April 19 is celebrated as Taxpayer’s Day in Armenia. The second meeting of the CORE Group for Pilanthropy Sector Reforms was held dedicated to the day.
The goal of the CORE group is to contribute to the development of the philanthropy sector in Armenia and the implementation of sectorial reforms through joint efforts.
The meeting was attended by Karen Sargsyan, General Secretary of the RA Ministry of Finance, Hrachuhi Jabaghyan, Chief Specialist of the Non-Commercial Organizations Supervision Department of the SRC, Luben Panov and Eszter Hartay from the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law Stichting (ECNL), as well as members of the CORE group representing various civil society organizations.
In her welcoming speech, Arpine Hakobyan, the president of the NGO Center, noted that the meeting is taking place on a symbolic day when Armenia celebrates Taxpayer’s Day and that it is important to discuss how taxpayers can contribute to the development of the culture of Philanthropy in the country.
During the meeting, Ani Samsonyan, Specialist in the development of the reform package of the NGO Center, presented the package of recommendations made as a result of the previous meeting and discussions with other stakeholders, for which the research ” Philanthropy in Armenia” conducted by the NGO Center also served as a basis.
The policy document consists of the following key parts:
- Summary. Here are presented the principles of the reform of the Philanthropy sector in the context of the implementation of the state policy towards the sector. Proposals for the reform of the sector in legal, tax, and organizational directions are derived from the fundamental principles.
- PART 1. In this part, an attempt has been made to analyze the global trends of Philanthropy, the general factors affecting Philanthropy and the forms of state policies of different countries in the direction of promoting these factors.
- PART 2. This part refers to the legal and legislative situation of the Philanthropy sector in Armenia.
- Conclusions and proposals. Here are presented the conclusions and recommendations resulting from the analysis of the state of the Philanthropy sector.
Anahit Terzikyan, Programme Officer of WCC Armenia Round Table Foundation, notes that their foundation values such meetings of the CORE group of the Philanthropy sector, as they help to discuss the existing problems with the representatives of the sector. – “I think that the developed document includes the problems in the field and having them in one place is really positive.” And it is very encouraging for us that there is a response from the Ministry of Finance and we should have a meeting with them as a CORE Group in the near future to discuss the issues summarized in the policy document”.
In the second part of the meeting, an open discussion took place, during which the representatives of state institutions and CSOs voiced their observations and suggestions that can make the document better.
“The analysis of the philanthropy reform policy is an important initiative in our country not only to promote philanthropy , but also to put it on a more institutional and serious basis. I sincerely hope that this project will have an important impact on improving this sector, taking into account the international best practices and neutralizing many risks and obstacles”, says Irina Pahlevanyan, director of the “4090 charity” Foundation.
This event is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The event is organized by the NGO Center and supported by the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law Stichting (ECNL) under the INSPIRES program, implemented by Internews and the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL). The contents are the responsibility of the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law and NGO Center and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.