In 2024 On February 7, the first Community Forum was held in Armenia, which had the following goals:
- Through presentation and discussion, get to know international best practice and discuss possible ways of its localization.
- Contribute to the expansion of cooperation and dialogue between local governments, with the aim of ensuring that local voices and needs are taken into account during the development of the decentralization strategy and road map;
- Provide an opportunity for local governments and key partners at the central level of the DeaLog program to informally and openly discuss how best and most effectively to continue the vertical dialogue, ensuring that local needs and wishes are taken into account in the decentralization roadmap and action plan.
Through presentation and discussion, the participants learnt international best practice and discuss possible ways of its localization:
Contribute to the expansion of cooperation and dialogue between local governments, with the aim of ensuring that local voices and needs are taken into account during the development of the decentralization strategy and road map.
Provide an opportunity for local governments and key partners at the central level of the DeaLog program to informally and openly discuss how best and most effectively to continue the vertical dialogue, ensuring that local needs and wishes are taken into account in the decentralization roadmap and action plan.
Representatives of 37 communities participated in the forum. During the reflection forum, such urgent topics as the process of decentralization reforms in Armenia and upcoming developments, the importance of decentralization in improving the resistance of communities and the country to crises, the forms and mechanisms of cooperation between communities in international practice and in Armenia, the importance of fiscal decentralization and Armenia's comparison with a number of countries were discussed. with the main indicators of local finances and fiscal independence.
Keynote speakers at the community forum were:
Mr. Vache Terteryan, Deputy Minister of Technical and Technical Education of the Republic of Armenia
Mr. Philip Sandberg, Lund Community Politician (online)
Mr. Ryan Knox, CEO, SALAR International
Mr. Magnus Liljeström, International Expert, SALAR International
Mr. David Melois: SALAR International - Georgia
Mr. Elton Staffa, NALAS representative (online)
Mr. Kelmend Zayaz, representative of NALAS (online)