ArmInfo. The program of participatory budgeting at the community level of Armenia will be expanded. A resolution on this was adopted on February 20 at a government meeting.
As stated in the explanatory note to the document, on November 2, 2023, the Government of the Republic of Armenia adopted Resolution No. 1890-N , according to which the main relations related to the selection process and procedures for allocating subsidies are regulated through the submission, discussion and direct voting of proposals on budget programs with the direct participation of the population in communities with a participatory procedure.
In 2024, these requirements will be extended on an experimental basis to four communities: Ashtarak in Aragatsotn region, Abovyan in Kotayk region, Jermuk in Vayots Dzor region and Armavir in Armavir region. The 2024 state budget allocated 500 million drams. In fact, as Finance Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan pointed out, eight initiatives were financed: three in Armavir, two each in Ashtarak and Abovyan and one in Jermuk, for a total of 443 million drams.
However, the effect of the Decision is limited to the 2024 budget process and a small number of pilot communities. In order to further advance participatory budgeting and involve more communities, there is a need to expand and improve the procedure.
In this regard, the Ministry of Finance proposed to extend the procedure in 2025 to a larger number of communities (21) that voluntarily implemented participatory budgeting processes in 2024 without the allocation of subsidies from the state budget and have sufficient experience. A new version of the community management information system has been installed and launched in the above-mentioned communities, which includes tools related to participatory budgeting, and integration with other systems has been implemented to identify the population of these communities. Funding for the program will be increased to 1 billion drams.
At the same time, based on the results of the 2024 testing, it is proposed to introduce some improvements to the relevant procedures of the participatory budgeting process, in particular, by decision of the commissions formed in the communities, proposals and projects submitted by residents that have the same content or have the possibility of combining content (including those related to different settlements of the community) may be combined.
In addition, the current decision stipulates that the share of funding from the community budget (fund part) for the implementation of each subsidy program formed through participatory budgeting cannot be less than 20% of the amount of state funding requested in the subsidy application for this program. Now, the participation of the community budget must be at least 20% of the total costs of this program.
The volume of design and estimate documentation required by the head of the community for submission to the authorized body for the implementation of construction work under the subvention program, established by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia, has also been clarified, including a positive conclusion from the examination of the design and estimate documentation.
It has also been established that information on the progress of the implementation of programs formed through participatory budgeting and the targeted use of the provided subsidies is published monthly by the head of the community on the official website of the community. In order to raise awareness and public control over participatory budgeting, the opportunity to participate is provided for representatives of public organizations registered in the Republic of Armenia, persons carrying out media activities, or their representatives.
