On 20 August 2018, a training was held for the Gavar CSO incubator participants in the scope of the “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project funded by the European Union. The topic was “Drafting the RA Law on Business Ombudsman and the Introduction of the Business Ombudsman’s Institution as an Effective Alternative Means of Protecting Businessmen’s Violated or Disputed Rights and Legitimate Interests, as well as Dispute Resolution.”
The training was conducted by Tigran Gasparyan, the Executive Director of the SME Cooperation Association and the “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project’s Business and Related Sectors Coordinator. He mentioned that a number of organisations (e.g., Human Rights Defender, State Revenue Committee, and different CSOs) work on claims received from businesses and the protection of their rights. However, this is not done fully. For this very reason, there is a need to create a Business Ombudsman’s institution.
9 representatives from 8 CSOs participated in the event.
The incubators of civil society organisations (CSO) are aimed at contributing to CSOs’ capacity building and raising their productivity.
The “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project is implemented with the financial support of the European Union by a Consortium of civil society organisations, which are the Armenian Lawyers’ Association (lead organisation), Agora Central Europe (NGO based in the Czech Republic), the Armenian Centre for Democratic Education-CIVITAS, the International Centre for Human Development, the SME Cooperation Association and the Union of Communities of Armenia.
The project aims to enhance the influence of civil society organisations (CSOs) and CSO coalitions/networks on public policies in Armenia. This will allow organisations that are already working in sectoral coalitions to access additional resources, new groups of civil society experts to come together and encourage place their causes on the local and national policy agenda, to identify common concerns and priorities and approach government bodies with constructive and strategic policy engagement initiatives.
The project will provide sub-grants to CSOs and CSO coalitions for developing public policies and bringing significant changes in the 9 target sectors selected within the project, including those of justice, human rights, public finance management, business, education, and the social sector: social inclusion of children with disabilities, agriculture, economy, and energy.
