Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development of the Republic of Armenia HANDBOOK ESTABLISHMENTESTABLISHMENT ANDAND COMMISSIONINGCOMMISSIONING OFOF CITIZENCITIZEN OFFICESOFFICES ININ MUNICIPALITIESMUNICIPALITIES OFOF THETHE REPUBLICREPUBLIC OFOF ARMENIAARMENIA Preface In parallel with the development of local self-government system in Armenia, the continuous improvement of the quality of service delivery is important. The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development supports the targeted and efficient solution to this issue which has been considerably facilitated by the establishment of Citizen Offices in various municipalities across the country. Thanks to the “one stop-shop” principle and the application of electronic tools, the COs notably improve the quality and efficiency of service delivery and offer the citizens better access to them. The development of the Handbook has been supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in consideration of the experience of the COs operating in 29 municipalities of 9 marzes of Armenia, as well as the international practice of administrative service delivery on local level. The Handbook presents different aspects of establishing and running COs and can be useful for Local Self-Government bodies as a guide to establish new COs and for the existing ones to improve their operation. I am confident that the information presented in this Handbook and the step-by-step approach of CO establishment will positively contribute to the improvement of the efficiency of service delivery and facilitate communication between the LSGs and the citizens. First Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Development Vache Terteryan 3 8.3. Approve the list of services 49 8.4. Architectural and construction aspects of CO establishment 49 8.5. Install infrastructures 49 8.6. Launch the CO and publicize 50 TABLE OF CONTENTS 8.7. Monitor, evaluate and improve 50 9. REFLECTING CO ESTABLISHMENT AND COMMISSIONING IN THE MUNICIPAL LIST OF ACRONYMS 6 PLANNING DOCUMENTS 51 SUMMARY 7 10. CO PREMISES, FURNISHING, CONSTRUCTION WORKS AND TECHNICAL SUPPLIES 52 INTRODUCTION 8 10.1. Selection of CO premises 52 10.2. Design of CO entrance 53 1. DEFINITION AND OBJECTIVES OF COs 10 10.3. CO structural divisions 55 2. LEGISLATIVE BASES FOR ESTABLISHMENT AND COMMISSIONING OF COs 12 10.4. Architectural and construction aspects of CO establishment 66 3. BACKGROUND OF CO ESTABLISHMENT AND CURRENT SITUATION 13 10.5. Technical supplies of the CO 71 4. SERVICES DELIVERED BY COs 20 APPENDICES 4.1. Levels of service delivery 29 Appendix 1: List of Citizen Offices operating in the Republic of Armenia 4.2. Channels of service delivery 29 (as of March 2018) 72 5. ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE OF COs 34 Appendix 2: Exemplary form of CO Performance Monitoring 74 Appendix 3: Sample of citizen satisfaction survey 79 6. TRAINING OF CO PERSONNEL 36 6.1. Knowledge management and internal communication 39 Appendix 4. List of the CO assets 82 7. MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF CO PERFORMANCE 40 BIBLIOGRAPHY 85 7.1. In-house and sourced out monitoring 41 7.2. Citizen feedback 43 8. PROCEDURE OF CO ESTABLISHMENT 47 8.1. Assess context 48 8.2. Hold discussions 48 4 5 LIST OF ACRONYMS SUMMARY CO Citizen Office The Handbook “Establishment and commissioning of Citizen Offices in the municipalities of the CPAS Centre for Provision of Administrative Services Republic of Armenia” (hereinafter referred to as Handbook) sets out a broad range of issues in the GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit area of establishing and commissioning Citizen Offices (CO), organising and monitoring their daily operations and other relevant aspects. LSG Local Self-Government body MMIS Municipal Management Information System Introduction presents a general description arrangement of trainings for CO personnel of CO, the background substantiating the and exchange of experience. MTAD Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development development of the Handbook and its SDC Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation thematic and time relevance to the current Section 7 sets out the monitoring and USAID United States Agency for International Development realities in Armenia. evaluation patterns applicable to CO operations including descriptions and Section 1 provides the definition of CO, its implementation modalities thereof. objectives and principles of operations, as well as the advantages this institution Section 8 describes the seven main stages of bears for both citizens and local CO establishment. self-government bodies (LSGs). Section 9 reflects on the CO establishment Section 2 lists the legislative bases for and commissioning in the statutory