Civil Society and Local Government Support Program in Armenia

Situation

The presidential election of February 2008 (including the months leading up to the election and the violent protests that followed) proved to be both a major challenge and a significant opportunity for Armenia’s citizenry, political elite and civil society. Social, political and governance processes came to a halt and previously existing space for cooperation between state and non-state actors had narrowed significantly. The newly appointed Prime Minister Tigran Sarkissian and newly elected President Serzh Sargsyan made public overtures to shore up support for new policies and more inclusive governance systems, but the government has faced challenges consolidating its base of support and realizing those reforms.

The clashes between government and civil society, in the aftermath of the 2008 presidential election, reflected “the deeply rooted…failure of the key institutions of the state to perform their functions in full compliance with democratic standards and the principles of the rule of law and the protection of human rights…” as noted in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)’s assessment of the year’s events. This dysfunction has been exacerbated by the lack of a culture of constructive engagement in Armenia, leading to the socio-political impasse observed in the country over the last several years.

What We Do

Counterpart International's Civil Society and Local Government Support (CSLGS) Program, funded by USAID and part of the Global Civil Society Strengthening Leader with Associates Agreement (GCSS LWA), began its activities in October 2010. The goal of the project is to increase the level of informed and effective civic activism at the local and national levels, along with more participatory, decentralized, efficient and responsive local governance that leads to supports the strengthening of the democratic process. This objective is supported by three programmatic components:

1. Local Government and Civil Society Collaboration — Fostering Participatory Community Strategic Planning for Community Development and Improved Local Democracy:

• Community mobilization, planning, and community development projects will be the starting point for increasing, improving and institutionalizing broader cooperation between local government and civil society. The project will engage with local government officials, civil society organizational and informal groupings, and businesses to facilitate a cooperative community planning process through a multi-stakeholder driven process.

2. Support for Civic Participation, Advocacy and Citizen Activism:

• Networking assistance, technical interventions and material support to seasoned Armenian CSOs, as well as supporting individual activists and citizen movements will be the basis of this component’s activities. This includes: 1) Fostering civil society input in policy formation, implementation and monitoring, 2) Fostering grassroots activism and volunteerism through mobilization and networking and 3) Facilitating informed citizen participation in elections.

3.  Facilitation of Decentralization and Local Fiscal Autonomy:

• Identify and target governance reforms with the potential to improve the efficiency of local governments and quality of their services through developing models for inter-community cooperation; diversify revenue sources and utilize opportunities for corporate social responsibility and other public-private ventures; and increase local government access to credit and investment capital for local projects and enhance community infrastructure. A core activity under this program component is the development of a National Strategy for Decentralization that would provide a blueprint for future reforms over the next 10-15 years.

CSLGS’s fundamental premise is that civic participation and effective governance are interrelated - the local level will trickle-up and complement democratic reform work being done at the national level. Counterpart also expects to engage with the Armenian Diaspora through the life of this program, which will contribute contextually relevant and sustainable technical expertise as well as targeted financial resources for project activities.

Through demand-driven technical assistance and grant support (General CSO Grants, Election Grants, Grassroots and Community Development Grants and Local Government Incentive Grants) the project will engage local governments and civic groups in participatory decision-making, foster constructive participation of CSOs in the policy cycle. This will include partnering with government authorities and CSOs to ensure greater confidence building measures.

Counterpart's integrated approach focuses on complementing and facilitating synergies among CSOs, the Armenian government, the business sector, donor organizations and donor-assisted initiatives by Armenian groups, with an emphasis on mutual objectives in program implementation.