ILO presents its Self-Assessment Method for Social Dialogue Institutions to constituents in Armenia

The international Labour Organization (ILO) was represented by Caroline O’Reilly, Senior Technical Expert, Igor Zemlyanskiy, Social Dialogue Officer from the ILO HQ, Vladimir Curovic, Senior Specialist on Employers’ Activities, Gocha Aleksandria, Senior Specialist on Workers’ Activities from the ILO Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. ILO consituents - Ruben Sargsyan, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Gagik Makaryan, President of the Republican Union of Employers of Armenia (RUEA) and Tiruhi Nazaretyan, Vice President of thebConfederation of Trade Unions of Armenia (CTUA) attended the event.

In his opening address, Vladimir Curovic mentioned that Social Dialogue is crucially important for both the Government and social partners because it offers a wide set of topics to be discussed inclusively. The national social dialogue institution is crucially important because it represents the platform where the Government can discuss the relevant polices with the social partners representing employers and workers in a formal and institutional way. Often, the national social dialogue institution is the only official platform for the employers and workers to reach out to the Government to ensure their participation in development processes..


Gocha Aleksandria has pointed out that social dialogue institutions in Armenia are still relatively young and require continued support including by adjusting legal and institutional frameworks and further developing the culture of dialogue. In this regard identifying existing gaps and trying to capitalize on the opportunities is a very good start. The ILO Bureau for Workers’ Activities is keen to support the Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia in this positive process.

Gagik Makaryan and Tiruhi Nazaretyan underlined the importance of social dialogue from the view of the existing challenges. They expressed their appreciation for the ILO support and rapid reaction to the constituents’ request.

Ruben Sargsyan, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs spoke highly of cooperation with the ILO in light of the ongoing legislative reforms in Armenia on Social Dialogue and Social Partnership. This is the right time to look at the existing challenges and try to find reasonable and effective solutions, he said.

According to Caroline O’Reilly, SAM-SDI method is intended for social dialogue actors in all parts of the world and for institutions of various sizes, composition and mandate, and with different resource levels. The objective of the workshop is to familiarize and train the members and secretaries of the RTC on the SAM-SDI thus enabling them to apply the method autonomously.

As a result of the workshop a draft Letter of Intent was developed to undertake further steps in the development and implementation of the Action Plan. RTC will discuss the draft letter at one of its upcoming meetings.