Around 80 representatives of Armenian local and national authorities, civil society and international organisations met on 4 March 2020 during the Conference on political integrity of local elected representatives, held in Yerevan, Armenia.
Participants stressed the need to set higher standards of integrity and to build a strong institutional architecture in Armenia which would allow for regular dialogue between national and local authorities.
The exchanges led to the establishment of the Community of Practice on Public Integrity and Ethics in Local Governance in Armenia, which will act as a coordinating group for the localisation of national anti-corruption policies and their implementation by local authorities in Armenia. Its members will advocate for a better application of European standards on public ethics, transparent and open governance and citizen participation throughout Armenia, in order to restore citizens' trust in public institutions and local authorities in particular.
The conference was followed on 5 March by a first meeting of the Community of Practice to discuss relevant tools – guidelines, models and methods – to assess corruption risks at local level, but also to develop local strategies and a model code of conduct for all those involved in local governance in Armenia.
To facilitate the work of the Community of Practice, four working groups have been established on [1] anti-corruption policies, [2] public integrity, [3] transparency in public procurement and [4] transparency and openness in government.
These events are organised in the framework of the project “Strengthening the Communities Association of Armenia and Transparent, Participatory Local Governance in Armenia”. It 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.
- News item "Armenia: Conference on Political Integrity and Ethics in Local Governance"
- News item "Andrew Dawson: "Corruption continues to be one of the major risks for democracy and governance""
- Webpage "Preventing corruption and promoting public Ethics"
- Handbook on Transparency and Citizen Participation: Armenia – Available in English and