Formation of Control Mechanisms during the Call up

On March 20, 2009, the final TV program devoted to 2008 spring and summer call up and the problems of recruits and their relatives was held on local “Lori TV”, which was. The goal was to sum up the achievements and the results of the project “Formation of Civil Control over Recruitment Process in Lori Region.”

At the beginning of the program, Arthur Sakunts, the coordinator of HCA Vanadzor presented the viewers the overall picture of the recruitment monitoring. He mentioned that due to the project the mechanism of civil control was formed – the tools were developed and their effectiveness was tested. There exists a systematized approach – legal assistance, interviews, preparation of letters, communication, which means cooperation with the Ministry of Defence, discussions to present the monitoring results. The project director underlined that in order to have effective control it is necessary to create trust among recruits and their relatives, which is possible through making the system clearer, predictable and available.
  “The goal of control is to prevent violation of anyone’s rights or implementation of their obligations. There is a lot to do in this respect”-said Arthur Sakunts. It was told that only five citizens were consistent in the protection of their rights. According to Sakunts there is great concern about the recruits having health problems.
  The viewers were presented with the monitoring results, in particular, the thing that the level of recruits’ awareness at all the stages of recruitment is very low, the list of documents required from the recruits is too diverse and the fact that the medical conclusions are not given to the recruits and it cannot let them appeal.
  During the fall call up the reactions from the Ministry of Defence were friendlier, therefore there is great progress from the viewpoint of cooperation between the NGO and Ministry of Defence, which is a good basis for establishing partnership relations. “Power structures should have accountability before civil society, this is one of the guarantees for our development”- A. Sakunts underlined.
  At the end of the program the project director said that the Ministry of Defence was not against creation of such an institute because they also undergo reforms. Civil control does not include only the call up process; it also has some other aspects, which is also provision of social security of officers or prevention of corruption phenomena. Summarizing the program, he expressed the following idea: “It is necessary to form trust among citizens towards the Defence system, it should not be an emotional perception but realized trust, which is possible only through ability of accountability and transparency.”
It was mentioned that the tested model would be used also by other organizations during 2009 spring and autumn call up in different regions of Armenia, which is supported by OSCE office in Yerevan.
  It should be noted that during the live program citizens had the opportunity to call and ask their questions, which were mainly related to getting deferment based on education, recruitment of the parentless, violations occurred during the medical examination. Eight calls were received and those citizens whose problems needed further clarifications were advised to visit the office of HCA Vanadzor.
  The program was organized within the framework of the project “Civil Control over Recruitment Process” implemented by HCA Vanadzor with support of Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation – Armenia.