Davit Harutyunyan and Judith Margaret Farnworth sign Memorandum of Understanding

Today, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Davit Harutyunyan and Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Armenia Judith Margaret Farnworth signed a Memorandum of Understanding, heralding the launch of the joint programme entitled "Support to the Implementation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy of the Government of the Republic of Armenia".

The implementation of the programme will foster effective implementation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy of the Government of the Republic of Armenia and enable to introduce sub-legislative regulations stemming from the Law "On the protection of whistle-blowers", as well as to raise the level of awareness of the civil society and the public in the field of protection of whistle-blowers.

Davit Harutyunyan expressed his gratitude to the Ambassador of the UK for her support to the Government of the Republic of Armenia in the fight against corruption and stated that the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding will serve as a good ground for further co-operation within the scope of anti-corruption reforms.

In his speech, the Minister emphasised that the fight against corruption continues to remain one of the priorities of the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the actions stemming therefrom are included in the Government Programme for 2017-2022. Davit Harutyunyan also presented the steps having already been undertaken within the scope of the fight against corruption, such as criminalisation of illegal enrichment, establishment of an independent anti-corruption preventive body, adoption of the Law "On protection of whistle-blowers", etc.

In her turn, Ambassador Judith Margaret Farnworth added that supporting such initiatives is in line with the UK strategy on promoting democracy, transparency and human rights. Therefore, they welcome the focus in the new Government Programme of the Republic of Armenia on the fight against corruption and express hope that implementation of this Programme will also contribute to achieving success in the mentioned field.