“Across the world, parliaments face remarkably similar challenges,” reflects Heghine Khachikyan, Deputy Chief of Staff of the National Assembly of Armenia. “Meeting your peers makes that clear – and shows you how change is built step by step”.

Heghine’s portfolio spans over critical issues that ground democratic governance: strengthening parliamentary ethics, improving internal management, and professionalising staff to support more effective oversight and lawmaking. With UNDP support, she joined the French Parliament’s 2025 International Training Cycle, seeking comparative experience she could apply back home. 

What struck her most was how closely the French system mirrors Armenia’s own parliamentary structures. “The ethics framework was particularly useful” she says. “Every parliament struggles to balance integrity, transparency and political realities. Seeing how others address this helped clarify the reforms we still need.”

Speaking with committee and secretariat staff from the French Parliament grounded these lessons even further. “Professionalising staff is a cornerstone of any effective parliament,” she notes. “Understanding how other parliaments built capacity, restructured teams and defined responsibilities gives us practical options we can adapt.”

For Heghine, the value of the training goes beyond the sessions. “Building institutions that deliver for the people is a long-term journey. Staying connected to colleagues from other parliaments helps us keep momentum and  gives us confidence that reform is both possible and practical.”

The International Training Cycle on the Organisation of Parliamentary Work, jointly delivered by the French National Assembly and the Senate, is one of the most established peer-learning programmes for parliamentary staff worldwide.

Participation of UNDP and its partner parliaments was made possible by the new Memorandum of Understanding between UNDP and the French Senate, which formalizes collaboration on parliamentary capacity development, peer-to-peer exchange, and innovation.  This year’s Anglophone cycle gathered 22 mid-level and senior officials from 18 countries for a week-long programme covering the institutional set up of the French Parliament, legislative and oversight practices, ethical and integrity frameworks, public engagement and communication, and innovations in parliamentary administration and services.

UNDP works with around one in three parliaments globally as the institutions that anchor democratic governance - enhancing their capacity to legislate, oversee, and represent in ways that accelerate sustainable development and respond to emerging global challenges. The cooperation with the French Senate builds directly on this mandate. Through its global ParlDeliver initiative, UNDP works with parliaments to help countries transition toward greener, gender-equal and digital societies. 

Armenia’s National Assembly is one of the parliaments partnering with UNDP on long-term institutional strengthening. The shift to a parliamentary system has brought new responsibilities to the National Assembly, from legislating to providing oversight and engaging citizens. Since 2020, the country has faced profound challenges - including the Covid pandemic, conflict in and around Nagorno Karabakh, and as a result the internal displacement of over 100,000 people - yet has also shown resilience and a strong commitment to democratic governance. 

For Ruzanna Harapetyan, Coordinator of UNDP’s Modern Parliament for a Modern Armenia initiative, Heghine’s experience in Paris is part of a broader story. “Our work succeeds when parliament staff have access not only to technical training but also to peers who understand their challenges,” she says.

“The programme offered a rare opportunity to step outside our daily operational pressures and  think more deliberately about how we support institutional change.  What resonated with me most was seeing how mature parliaments structure their internal systems to support evidence-informed lawmaking and modernize committee work in support of long-term institutional resilience. These are exactly the areas we are prioritizing under the new parliamentary development strategy. The training will help me shape capacity-building and peer learning with the National Assembly going forward.”

“Staying connected to a wider community of parliamentary practitioners helps  bring fresh ideas, share practices, knowledge and experience, avoid common pitfalls.”