The advanced training stage of the Anti-Corruption School for Young Leaders was held on 21-25 October. 22 young people from Shirak, Lori, Armavir, Syunik, Gegharkunik regions and Yerevan increased their skills and knowledge in the anti-corruption field.
The “Youth4Anti-Corruption” project, which is implemented with the support of the Swedish government, has started months ago. The students the advanced stage, prior to it successfully completed training phase of the online Educational anti-corruption training platform, and then gained the opportunity to participate in the outreach workshop, which was held in Aghveran.
“I have always been interested in anti-corruption courses, when I learnt that the Armenian Lawyers’ Association was organizing such a course, I applied with great enthusiasm. The e-course was available for participation, and I was studying, when I had free time. In addition to more in-depth knowledge about corruption, I also gained practical experience,” Ms Ani Sahakyan, a student at the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Informatics of the Russian-Armenian (Slavic) University says.
Mr. Karen Ghazaryan, a student at Yerevan State University, Faculty of International Relations, is from Lori region. “As a young person who attaches importance to the fight against corruption, I wanted to develop my skills and raise the level of my legal awareness to serve all that in the future for a purpose called the fight against corruption. Unfortunately, this fight is not very effective in Armenia, but I hope that these courses and the policy set by the government will serve its purpose and we will have a really good anti-corruption fight and as a result we will curb corruption,” Karen Ghazaryan says.
Ms Juliana Karapetyan is an English specialist, a graduate of the Department of Political Management and Political Analysis of the National Academy of Sciences. According to her, these two spheres are the most important for creating a healthy society. “I got more from the course than I expected. What I imagined turned out to be the minimum. It seemed to us that we had excellent understanding of corruption, but that was not the case, and experts focused on such details that citizens could hardly think that such issues, which could be grounds for corruption, could be addressed,” she said.
“I applied for the training due to the nature of my work, as I deal with state instances, and administrative bodies every day, which carry out administration within their discretionary powers and as a result of that administration, we often face corruption risks.
The field and the course are such that it is not necessary to be in the field of human rights, in general in the political, social, or many other spheres we are involved in during our daily life. In fact, such programs are not only necessary, but also shall involve a really very wide range of participants and ensure a continuous nature,” a participant of the training Vanatur Sherents, a human rights activist says.
During the advanced stage, the experts of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia, shared their knowledge. In addition to the theoretical courses, the students did practical work as well.
The students of the anti-corruption school studied such topics as: anti-corruption education and public participation; anti-corruption institutional system; fight against corruption in local self-government; analysis of the declaration on property, income, interests and expenses of public servants; assets recovery according to criminal and civil procedures.
