On 28 February, advanced training courses on monitoring and evaluation of budget programs were held within the framework of the second stream of the face-to-face course of the budget training program for CSOs/Media organizations and the second stream of advanced and practical skills development stage for young specialists. Ms Karine Harutyunyan, Executive Director of the “Center for Economic Development and Research” NGO, shared her experience with young specialists and CSO/Media representatives.

The trainer covered the budget control toolkit comprehensively, beginning from the social audit to controlling the state expenditures and independent budget analysis. Special attention was paid to various methods of budget analysis and the development of evaluation criteria.

The practical part of the training, where participants acquired experience and skills in developing criteria for evaluating budgetary programs, was of particular value. They learned to formulate targeted questions for each criterion, which will allow to effectively assessing the efficiency of budget expenditures.

Pre- and post-evaluation tests to assess the increase of the participants’ knowledge were conducted, which indicated the effectiveness of the course.

The hybrid format, combining face-to-face and online participation opportunities, ensured active involvement of participants from remote regions, contributing to the balanced development of regional potential in the area of ​​ participatory budgeting.

The “Budgets 4 Citizens” (B4C) action (8 December, 2022 – 7 December, 2026) is being implemented with the financial support of the European Union by the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, in cooperation with partners “Economic Development and Research Center” (EDRC) NGO and “Agora Central Europe” NGO (Czech Republic).