Thursday, 3 April 2014
European Union supports CSAR reform Tigran Sargsyan is convinced that the citizens appreciate the quality of services USAID provide grant for emergency medical aid development
The government approved today a bill on amendments to the law on civil status registration procedures. Currently the system uses paperwork and paper records, with all documents and applications being processed in writing.
Software and a new electronic registration system have been developed and tested with the EU support, which is already operational in Yerevan and Gyumri. Nationwide coverage is due in May-June, 2014, but there is no provision in the current legislation, which provides for a system of electronic registers, leading to an obligation in the use of the system. All this will be addressed by means of the proposed amendments.
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said that, as a result, services will be of higher quality and added, “I am asking you to ensure preoper media coverage as our studies have revealed that the use of data in this new capacity may help us improve the quality of our services, which is appreciated by our citizens. The better the public is informed of this reform, the more they will come to appreciate it. I would like to assure you that we are going to be consistent in this matter. Another example is the enabling of easy change in telephone numbers. As you mat remember, we were firmly determined in this matter, although there was great reluctance. Everything is too easy and automated. We must keep our citizens updated on issues like this so that the number of service users keeps growing constantly.”
The CSAR bill contains amendments transitional and final provisions. It is proposed to be put into effect as of August 3, 2014. By January 1, 2018, should the registering authority be unable to process documents electronically, it will have to enter the data into the electronic system not later than a week after paper registration. The draft law will be submitted to the National Assembly in the manner established by law.
The government approved the 2014 budget for the grant program signed between the Ministry of Healthcare and the U.S. Agency for International Development referred to as “Support for emergency medical services.”
The project implemented based country status assessment. According to the evaluation report, to develop emergency medical services and reduce deaths and serious injuries, Armenia needs to follow a long-term strategy aimed at improving the control system, the telephone network, as well as provide for permanent staff training. The decision will lead to about AMD62mn rise in budget revenue, and over 100 million increase in expenditures.
