Democracy support program launched in Armenia with the assistance of  Great Britain

ArmInfo.On September 5, the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Armenia hosted a  reception with the British Ambassador to Armenia John Gallagher.

As reported by the press service of the CEC, the meeting was also  attended by the Director of the Armenian office of the International  Institute for Electoral Systems (IFES) Jerome Leiro, Nerses  Yeritsyan, Director of the Information Systems Agency of Armenia, and  other officials.

CEC member Anna Grigoryan and the Head of the Information Technology  and Information Analysis Department of the CEC Elena Ayvazyan  presented details of their June business trip to Tallinn, where  representatives of the CEC of the Republic of Armenia held  discussions at the State Electoral Commission of Estonia. The focus  of the discussions was on  cybersecurity in electoral processes, and  they involved the professional structures from the Baltic state. The  study visit  of the Armenian delegation was initiated by IFES as part  of the Support for Democracy in Armenia (ADP) program. This program,  funded by the UK Government and represented by International  Development Assistance, aims to support democracy in Armenia.  During  the meeting, the Director of the IFES Armenia Office Jerome Leiro and  the Chairman of the Central Election Commission Vahagn Hovakimyan  signed a memorandum of cooperation, thereby announcing the launch of  the program to support democracy in Armenia.  The program operates in  three main areas: increasing the resilience of the Central Election  Commission to cybersecurity challenges, improving control over  political financing and abuse of public resources, and developing the  civic education skills of RA citizens  to ensure participation in all  democratic processes.  As part of the same program, the Central  Election Commission of the Republic of Armenia took part in a two-day  training on January 17 and 19, 2024, aimed at enhancing the  cybersecurity of the electoral process in Armenia.

Ambassador Gallagher expressed gratitude for the successful  implementation of the program and expressed hope that further  cooperation will continue to support the  establishment of democracy  in Armenia.  CEC Chairman Vahagn Hovakimyan assured that the CEC is  interested in expanding cooperation with all partners invited to the  discussion.