A new Whistleblowing Campaign program has been launched, implemented by the Armenian Lawyers' Association (ALA). The program's launch event took place on October 4th in a public-private dialogue format. About 40 participants from state bodies, CSOs, expert community, international organizations, and others attended, including Deputy Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister Artur Hovhannisyan, OGP-Armenia Coordinator/Contact Person Lilya Afrikyan, Deputy Head of the Special Assignments Department under the Prosecutor General Hayk Manandyan, Advisor to the NA Chairman Hovhannes Nalbandyan, Advisor to the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Arman Andrikyan, Head of the Educational, Public Awareness Programs and Monitoring Department of the Corruption Prevention Commission Anna Manukyan, Head of the Legal Support and Document Circulation Department of the State Supervision Service Gor Hovhannisyan, Head of the International Programs Implementation Support and Protocol Division of the State Revenue Committee Arevik Janazyan, Head of the Service Investigations Division of the Internal Security and Anti-Corruption Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Police Lieutenant Colonel Aram Shahinyan, Advisor to the Chairman of the Chamber of Advocates Lilit Pilgoltsyan, Information Technology Coordinator of the Anti-Corruption Committee Lilit Martirosyan, Chief Lawyer of the Proceedings and Legal Support Department of the Corruption Prevention Commission, Internal and External Whistleblowing Officer Armen Avetikyan, First Class Specialist of the Legal Expertise Service of the Court of Cassation Staff Khachik Manukyan, Senior Specialist of the Analysis and Development Programs Department of the Civil Service Office Lilit Syuni, Assistant to the Human Rights Defender Milena Toneyan, Chief Legal Advisor of the Legal Department of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Siranush Abrahamyan, Specialist of the Justice Academy Varsenik Harutyunyan, and Investigator of the Legal Department of the Investigative Committee Vagharsh Aghabekyan.

The first to deliver opening remarks was Liana Tovmasyan, Advisor to the Minister of Justice, who emphasized the crucial role of the whistleblowing institution as a tool for fighting corruption and proactive public response to corruption phenomena.

"As a result of efforts already invested, if a year ago the monthly numbers of whistleblowing reports fluctuated between 5-8, during the previous quarter we are already receiving 25-30 whistleblowing reports monthly. Through our daily communications with the Prosecutor General's Office, we also know that the qualitative indicators of whistleblowing reports have increased," noted Liana Tovmasyan.

Christine Hovhannisyan, Deputy Director of the USAID-funded Armenia Integrity Project (AIP), stated that they highly value cooperation with both civil society organizations and government bodies.

"We have developed and will implement this program with both NGOs and the Ministry of Justice. I must note that we will continue our joint work in several strategic directions. The first is to strengthen anti-corruption institutions and integrity systems in Armenia, and the second, which is no less important, is legislative reforms, as well as raising public awareness about corruption prevention measures," said Christine Hovhannisyan.

According to Syuzanna Soghomonyan, expert at the Armenian Lawyers' Association, the low results that existed since the launch of the whistleblowing system were regrettable. The resource invested in the development of the system had not yielded its results.

"It's no secret that since the day the system was introduced, no extensive awareness-raising work had been done about it. We need to work with each citizen so that people understand that whistleblowers are law-abiding citizen figures who do not tolerate corruption, do not tolerate violations of the law, and assist the state in this fight," emphasized Syuzanna Soghomonyan.

Liana Tovmasyan, Advisor to the Minister of Justice, noted that awareness-raising training events have already been conducted for representatives of local self-government bodies of all regions of Armenia and Yerevan (staff and whistleblowing officers of regional administrations and municipalities), covering more than 300 participants.

Yeprem Karapetyan, Head of the Anti-Corruption Policy Development and Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Justice, agreed that awareness-raising activities are crucial for the establishment of the system. Even during the development of the anti-corruption strategy, the ministry had already understood that it needs periodic review and improvement.

"Work has also been done within the framework of strategy development, issues have been raised. In 2022, important legislative changes were made, which stemmed from both Armenia's international obligations and the need to overcome urgent problems. However, I must note that to overcome practical problems, there is a need for a comprehensive review of the system, starting from the types of whistleblowing," said Yeprem Karapetyan.

According to Mariam Zadoyan, expert at the Armenian Lawyers' Association, within the framework of the "BlowtheWhistle, Armenia" program, they will have direct contact with 600 beneficiaries and indirect contact with 360,000 beneficiaries. The 600 include business organizations, local self-government representatives, students, schoolchildren, teachers, as well as CSO representatives, public servants, and experts.

"The program envisages implementing 21 trainings in 4 regions and Yerevan. The target regions are Shirak, Gegharkunik, Tavush, and Lori. The effectiveness of the courses will be checked through special questionnaires. Participants will answer the same questionnaire before and after the course. At least a 40 percent increase in knowledge is expected," said Mariam Zadoyan.

The attendees directed questions to both experts and ministry representatives, which related to increasing the effectiveness of the whistleblowing system, changing perceptions in society, publishing and disseminating materials on whistleblowing.

During the event, measures related to the whistleblowing institution within the framework of the Anti-Corruption Strategy and upcoming legislative reforms were also presented.