the achievements and compliance with the general OGP philosophy and procedures, as well as gaps and necessary corrections are identified in the form of recommendations during the design and implementation of each action plan. The independent evaluation begins with the design of the action plan and ends in accordance with the deadline for the implementation of the action plan. The Action Plan being implemented, envisaged for implementation in the period from 2022 to 2024, was already approved in October 2022, but the evaluation of the mechanisms for the design and implementation of the Action Plan from the point of view of stakeholders can significantly contribute to the implementation of the Action Plan in a more effective and participatory manner, which will bring the RA state administration and continuous reform process closer to the main principles of OGP and sustainable reforms.