General information
In 2003-2023 over 8138 persons including 3358 officials received knowledge and skills on how to implement freedom of information legislation.
In November 2010 the Freedom of Information Center of Armenia established the a Non-formal Educational center for providing continuous training for public officials and civil servants. The educational center became a sustainable source for providing regular training for officials in the FOI field. Here selected public officials/institutions gain knowledge on how to comply with the FOI law, including electronic access to Information.
The trainings in the NFEC are conducted based on the training modules developed by the Freedom of Information Center of Armenia (FOICA) and Union of Armenian Government Employees (UAGE). These modules are: “Freedom of Information” and “Integrity and Moral Ethics in Civil Service”. They have been approved by the Council of Civil Service as per its decisions and the RA Ministry of Territorial Administration. According to the above mentioned decisions all information officers of government agencies and community servants are obliged to be trained according to the endorsed training Curriculum on FOI. The mission of conducting regular trainings on FOI for civil servants was officially granted to the FOI Center, NGO and to UAGE, NGO.
In 2003-2011 the FOICA organized dozens of training workshops throughout Armenia on the implementation of local and international standards of freedom of information. The training events were conducted for the representatives of state agencies and local self-government bodies, and of the civil society. They were intended to help participants improve their knowledge and skills in the sphere of freedom of information.
In 2008-2010 the FOICA organized 1-2 day working discussions on freedom of information for different target-groups – law enforcement bodies, journalists, staff representatives from regional administrations, representatives from administrative districts and others. During 2009-2010 a number of training events were organized on the utilization of “Mulberry” electronic documentation sharing system. Special two-day training workshops were organized for the employees of the 10 regional administrations, providing them with the skills on how to use “Mulberry” system.
In order to increase the efficiency of the FOI trainings, in 2010 the FOICA produced two educational video films with the titles “Your Duty to Provide Information” and “Your Right to be Informed”.
The second video material is designed for the students as one of the most active group of the society. The material is called “Your right to know”. It is aimed at highlighting the main message for the students on the right of access to information. In a clear language and illustrative way it explains on how the students may use the FOI law provisions for getting access to government-held information, where to go if a refusal was received and/or access is denied and most importantly, how this right should be used to fulfill their other rights.
June-July, 2014, the “Armenian Yong Lawyers Association” NGO in Cooperation with the “Freedom of Information” NGO organized three-day Anti-Corruption trainings in the framework of “Multi-Faceted Anti-Corruption Promotion” project. The training is designed for the Civil Society and Media Organizations that work in Armenia. Overall 9 trainings were conducted, which were attended by 90 CSOs representatives and journalists.
In the second phase of the Media Mentorship in Armenia project, the Freedom of Information Center in Armenia in cooperation with the YSU Faculty of Journalism conducted 3 online workshop courses for journalists’ students of Yerevan State University and 1 online workshop for practicing journalists of various media outlets (in total, 4 sessions). A total of 191 students and journalists from various media outlets participated in the meetings.
Training of Civil Servants
Since 2008 the Freedom of Information Center of Armenia, together with the Armenian Civil Service Council, has started the training of civil servants. The training was first launched within the framework of the “Freedom of Information Training for Civil Servants Responsible for Public Affairs” Project, which was supported by the OSCE Office in Yerevan. This project was aimed at promoting better information accessibility in Armenian governmental bodies and at increasing the level of the responsibility of civil servants in providing information. In the framework of the Project, during two-day training workshops 84 employees of information departments of governmental bodies and 10 regional administrations acquired necessary practical knowledge and skills for the implementation of the Law on Freedom of Information.
As a result of these trainings, with its decision N302-Ա, dated 17 April, 2008, the Civil Service Council included the “Freedom of Information and Public Relations in the Governance System” training program into the permanent training curriculum of civil servant information officers.
Another outcome of this cooperation was the revision of the job descriptions of civil servants responsible for public affairs in the Armenian civil service system. Their job descriptions have been revised to include their specific functions and duties in the FOI sphere.
The FOICA-Civil Service Council cooperation was continued in November 2010 when the training of civil servants restarted in the “Non-Formal Freedom of Information Educational Center”. Those were three-day training sessions devoted to the freedom of information. Following the training the participants received state-approved certificates. In November-December 2010 and March-June 2011, 301 civil servants took part in the trainings of the Educational Center.
The training sessions are held in accordance with the program on “Ensuring the Principles of Integrity, Freedom of Information and Public Affairs in the Governance System”, approved on 28 October 2010, by the Decision N 847 of the RA Civil Service Council.
