CSO capacity building training of the 4 phase for CSO representatives is currently being held at the American University of Armenia.
Representatives of 15 civil society organizations from Yerevan and marzes participate in the training.
The educational program is organized in the framework of the EU funded “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project, which aims at strengthening the CSO influence in public policy-making processes.
Today, trainer Areg Tadevosyan presented to the attention of participants the formation of evidence based public policy development. In a conversation with us he mentioned that the training is based on practical experience, taking into consideration the real problems. “The auditorium is quite active. This is the most important thing. When people are guided by their own questions, they show interest, and it turns out that your work will be effective. There are people who have had the experience of working in state structures or just started to work, and we combine certain pieces together and get a joint result,” Mr. Areg Tadevosyan said.
Ms Sona Makasyan, representative of Armenian UN Association (AUNA) says they have already discussed what public policy is. And what does the CSO sector needed to cooperate with the government. What is the driving factor that should push the public sector to make changes in public policy?
“The course gives new connections and a good base for future collaboration. Organizations that gather together try to understand what their role is and what activities we can accomplish after the training sessions, in order to work more steadily in that area,” Ms Sona Makasyan said.
Mr. Kamo Asatryan, Chairman of the Board of “National Center for Legal Researches” NGO, believes the efficiency of the training is quite high. Trainers offer new tools that have a great advantage.
“I think that the activities aimed at CSO capacity building should be continuous. The capacities of CSOs, should naturally be improved over the years. And this event is aimed to meet this objective. In this regard, I think it would be very effective if we start implementing these tools both within the framework of cooperation with the LSGs as well as within the framework of cooperation with the Government,” the program participant said.
The “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project is implemented with the financial support of the European Union by a Consortium of civil society organizations, which are the Armenian Lawyers’ Association (lead organization), Agora Central Europe (NGO based in the Czech Republic), the Armenian Centre for Democratic Education-CIVITAS, the International Centre for Human Development, the SME Cooperation Association and the Union of Communities of Armenia.
