On October 5, on the promotion of OSCE Yerevan Office at “Erebuni” Plaza Business Center a two-week training program, strengthening the skills of the expert staff of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia began. 25 representatives of the staff of the National Assembly participate in the training. The program is implemented within the framework of the Cooperation memorandum, signed in 2009 between the Republic of Armenia and the OSCE Office in Yerevan. The international experts will turn to parliamentary democracy, freedom of meetings and information, social protection, environmental legislation, combating corruption, judicial amendments and topics related to other areas.

Mr. Gegham Gharibjanian, Chief of the Staff of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, welcoming the participants and organizers of the training program, within the framework of “Promotion to the National Assembly for Development of the Skills, 4^th Stage,” highlighted the cooperation of the OSCE Office in Yerevan as well as other executive bodies of the OSCE with the Republic of Armenia and institutions of civil society. The Chief of the Staff of the National Assembly said that the signed cooperation memorandum between the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia and the OSCE Office in Yerevan, by adopting new quality of democracy it was decided to promote the further development of democracy and strengthening of the activity of the National Assembly as well as strengthening the institutional, human and technical abilities and potential.

Wishing fruitful work to the participants and organizers of the trainings, Mr. Gharibjanian expressed hope that the knowledge gained at the training will promote the deepening of expert skills and abilities of the staff of the National Assembly, and raise their productivity.

The Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, Ambassador Sergey Kapinos, related to the opening of the program, said that expert work has an important role for the activity of the parliament. The quality of the legislative process is conditioned by the expert’s work. He said that the program would not be restricted only with this training. Within the framework of the program is foreseen an exchange of experience between the parliaments of the member states of the OSCE, as well as allotting literature to the library of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.