On November 9, TIAC organized a discussion of the draft roadmap for improving civil society enabling environment in Armenia. The draft roadmap was developed on the basis of the recommendations reflected in the CSO Meter 2021 Armenia report as well as discussions with both state and civil society stakeholders during the report launch event and in further communications. It includes four components covering issues and proposed solutions in the areas of CSO registration and operation, financial sustainability, participation in policy-making, and state protection.

The purpose of the event was to present the goal and main components of the draft roadmap, seek the feedback of the participants on its need and structure, and discuss possible ways of its adoption and implementation. The representatives of ECNL and TIAC presented the main issues and solutions identified in the draft roadmap, as well as relevant international practices and successful examples. The participants provided their feedback on the issues discussed, sharing their concerns related to the civil society environment and discussing possible reasons of the current problems. State representatives and CSOs acknowledged that the issues identified in the draft document reflect the up-to-date problems in the field, and provided comments and recommendations on additional issues that need to be addressed. The representatives of the Ministry of Justice, Staff of the Prime Minister and Human Rights Defender expressed their willingness to further discuss the proposed activities and find mutually acceptable solutions.

The event was organized within the framework of the project “CSO Meter: A Compass to Conducive Environment and CSO Empowerment“ implemented with the financial support of the European Union. The project is implemented by the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law Stichting (ECNL) and its partners: Transparency International Anticorruption Center in Armenia; MG Consulting LLC in Azerbaijan; Civil Society Institute in Georgia; Promo-LEX Association in Moldova; and the Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research (UCIPR). The event was also supported by the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law Stichting (ECNL) under the INSPIRES program, implemented by Internews and the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL), and made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).