According to the agreement reached during the course discussion on the integration of Freedom of Information self-assessment mechanisms held on November 21 with the participation of about 20 representatives of the RA Prime Minister’s Office, ministries, public relations departments of state bodies and freedom of information officers, the Freedom of Information Center supported the RA Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs with the practical implementation of the FOI self-assessment mechanism.

On December 13, the FOICA expert Gevorg Hayrapetyan visited the Ministry and, working separately with the selected departments of the Ministry, carried out a FOI self-assessment based on the example of these units. During the self-assessment, a list of held (maintained) information, the legal basis for receiving or forming each piece of information, the status (whether the information is confidential or not), as well as the legal basis of the status of each piece of information was brought up,

On December 14, following the progress made on the initial day, a comprehensive meeting took place with the head of the Ministry’s staff and department heads. The discussion during the meeting centered on the outcomes of the practical application of the Freedom of Information self-assessment mechanism.

Note that the 3rd commitment within the 5th Action Plan of the OGP-Armenia proposed to develop and introduce a unified system for self-assessment and statistics maintenance/publicizing of the field of freedom of information, which will be used by the state-authorized body every year for evaluating the process of execution of the right to freedom of information within the state administration system.

In a pioneering move, the RA Prime Minister’s office, along with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Economy, were designated as pilot bodies for the initial implementation of the system.