Freedom of Information Center of Armenia.

Supported by OSCE office in Yerevan.

Time period: January-September, 2008

The overall goal of the project is to promote access to information in Armenia and to enhance the transparency and accountability of Armenian government agencies in providing public with access to information.

To achieve the above goals, the following activities will be implemented:

i) To design a curriculum and training materials package for civil service information officers’ training on Freedom of Information (FOI);
ii) To develop updated ‘position passports’ for civil service information officers to clearly specify their functions and responsibilities in the field of freedom of information;
iii) To conduct a series of training sessions for about 90 information officers representing 41 government agencies;
iv) To publish a FOI desk book designed for information officers.

The expected results of the project are:

• About 90 information officers from government agencies covering the central level and all 10 regions of Armenia will receive practical knowledge and experience on how to apply the Armenian FOI law. This will help bridge the gap between the existing legislation and its implementation;
• The Civil Service Council (CSC) of the Republic of Armenia, as per its decision, will include the FOI training programme in its permanent training curriculum for civil service information officers, thus insuring the sustainability of project results;
• The ‘position passports’ of the civil service information officers will be amended and their functions and responsibilities in the field of freedom of information clearly specified;
• An FOI desk book for Information Officers will be produced and disseminated to Information Officers in governmental structures;
• Implementation of the RA Freedom of Information law will be promoted in government agencies, which will lead to increased transparency in decision-making at central and national levels.