Since 2011 the FOICA in collaboration with the RA Ministry of Territorial Administration provides training in the “Non-formal Educational center” for public officials.The trainings are held in accordance to the program on “Ensuring the Principles of Totality, the Freedom of Information and Public Affairs in the Governance System” approved by the October 20, 2011, N 129-Ա order of the Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Territorial Administration Mr. Armen Gevorgyan. During 2011-2012 400 public officials from rural and urban communities of different regions of Armenia were educated in the “Non-formal Educational center” of FOICA.
In February 2021, within the framework of the Support to Armenia Initiative program, implemented jointly with Management Systems International (MSI), the FOICA conducted an online workshop entitled “Freedom of Information in the Management System”, which is intended for public administration officers. 112 representatives of 57 public administration bodies took part in the two-day workshop.
On April 5-23, the Freedom of Information Center in cooperation with the International Republican Institute, a series of three-day “Fact-Checking for Officials” workshops was held to improve fact-checking knowledge and skills. 112 representatives of 44 state bodies and the National Assembly took part in the series of workshops.
In May, the Freedom of Information Center, with the support of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Armenia, conducted an online “Fact-Finding for Students” online course for 50 students of Yerevan-based and regional universities: the first stage – May 19-22, the second stage – May 25-27.
On June 3 and 14, the Freedom of Information Center organized “Libel, slander and hate speech: protective mechanisms” for more than 50 journalists from Yerevan and regions. The meetings were held within the framework of the “Media Defense in Armenia” program implemented with the support of International Media Support.
On Dec 7,8,9, 2021 under the Opening Extractives Programme, Open Ownership (OO) and the Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) have partnered with the Freedom of Information Center of Armenia and held “Capacity building sessions to beneficial ownership data users” online course for 25 representatives of media and CSOs. By the end of the course the participants were able to understand Armenian beneficial ownership declarations and look at changes to a company’s declaration over time, find declarations of beneficial ownership on the Armenian Business Register, and understand, download, store and view BODS json versions of declarations, understand the importance of unique identifiers in beneficial ownership data, use the available data for their research, analysis and advocacy purposes.
On March 15-17, 2022 the FOICA with the support of the French Embassy in Armenia organized a workshop “Fact Checking for Teachers and Lectures” The online workshop organized within the framework of the “Fact-checking Labs in Schools and Universities” project was attended by 9 lecturers and teachers from the French University in Armenia, the Lyceum named after Anatole France and from high school #
119.
On April 19-20, 21-22, 27-28, 2022, the Freedom of Information Center organized a fact-cheking and anti-disinformation capacity building course for local government representatives. 126 representatives of different communities of Lori, Gegharkunik, Aragatsotn and Tavush regions took part in the training. The training was conducted by the Freedom of Information Center in partnership with the Public Journalism Club as part of the “Building Disinformation Resilience in CSO and Local Government Ecosystems” project supported by the US Embassy in Armenia.
On April 20, 26, and May 4, 2022, the Freedom of Information Center organized an OGP training and awareness-raising meeting for media representatives as part of the Open Government Partnership. The meetings were supported by the Open Government Partnership within the framework of the EU-funded “EU for Ethics for the Eastern Partnership” project.
Training for Business
On December 17-18, 2021, January 18-19, 2022 and January 26-27, 2022 FOICA and Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) organized “Empowering the Private Sector to Combat Disinformation” online training sessions for 81 representatives of 62 private companies. During the first session participants studied issues related to media literacy and disinformation and their impact on the business, as well as got acquainted with fact-checking tools. A special part of session was dedicated to regulations of beneficial ownership transparency. Also the business representatives were presented the features of combating disinformation in the context of public relations, as well as cooperation between private companies and advertisers.
On January 10, February 21 and February 24, 2023, the Freedom of Information Center of Armenia organized “Declaration of Beneficial Owners: Voice of Business” working meeting-courses on the topic of declaration of beneficial owners based on “Beneficial Ownership Transparency: Training Module for Private Sector” developed by FOICA. A total of 123 business representatives participated in the meetings. The trainings were conducted within the framework of the project “Disrupting Kleptocracy by Advancing Beneficial Ownership Transparency” funded by the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE).
In May and June, 2023, the Freedom of Information Center of Armenia organized working meeting-courses on the topic of declaration of beneficial owners. A total of 120 business representatives participated in the 4 meetings. The trainings were conducted within the framework of the project “Disrupting Kleptocracy by Advancing Beneficial Ownership Transparency” funded by the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE).
