Four working groups of the Community of practice on public integrity and ethics in local governance in Armenia (CoP), formed in March 2020, held their first meetings between 18 and 23 June to agree on their workplans and chart future action.

Established in the framework of the Congress project on strengthening transparent and participatory local governance in Armenia, the CoP is promoting European standards on political integrity, ethics, transparent and open governance and citizen participation across local authorities in Armenia. Each working group focused on identifying challenges and designing approaches in specific areas, namely: [1] anti-corruption policies, [2] public integrity, [3] transparency in public procurement, [4] transparency and open government.

Twenty selected amalgamated communities and three large cities of Armenia are engaged in the working groups, each represented by the mayor (or the deputy mayor), a member of the community council and a municipal servant. The working groups were formed considering the balanced geographical, official and gender representation, and are supported by national and international experts in achieving their objectives.

The Project is implemented by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, with the financial support of the Swiss government, in the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia 2019-2022.

Source:https://www.coe.int/en/web/congress/-/armenia-launch-of-working-groups-for-the-community-of-practice-on-public-ethics-in-local-governance