Non-Governmental Organizations: Succesful or Ineffective?

On June 8, 2010, the Civilitas Foundation hosted a panel discussion on “Non-governmental Organizations: Achievements and Failures” at the Ani Plaza Hotel.  The panel included the director of the Norovank Foundation, Gagik Harutyunyan, writer and journalist Marine Petrosyan, and the Partnership for Democracy director, Stepan Danielyan. The discussion, moderated by journalist and Civilitas analyst, Tatul Hakobyan, was centered around the effectiveness of such organizations and their impact on broader civil society issues. 
Stepan Danielyan acknowledged the important role of civil society organizations as a public voice, but criticized the authorities for pursuing policies that hamper their functioning.  Danielyan said, “When the government decides to enact a certain policy, it will naturally have supporters and opponents.  But today, the authorities serve themselves, not the people.  And because of this, the government views with hostility organizations that are ready to serve the public.” He considers the lack of protections for basic human and economic rights and government obstructionism one of the biggest obstacles civil society organizations face in Armenia.

Marine Petrosyan said, “These organizations should be accountable to society, not to the state.”  She suggested that the grant-finding process severely restricts the ability of organizations to concentrate on issues important to society, and instead, narrows their focus to issues favored by the government and the ruling authorities: “I think civil society organizations first consider where to find grants and what topics will garner the most financial support, as opposed to considering what society needs to concentrate on.  I think this is counter productive and is not right.”

Gagik Harutyunyan noted that according to the Norovank Foundation’s research, the Armenian public has become suspicious of civil society organizations, and this has created the impression that they cannot set the national mood or political discourse.  Harutyunyan believes that one of the reasons why environmental organizations enjoy more popularity than others is that they tend to ignore political issues.

After a vibrant Q&A session, where the panel took questions and comments from the audience, the president of the Civilitas Board, Vartan Oskanyan, offered closing remarks.  Referring to the politicization of civil society organizations, he said: “Unfortunately, the authorities view the work of these organizations from a political prism.  Because of this, the government divides these organizations into groups: those whose activism has political consequences, and those that don’t.”  He concluded by stressing that it would be ideal if these organizations were funded and supported by the people and local businesses, as opposed to the authorities.