‘CORRUPTION OUT OF OUR LIFE’ PROGRAM IN ARMENIA
Tert
Nov 3 2009
Armenia
Armenia’s PR Association and USAID’s Mobilizing Action Against
Corruption (MAAC) program will implement a project called "Let’s Get
Corruption Out of Our Life" over a six-month period.
The initiative aims to target small and medium businesses primarily,
according to Armenia’s PR Association deputy chair Arman Saghatelyan.
Though it is a generally accepted custom in Armenia to settle issues
with the help of relatives, Saghatelyan believes that "finally we’ll
come to the civilized world’s method of settling issues."
"The main ideology is to attempt to present to society the direction
it is necessary to take in protecting [people’s] rights," Saghatelyan
said, emphasizing in this context the process of taking corresponding
judicial measures.
Within the frames of the program, discussions with business and media
representatives are planned, Saghatelyan said. With the help of mass
media, the organizers try to present the "good practices package,"
in which ordinary people are involved.
"They are mainly stories of people who wish to work in their country
and wish that their rights are protected in their country by people
who live on the funds paid to them by all of us," Saghatelyan said.
The journalists who have agreed to cooperate will get remuneration
"as accepted in the civilized world." According to Saghatelyan,
often an issue arises when granting journalists their right to free
expression. "Neither USAID nor Armenia’s PR Association intends to
interfere with journalists’ activities," Saghatelyan emphasized, adding
that organizers might not share the viewpoint of media representatives.