On 1 December, an online discussion in the format of a public-private dialogue on the development of the Open Government  Partnership (OGP) National Action Plan 5 on the open health care system was held.

The event was organized in the framework of the “Co-creation Support for the 2020-2022 OGP National Action Plan” project implemented by a consortium of 3 Non Governmental Organizations “Armavir Development Center”, “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” and “Freedom of Information Center” with the support of the “OGP” Support Unit.

The aim of the initiative is to improve the governance system through the active involvement of civil society, to promote its efficiency, by increasing the level of transparency, credibility and accountability of state-citizen relations. In order to do this, government and civil society representatives develop action plans, setting out clear measures to achieve the goals of the Initiative.

Ms Ani Harutyunyan, representative of the Executive Director of “Armavir Development Center” NGO, Naira Arakelyan,  “Co-creation Support for the 2020-2022 OGP National Action Plan” Project Manager, summed up the results of the 4th Open Government Partnership National Action Plan.

She noted that as a result, there was a higher level of public awareness and involvement of civil society, for the first time public consultations/discussions were held in all ten regions of the country, targeting civil servants and youth, and most importantly, the action package for the first time included commitments for legislative changes.

Mr. Movses Aristakesyan, President of the “Centre of Economic Right” NGO and a member of the Governing Board of the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia, said that he did not agree with the observation that an increase in the level of public awareness had been registered in this sphere.

“In addition, both, the state bodies as well as the public organizations have a very low level of accountability and transparency. The latter do not have a great desire to cooperate with the RA civil society organizations,” Aristakesyan mentioned.

In response to Aristakesyan, Ani Harutyunyan mentioned that the increase of public awareness took place, among others, in the sphere of healthcare as well.

“You are right, there is a gap, and sometimes people did not know what OGP was, not speaking about submitting a proposal that could become a commitment. The healthcare sector is targeted, which means that raising public awareness will be especially important here,” she said.

According to Ms Lilya Afrikyan, OGP Armenia Program Coordinator and OGP WG Secretary: quite good experience was gained during the discussion of proposals during the development of the 4th Action Plan.

“The active participation of our partners in the process is very important. I urge to constantly monitor the commitments that are made, it is important that they are in the focus of your attention and we can get feedback. It seems that the commitments undertaken by the government are being implemented according to the narration, but the real impact, significance and problems that are in the footnotes are often impossible to find,” Lilya Afrikyan said.

The representative of the government mentioned that the main problems of open health care are the recording in the queue list without obstacles, the regulation of queues in medical centers, supervision and transparency of services provided within the framework of the state order in MCs, as well as the availability of those services for citizens living in the regions.

Ms Syuzanna Soghomonyan, project expert of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, noted that it is important to make changes in the healthcare sector and the need for them is evidenced by the recent events in the country due to the COVID-19 epidemic situation, after which the Armenian healthcare system collapsed.

According to Ms Mariam Zadoyan, an expert at the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, it is possible to involve citizens in policy-making, as well as to encourage public participation in the process of disseminating basic health policies. In addition, systems, where the providers of medical services will be made accountable by citizens and to citizens.

According to Movses Aristakesyan, the following issues, about which he spoke 3 years ago, have not yet been resolved within the framework of OGP.

The government should take measures to fulfill the 7th obligation envisaged by the OGP, which is ” Ensuring open, transparent, participatory and accountable process of state policies and legislative reforms”, in particular: in terms of unification of the structure of the official websites of the republican and territorial bodies of state administration, in terms of reflecting strategic, national and sectoral programs in the official websites of the republican and territorial bodies of state administration, and especially on the official website of the RA Ministry of Finance, in terms of reflecting quarterly reports on financial and non-financial indicators envisaged by the state budgets and the performance indicators of all budget programs.”

Ms Anush Aslanyan, President of the “Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities” NGO for people with disabilities, said that they have been in the field of protection of the rights of people with disabilities for six years already.

“The first issue concerns drugs and the procurement process. When a drug is manufactured by only one company, it turns out that the company may not participate in a tender organized by the state, so the state cannot buy the drug.

We must also pay attention to the quality and quantity of medicines, so as not to waste money.”

The participants expressed hope that the discussions would yield the best results and that the 5th Open Government Partnership National Action Plan would improve the governance system and increase the level of transparency, reliability and accountability of state-citizen relations.