JANUARY 24, 2012
On January 20-21, USAID HS-STAR project organized a 2-day retreat in Aghveran to summarize the results of the Health working group of Legislative Agenda Advocacy Day (LAAD) initiative.
Around forty representatives of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), including the Health working group member organizations, and experts from Ministry of Health and National Assembly Standing Committee on Health Care, Maternity and Childhood participated in this event. The aim of the retreat was to sum up the results of health working group, take into account and record the proposals and suggestions of the working group members, finally to present and discuss the health sector LAAD 2012 process. LAAD is the first imitative in Armenia, when Civil Society Organizations are mobilized to collaborate with the National Assembly on various legislative issues, rising the society’s voice, suggestions and concerns. USAID HS-STAR project has coordinated the LAAD Health working group.
The idea of LAAD forms during 2010 by the initiative of Counterpart International Armenia, when the National Assembly (NA) adopts legislation unfavorable for Civil Society. Civil Society Organizations decide to mobilize and be more proactive- regularly meeting and collaborating with NA appropriate standing committees, initiating various legislative changes and proposals. They choose NA’s 2011 fall plenary session as their first target.
In his opening speech, HS-STAR Chief of Party Robert Hagan expressed his gratitude to Counterpart International for this initiative. “Ministry of Health will be able to implement its functions more fully with the support of health sector NGOs. Our project will support health CSOs and this initiative to become more coherent, unified, institutionalized and sustainable,” emphasized Mr. Hagan. In his presentation, Counterpart International Armenia Civil Society Programs Directors Arsen Stepanyan presented the LAAD 2012 mission, stressing the significance of decentralization. “Every working group should be a self-sustaining entity, capable of promoting its problems on its own. The coordination of the working groups should gradually be transferred to local CSOs,”- emphasized A. Stepanyan,- “We aim at forming corresponding culture- to be more proactive, collaborating with the National Assembly for legislative changes or adoptions in advance.”
HS-STAR Civil Society Engagement Team leader Narine Beglaryan briefly presented the steps and activities undertaken by the Health working group. Throughout July and August, 2011 HS-STAR has organized weekly discussions and meetings of the health working group, involving 20 civil society organizations, which submitted numerous recommendations on health-related legislative documents. As a result of this process, seven topics were selected as priorities for discussion at the NA Standing Committee on Health Care, Maternity and Childhood. The role of collaboration between experts group from international organizations and health CSOs was also stressed. Then, representatives of working group member organizations presented their cases of legislative issues.
The initiative has yielded tangible results. “Specialists from CSOs were included in appropriate expert groups of the National Assembly. The proposal to make amendments and additions to the RA “Law on reproductive health and reproductive rights” was accepted and adopted by first reading. Positive trends emerged to adopt legislation on breastfeeding,” asserted NA Standing Committee on Health Care, Maternity and Childhood expert Marine Nalbandyan. “Anti-drug coalition” NGO representative Violeta Zopunyan stressed other results of the initiative, “This initiative enabled CVOs to collaborate on various issues. It enabled us to raise our voices and concerns over health legislation problems. Sitting at your office and proposing law amendments is another thing, and presenting your proposals to lawmakers is something else. For 2012 we hope raise the CVOs information level on legislative issues; also we count on making this a continuous initiative.”
At the end of the meeting, it was decided to select the June plenary session of the new National Assembly to be formed in 2012 as a next working target. Two working sub-groups will be formed: one dealing primarily with legislative body related issues, the other will be engaged in executive branch related ones. International organizations, including HS-STAR, though keeping on providing technical and professional assistance, will gradually succumb from their roles transferring the coordination and management of the initiative to the local CSOs. Thus, the initiative will acquire more stable, continual and institutional facets enabling Armenian civil sector to influence the NA legislative process in a more coordinated and permanent way.
