

The draft social-ecological policy of Goris and Sisian consolidated communities, Syunik Region, was presented to the residents of the beneficiary communities during the forum held on June 10 in Goris. The document was developed within the framework of "Social and Ecological Responsibility" project. The forum was attended by representatives of Syunik Regional Municipality, local self-government bodies, non-governmental organizations, members of Aldermen’s Council and local residents of Goris and Sisian consolidated communities.
Armine Hovakimyan, Head of Public Relations, Education, Culture, Sports, Youth and Social Affairs Department of Goris Regional Municipality, assessing the implemented project as very strong and up-to-date, said. "It is very possible to have a developed policy. We always raise environmental issues, but we did not have an action plan or policy document," she said.
Addressing the participants, Arthur Hambardzumyan, Regional Coordinator of the project and President of New Horizons NGO, noted that one of the goals of the forum is to supplement the policy with new proposals. "The goal of the program is to implement processes that contribute to the development of green economy in the communities, to identify and analyze environmental problems, to create more favorable conditions for residents. The developed policy will institutionally enable the local self-government bodies to be the basis for all the structures working in the community, so that the latter can defend their rights and interests," he said.
Nazeli Vardanyan, Director of "Forests of Armenia" NGO, referred to the laws and acts related to socio-ecological issues in the draft policy. "We have studied the entire legislation of the Republic of Armenia, starting from the Constitution ending with by-laws. This will be a guide based on which the community will be able to raise funds. There are all legal norms that you can use to carry out your activities. The policy shows your strengths and weaknesses, the priorities for community development, which have been collected on a participatory basis," he said.
Within the framework of "Social and Ecological Responsibility" project, "EcoLur" Informational NGO has made videos where the residents of the beneficiary communities and the representatives of the local self-government, the experts of the program talk about the socio-environmental problems in the communities and present proposals for their solution. Inga Zarafyan, President of EcoLur Informational NGO, noted that during the meetings held in the target communities, the active youth of the region stood out. "I am very happy that the young people have been quite active. They presented the problems in a very prepared way and offered their solutions," she said.
“Social and Ecological Responsibility” project is carried out by the NGOs involved in "Social-Ecological Consortium” - “Center for Community Mobilization and Support”, “Martuni Women’s Community Council”, “New Horizons”, “EcoLur” and “Forests of Armenia” NGOs within the frameworks of The Data for Accountable and Transparent Action (DATA) project.
“Data for Accountable and Transparent Action” (DATA) project is implemented by Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF) in a consortium with SOCIES Expert Centre NGO (Socies), Boon TV Foundation (Boon TV), Youth Cooperation Center of Dilijan NGO (YCCD) and Sose Women Issues NGO (Sose) co-created with and supported by United States Agency for International Development.
The Data for Accountable and Transparent Action (DATA) project is made possible by the generous support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of DATA Project are the sole responsibility of “Center for Community Mobilization and Support” NGO and project partners and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, EPF, and DATA Consortium.
June 14, 2022 at 18:02