A coordinating meeting with the participation of 22 representatives of 11 coalition member organizations of “Development Winnet Armenia Coalition Network” project was organised within the framework of the “Budget for Everyone” Project implemented in the scope of the “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project was held in Jermuk on June 21.
The three-day workshop summarized the findings, lessons learned, and opportunities for ensuring sustainability of programs.
The network has made some progress towards solving two key issues of the project: in particular, with the assistance of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, steps have been taken to improve the mechanisms of CSO involvement in the state budget review process.
45 representatives of 11 coalitions created within the framework of the “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project have improved their capacities on state budgeting processes and CSO representatives have been actively involved in budgetary applications in sectoral ministries and agencies.
At the local level, the “Local Public Debate and Discussion Procedures of Community Subvention Programs” have been developed and submitted to the LSG, which is a new mechanism to encourage the participation of CSOs in the discussion of subsidy programs, as well as the use of awareness tools, including the use of all platforms to provide feedback, suggestions and observations from CSOs and the public. As a program’s success, the “Citizen’s Guide” was presented as a simple example of the “Simplified Budget of Areni Community”, which publicizes the community budget and raises the public perception level.
During the workshop, the member organizations also discussed the results of the past three years, pointing out that “WINNET Armenia” has achieved tangible results in terms of women’s economic development, opportunities for them in the labour market, and policymaking. The next three years, the network is going to take steps to effectively clarify the strategic directions.
The network strategy has been revised with the participation of network organizations, developed a strategic plan of the coalition network, taking into account the strategic directions in which the network plans to intensify its activities in the near future as well as implementing public policy reform and elaborating mechanisms for the development of these policies.
During the Coordination meeting, the Fundraising Plan of the Network and the upcoming joint projects and activities were discussed as well.
