Harutyunyan Attends OGP Steering Committee Meeting

Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister Arayik Harutyunyan participated in a meeting of the Steering Committee of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) initiative. The Government of Armenia officially became a member of the Steering Committee this year. The Committee is the policy-making body for open government and consists of 11 governments and 11 civil society representatives.

Arayik Harutyunyan and representatives of Armenia's state system met with the Chief Executive Officer of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) initiative, Aydan Eyakuzi, and the team. During the meeting, Armenia's progress in the reforms carried out within the framework of the OGP initiative was presented, particularly in the areas of improving the system of asset declarations for public officials, disclosing beneficial owners, transparency of gifts and public procurement, participatory budgeting, institutional mechanisms for public engagement, strategic communication, digitalization, as well as strengthening democracy at the local level.

OGP CEO Aydan Eyakuzi highly praised Armenia's continued progress in upholding and developing democratic principles, emphasizing that this is happening in the context of complex global challenges that affect even established democracies.

During the meeting, participants also discussed the global challenges of disinformation and various abuses observed in the information environment. The parties stressed the importance of continued cooperation between the government, civil society, and international partners to overcome such challenges and protect the values of democratic governance.