On 25 May, representatives of Yerevan CSO Incubators, met with Ms Sona Harutyunyan, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs and the representatives of different units of the ministry. The meeting was organised in the scope of the EU funded “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project.
Mr. Marat Atovmyan, Mentors’ Group Coordinator/Justice and Related Sectors Mentor of the Project presented the program and the options for cooperation with the Ministry.
“Sub-grants shall be provided in the scope of these incubators. It is quite possible that some organizations will prefer to implement projects in the social sphere and will cooperate with different departments of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs,” Marat Atovmyan said. He also attached importance to the meeting, which will provide an opportunity to find ways to cooperate in different spheres.
The Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs welcomed the program, noting that the Ministry is implementing various programs with NGOs and provides support for compiling reports and conducting monitoring.
“There are grants, and they are spent, however, they should be useful, not just development of a dialogue, bit problems should be detected, and in addition the grant programs should be purposeful in essence, they should stem out from our needs as well, and it is useful to cooperate with us before entering the field,” Sona Harutyunyan said.
According to her, many social problems exist in Armenia, and in the regions, especially. One of the problems in the sector is malnutrition of children up to 5 years. In this regard Sona Harutyunyan mentioned that it would be good if this is considered as a target issue and targeted projects are implemented. “The United Nations Program is implementing the” School Food” project with the Ministry of Education and Science, which is particularly related to the malnutrition of the target group, but malnutrition is greater among the children under the age of five. We carry out this program for children aged 6-10, and the children of poor families under that age are out of the program,” the Deputy Minister said.
Mr. Hayk Mkrtchyan, an employee of the Department of the Disabled and Elderly Issues of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, noted that support related to the improvement of the assistance centres is needed especially in the regions.
Representatives of the civil society organizations also expressed a wish to convene a council meeting of non-governmental organisations before the government’s new program would be drafted and presented, so that they are able to present their recommendations as well. The Deputy Minister welcomed the proposal, mentioning that in the case of application from NGOs, it would be possible to hold an extraordinary session.
The “Constructive Dialogue Commitment” project is implemented by the EU funded by the Association of Lawyers Armenian NGO, Agora Cenrthur NGO (Czech Republic), the Armenian Center for Democratic Education (CIBITAS), International Center for Human Development “NGO,” SME Cooperation Association “NGO and” Union of Communities of Armenia “Union of Legal Entities.
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.
