On 31 July, the Forum “Current State of Trade Unions – Prospects for Development” – Government – Civil Society Dialogue was held within the framework of the EU-funded “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” Project was held.
Project Manager, President of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association Karen Zadoyan said that a bridge is being created between civil society organizations and government, local self-governing bodies through this program, to start a constructive dialogue and implement their goals more effectively.
In Karen Zadoyan’s words, as a result of legislative reforms in the field of trade unions’ activities to protect the rights of workers, discussions of all issues will be conducted, the problems will be ampped and their recommendations on more effective resolutions of these issues will be submitted to the government.
President of Trade Union Confederation of Armenia Eduard Tumasyan highlighted the importance of this sphere and the organization of such events. “The dialogue between the civil society and the government will provide a serious result in our work. Trade unions are transparent, and ready for cooperation. “
Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Arman Udumyan noted that the government’s vision is to have independent and powerful trade unions. “One of the prerequisites for their development is their independence, their level of confidence, and as a result, the scope of social protection of the workers’ rights will be expanded.”
During the event, four panel discussions on the “Movement of Trade Unions in the Republic of Armenia – Current State, and Development Prospects”; “Compatibility of the RA Labour Code with the Conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO)”; “Prospects of the Social Partnership Development in Armenia”; “Mechanisms of Social-Labour Rights Protection in Armenia” were held.
The Forum was organized organized on the initiative of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association and implemented in cooperation with the Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia and the Ministry of Labour and Social Issues.
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 “Armenian Lawyers’ Association”, Agora Central Europe o.p.s (an NGO from the Czech Republic), Armenian Center for Democratic Education-CIVITAS, “International Center for Human Development” Public Organization, SME Cooperation Association and Union of Communities of Armenia.
The overall objective of the project is to enhance the influence of CSOs on the public policy process, and the specific objectives are to strengthen the ability of CSOs to build coalitions and focus on constructive and strategic policy engagement with local and central government partners. This will enable organizations (which already work in targeted coalitions) to acquire new resources, to join and encourage the civil society experts to engage in and encourage their participation in the formation of the local and national policies agenda; to identify common issues and priorities; and to address the government with constructive and strategic policy initiatives.
The project has a sub-granting component, under which grants will be provided to CSOs and CSOs Coalitions, which will be directed to the development of public policies and will have tangible results in 9 target areas, including justice, education and business.
