Freedom of Information Center announces for the 14th time the recipients of the “Golden Key and Rusty Lock” awards on 28 September 2016 in Yerevan. The award ceremony was devoted to the International Right to Know Day and the 15th Anniversary of the FOICA.

Mr.Davit Harutyunyan, Minister-Head of Government Staff welcomed the guests on this occasion and stressed the importance of transparency and openness in the government system of Armenia.

The Acting Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia Mr. Dirk Lorenz mentioned in his welcoming speech: “Freedom to seek, receive and impart information is a key component of democratic governance and development. People need to be fully informed to be able to form an opinion and participate in decision-making processes that affect their lives. Freedom of information also contributes to better governance as it enhances transparency in public affairs and can be used as a tool to make governments accountable for their actions, in particular when access to information results in the exposure of human rights violations or corruption practices.”

The host of the event President of the Freedom of Information Centre of Armenia Liana Doydoyan welcomed the guests and announced the winners. The independent jury awarded the following institutions with Golden Keys, as a symbol of openness and transparency:

• Positive Award for the state institution that best applied the Armenian Freedom of Information Law was presented to the Ministry of Health. The Golden Key was awarded to the Deputy Minister of Health Sergey Khachatryan by Acting Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Mr. Dirk LORENZ.
• Award for the institution which has best implemented Open Government Partnership Commitments was awarded to Mr. Davit Harutyunyan, Minister-Chef of Government staff. The Golden Key was awarded by the Head of the Deborah Grieser, Mission Director, USAID/Armenia.
• The best official web site in terms of access to information was recognized the web site of Vayots Dzor Regional Administration. The Golden Key to Deputy Governor of Vayots Dzor Mels Harutyunyan was awarded by Judith Farnworth, the UK’s Ambassador to Armenia.
• Award for NGO, which has contributed to the exercising of the right of access to information, was presented to “Protection of Rights without Borders” NGO. The Golden Key was awarded by the Suren Krmoyan, Deputy Minister of Justice to tHaykuhi Harutyunyan, the president of “Protection of Rights without Borders” NGO.
• Award for the journalist for most actively using FOI Law was awarded to Arman Suleymanyan, the journalist of CivilNet. He was awarded by Loreta Vioiu, Deputy Head of Council of Europe office in Armenia.
• Award for the outlet most actively covering FOI issues was presented to the“Asparez” daily newspaper. 
• Special Award was given to Artsrun Hovhannisyan, the Spokesman of Defense Ministry. The Golden Key was awarded by FOICA’s president Liana Doydoyan.

The selection criteria for the most open and secret agencies can be found at https://www.foi.am/en/award-standards . The previous years results are available here https://www.foi.am/en/awards-winners/ .

The Award Ceremony was organized by the Freedom of information Center of Armenia NGO in cooperation with the Armenian Lawyers’ Association by the European Union financial assistance in the frames of Multi-Faceted Anti-Corruption Promotion Project.