establishment and commissioning of COs. planning documents deployed by the municipality. Section 3 contains the narration of expe- riences of CO establishment in Armenia Section 10 describes selection and exemplified by the case of Vanadzor CO. refurbishment of the CO working space, including the technical and technological Section 4 presents the major services supplies of the COs. delivered by COs in Armenia and channels of service delivery with a reference to Appendices include the list of COs operating service provision information cards. in Armenia, exemplary forms of i) CO performance monitoring questionnaire Section 5 discusses the organisational and ii) questionnaire on citizen satisfaction structure of COs and proposes two major with CO service delivery and a list of CO models of their establishment. technical equipment. Section 6 presents the principles of CO The Handbook is concluded with a bibliography staffing and internal communication, of literature and sources used for developing this Handbook. 6 7 a guideline and practical assistance to LSGs the latter taking into consideration the and their administrations for appropriately accumulated experience and trends. establishing and commissioning COs. The Handbook details the objectives and The Handbook is addressed to the LSGs, INTRODUCTION peculiarities of the CO as a new institution personnel of local administrations, citizens, for public service delivery. civil society, private sector organisations and groups, expert community, as well as other In the framework of overarching ensuring the quality of service delivery In elaborating this Handbook, the Handbook institutions and stakeholders operating at government policies, reforms in public persists as a priority of the LSGs which “Establishment of Citizen Offices in local level. administration have been implemented can be addressed through establishment Armenia”2 has been referred and scrutinised and continue to be in progress with the of COs as a contemporary and targeted with the objective to update and improve objective to enhance the quality of services solution. This is, inter alia, an imperative of delivered to citizens of Armenia1. The time determined by the development of the success of the reforms is preconditioned local self-government system, structural primarily by the accessibility of services to and legislative changes in the sector, citizens and the availability of practical tools decentralisation policy of the government, and mechanisms that the secure quality and as well as the need to modernise methods, efficiency of the services. With enhanced channels and tools of service delivery. awareness about their rights, citizens are in anticipation of higher quality and level of COs enable the municipal administrations to service delivery, which are citizen-centred, gather different services in one flexible and result-oriented. location through the one-stop-shop principle thus becoming the primary access Irrespective of the quantity and nature point for citizens. COs allow to tailor the of the delivered services, securing their service delivery to the needs of citizens quality is a key task for LSGs, too. The more through improving communication between transparent, accessible and well-coordinated the LSG and citizens, enhancing the is the service delivery, the higher is the transparency of operations implemented by trust toward the LSG and satisfaction of the the municipal administration, and increasing population with its performance. the degree and broadening the scope of citizen participation in local self-governance. Quantity and nature of services may vary from municipality to municipality, but This Handbook is designed and developed as 1 “Increasing quality and efficiency of service delivery”, Outcomes of the activities of the Government of the Republic of Arme- 2 The Handbook was developed and published in the framework of “Local and Economic Development in Armenia” Programme nia, http://report.gov.am/?id=31։ of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), G. Khachatryan, Yerevan - 2011 8 9 Efficiency of the COs for the citizens and the LSGs For the citizens: For the LSGs: CO improves accessibility and affordability 1. DEFINITION AND OBJECTIVES OF COs Establishment of the CO entails review of of the services through review of internal procedures, processes and work style, as procedures and processes and curtailing the well as the structural changes, resulting time necessary for service delivery; in increased quality and efficiency of Citizen Office is a unit of the municipal administration, which delivers administrative and (or) other services to citizens according to the principle of one-stop-shop. service delivery through reshaping and CO enables citizens to avoid bureaucratic optimising of administrative