Ashotavan is a small rural community of 300 peope in the South of Armenia with a number of infrastructural challenges typical to Armenian rural communities in general. In 2007 due to more effective tax payment mechanisms about AMD 2 million were saved in the local budget, which the community authorities decided to use for addressing at least one of the most urgent problems in the community. To make sure the scarce resources were used towards the real needs of community members they decided to participate in the project “Enhancing public participation in the decision making process in Armenia: initiating a community experience to anchor people’s involvement in the public policy making culture”, the implementation of which started back in January, 2007, with the support of the European Union. Thus, ICHD experts initiated a Town Hall Meeting in the community to involve the ordinary citizens in the decision making process regarding the allocation of spare budgetary resources. There were about 100 people participating in the discussion over the projects the community needed the most, namely, the repair of community roads, repair of roads to plow fields and pastures, partial repair of the sewage system and renovation of the cemetery area. The discussions were wrapped up with the mayor addressing his community and promising to comply with the decision of the majority, i.e. repair of community roads and searching for other sources to finance the other three projects.

ICHD, Liberty Institute from Tbilisi and Youth for Development from Baku organized a THM in Tbilisi to discuss violence in Georgian schools and ways to address such behavior. There were 100 participants exchanging ideas on causes of abusive behavior in schools and ways to both prevent and held accountable for such behavior. The THM was a joint pilot event organized within the framework of the project “Implementing the Mechanism of Town Hall Meeting to Enhance Public Participation in South Caucasus Countries”. It allowed the Azerbaijani and Georgian counterparts to practice the skills they had acquired at an earlier training.

ICHD and Mercy Corps-Conflict Management group hosted the 11th Momentum group, comprising 12 members representing different political stances. The aim of the workshop held in Cambridge, MA on May 4-12, was to hone their leadership, negotiation and policy analysis skills which would assist them analyzing and planning future steps in emerging from the post-election crisis period.

Representatives of the Migration Agency at the RA Ministry of Territorial Administration presented the new draft law on refugees and shelter to the representatives of other state agencies and CSOs at a meeting organized by ICHD. It was stressed that the draft had been developed in compliance with international legal norms and principles, considering the specifics of the Armenian reality. The feedback from the participants was later used for the final review of the draft.

ICHD in cooperation with the British Council Armenia and the Migration Agency at the RA Ministry of Territorial Administration (MA MTA) continues the implementation of the project “Support to Migration Policy Development and Relevant Capacity Building in Armenia”, which is financed by the European Union. In the framework of this project regular round tables are held, which deal with various pertinent issues of migration. The successive round table was held on March 25 at the ICHD Conference Hall. The key theme of the discussion was “Education and Migration”. There were 24 participants, representing state as well as non-governmental, social and international institutions. In the result of the discussion ICHD experts developed the following policy brief: Education and Migration: a Challenge and an Opportunity.

ICHD has started the second phase of the project “Enhancing public participation in the decision making process in Armenia: initiating a community experience to anchor people’s involvement in the public policy making culture” which is being implemented with the support of the European Commission Delegation to Armenia. From December to January ICHD has organized public discussions of local budgets in the following communities: Ashtarak (Aragatsotn region), Rind (Syunik), Hatsik (Shirak), Achajur (Tavush), Sarukhan (Gegharkunik), Nor Kharberd (Ararat), Margahovit (Lori)and Arevik (Armavir). In February the series of THMs will be concluded in Kotayk and Syunik regions.

Each Town Hall Meeting (THM) brought together about 100 community members who were discussing the possible projects which could be implemented with local budgetary resources in 2008. Prior to the THMs ICHD experts would meet with the community members and representatives of local governments and find out about the urgent needs in the community, which could be addressed with the available financial resources. Based on the needs relevant project descriptions were developed in a concise and simple language, to initiate discussions at the THMs.

The results of these discussions are subsequently being summarized at ICHD and presented to the local authorities for consideration during the budgetary hearings in February.

On December 17 a Town Hall Meeting (THM) was organized to find out the perspectives of young people regarding the upcoming presidential elections: what the youth think of the election processes, how they see their role, how youth activism should be enhanced, what role should youth NGOs play, etc. About 50 young people from Yerevan and three neighbouring regions participated in the discussion which focused on the following questions: (a) What the youth think of the election processes in general and their role in these processes in particular?;(b) How should youth activism be enhanced? How to motivate young people to be more expressive in decision making processes, especially in the regions? (c) What role should youth NGOs play? (d)What incentives can be nurtured and activities promoted to increase youth participation in election processes?

To conclude the series of trainings organised by CESS and ICHD throughout 2006 and 2007, a wrap-up conference was held in the Hague, on December 10-16, 2007. The conference called "Democratic Governance in the Security Sector: Lessons of the Starlink Programme in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine" looked at Starlink’s contents and its potential for further development and wider use. In addition, the problems of democratic reform in the security sector were discussed. The conference brought together training participants from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The Armenian team comprised seven members, representing public and non-governmental sectors.

Since January 2007 ICHD has launched the implementation of the project “Enhancing public participation in the decision making process in Armenia: initiating a community experience to anchor people’s involvement in the public policy making culture”. The goal of the project is to enhance public participation in decision making processes through community’s direct involvement in the budgeting process of the community. The project will be implemented in ten regions of Armenia.

In order to ensure the success of the project, ICHD planned to enhance local capacities and involve regional NGOs in the project implementation process. Thus, ten partner organizations had been identified, one from each region. ICHD trainers then developed a training package on project relevant capacities, that was to address the needs of the staff from these organizations in initiating public participation. The training module consisted of two parts: introduction to the instrument of Town Hall Meeting (THM) and effective facilitation skills.

From August to October five training sessions were organized. About 100 staff members from partner organizations in Syunik, Vayots Dzor, Aragatsotn, Armavir, Ararat, Kotayq, Gegharkunik, Lori, Shirak and Tavush participated in these sessions. They were introduced to the concept of participatory democracy and THM. In addition, ICHD trainers shared their experience in organizing a THM for the discussion of the budget of Sarnaghbyur village in Shirak, the successes and lessons learnt and trained the participants in effective communication and facilitation skills: key to meaningful implementation of a Town Hall Meeting.

The next phase of the project is the organization of Town Hall Meetings in ten communities of the above-mentioned regions.

Does business have any role protecting human rights and the environment, investing in the professional development of their employees and fighting corruption? What is the situation in Armenia and where does the society want it to be? About 50 residents of Yerevan, both business owners and employees, were discussing these questions at the Town Hall Meeting organized by ICHD and UN Global Compact, which strives to introduce the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) into the private sector of the country.

The Global Compact in Armenia was launched on 17 November 2006. 19 companies and civil society organizations made commitment to implement the Global Compact principles in the areas of human rights, labor, the environment and anti-corruption. To facilitate the process of promoting the concept of CSR the UN Global Compact and ICHD regularly implement different activities to start a policy dialog among the various stakeholders. This Town Hall Meeting was the second attempt to maintain the dialog.