Program of joint budgeting of projects proposed by community residents launched in Armenia
YEREVAN, March 13. /ARKA/. A program of joint budgeting of projects in communities proposed by their residents has been launched in Armenia.
Sveta Arosyan, acting head of the Analytical Methodology Department at the Ministry of Finance, told a press conference on Wednesday that the program aims to stimulate residents' participation in local self-government.
Head of the Community Budgets Division at the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Loris Muradyan said that the participatory budgeting process has already started in Jermuk, Abovyan, Ashtarak and Armavir communities.
According to him, the websites of the local self-government bodies of the communities have necessary online tools for proposing projects and voting. It is possible to vote for three projects at once, the terms are set by each community independently.
Muradyan said that the whole process is divided into several stages: preparation, informing, presentation of projects, preliminary assessment of proposals, implementation and reporting.
"A citizen registers on the community's website and after undergoing identification he/she can submit his proposals in person or through civil society representatives for placing on the website. The committee in charge of organization of participatory budgeting checks the proposal against the criteria established by the community's management. The projects that meet all criteria are published on the website for voting," he explained.
Muradyan said that 500 million drams have been allocated for joint subsidizing in the 2024 state budget. A limit has been set for each community: Ashtarak community - 167.8 million drams, Armavir - 120.9 million drams, Abovyan - 139.5 million drams, Jermuk - 71.8 million drams. The approved programs should be implemented by the end of 2024.
Arosyan added that the projects put forward by the residents and won in the voting mainly concern irrigation systems, creation of playgrounds, paving roads, improvement of infrastructures, etc. -0-
