EITI ARMENIA COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN April 30, 2018 Prepared by American University of Armenia’s Center for Responsible Mining For The Republic of Armenia’s EITI Multi-Stakeholder Group Within the framework of the “Support to Enhance Armenia's Capacity to Implement EITI and to Increase Transparency and Accountability in Mining Licenses and Contracts” Project funded by The British Embassy Yerevan April 30, 2018 Table of Contents ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................................ 4 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 5 1.1. EITI IN ARMENIA ................................................................................................................................................. 5 1.2. NEED FOR A COMMUNICATIONS PLAN ............................................................................................................... 5 1.3. METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................................................. 6 2. FRAMING COMMUNICATIONS FOR EITI ARMENIA ................................................................ 7 2.1. OVERARCHING GOAL AND KEY ELEMENTS.......................................................................................................... 7 2.2. COMMUNICATIONS OVER TIME ......................................................................................................................... 8 3. NATIONAL COMMUNICATION ............................................................................................. 10 3.1. NATIONAL STAKEHOLDERS AND TARGET GROUPS ........................................................................................... 10 3.2. NATIONAL COMMUNICATION CHANNELS ........................................................................................................ 11 3.3. RECOMMENATIONS ON DEVELOPING NATIONAL MESSAGES .......................................................................... 11 4. INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION .................................................................................... 16 4.1. INTERNATIONAL STAKEHOLDERS AND TARGET GROUPS .................................................................................. 16 4.2. INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION CHANNELS .............................................................................................. 17 4.3. INTERNATIONAL MESSAGES ............................................................................................................................. 19 5. EITI ARMENIA WEBSITE AND E-REPORTING PORTAL ............................................................ 20 6. INTERNAL COMMUNICATION .............................................................................................. 22 6.1. COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE EITI ARMENIA COORDINATING OFFICE AND MSG ...................................... 22 6.2. COMMUNICATION AMONG MSG MEMBERS .................................................................................................... 23 6.3. COMMUNICATION BETWEEN MSG MEMBERS AND ITS WIDER CONSTITUENCY .............................................. 23 6.4. ENSURING EITI ARMENIA STAFF AND MSG MEMBERS ARE WELL-INFORMED .................................................. 23 7. BRANDING AND LANGUAGES .............................................................................................. 25 7.1. BRANDING ........................................................................................................................................................ 25 7.2. USING TAGLINES AND BOILERPLATE TEXT ........................................................................................................ 26 7.3. MAKING BRANDING MATERIALS AVAILABLE TO THE PRESS ............................................................................. 27 7.4. ENHANCING BRANDING .................................................................................................................................... 27 7.5. LANGUAGES ...................................................................................................................................................... 28 8. MONITORING AND EVALUATION ........................................................................................ 29 9. COMMUNICATION ACTION PLAN ........................................................................................ 30 9.1. EITI ARMENIA COMMUNICATION ACTION PLAN WITH FUNDING IN PLACE ..................................................... 30 9.2. ADDITIONAL COMMUNICATIONS ACTIVITIES STAKEHOLDERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO UNDERTAKE ................ 31 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................. 33 1. NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN ARMENIA ......................................................................................... 34 2. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IN ARMENIA ................................................................................................... 38 3. RELEVANT GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES IN ARMENIA ............................................................................................ 40 4. ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS IN ARMENIA ................................................................................................................. 41 5. METAL MINING LICENCSE HOLDERS IN ARMENIA (2015, 2016, AND 2017) ............................................................ 42 6. ACCOUNTING, FINANCIAL AUDTING, AND LEGAL COUNSEL FIRMS ...................................................................... 47 7. NATIONAL MEDIA OUTLETS .................................................................................................................................. 49 8. DIASPORA MEDIA OUTLETS ................................................................................................................................... 51 9. INTERNATIONAL MEDIA OUTLETS ......................................................................................................................... 52 10. INTERNATIONAL PLATFORMS AND MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZATIONS ................................................................ 53 11. INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS, CONFERENCES, SYMPOSIUMS ............................................................................ 54 12. GLOBAL CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS WITH RELEVANT FOCUS.................................................................... 55 2 April 30, 2018 13. SPECIALIZED INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATIONS .................................................................................................. 56 14. MANAGEMENT-CONSULTING FIRMS WITH MINING PRACTICE ........................................................................ 57 15. EIGHT NATIONAL EITI COMMUNICATION STRATEGY DOCUMENTS COMPARED .............................................. 58 16. COMMUNICATION THEMES PER USAID’S “ENHANCED TRANSPARENCY IN THE MINING SECTOR PROJECT” ... 59 17. BACKGROUND ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EITI ARMENIA WEB PORTAL ................................... 61 3 April 30, 2018 Acronyms ADB Asian Development Bank AUA American University of Armenia CIS Commonwealth of Independent States CRM AUA Center for Responsible Mining CSAP Communications Strategy and Action Plan CSO Civil-society organization EAEU Eurasian Economic Union EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development EDB Eurasian Development Bank EITI Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative EU European Union FAQ Frequently asked question GIZ Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH, German development agency IMF International Monetary Fund KfW Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, German development bank LIRAP Legal and Institutional Review and Action Plan for Armenia MEINR RA Ministry of Energy Infrastructure and Natural Resources MFA RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs MNP RA Ministry of Nature Protection MoEDI RA Ministry of Economic Development and Investment MoF RA Ministry of Finance MoJ RA Ministry of Justice MSG Multi-Stakeholder Group NGO Non-governmental organizations SS EITI Scoping Study for Armenia TOR Terms of Reference UK United Kingdom of Britain UN United Nations US United State of America WB World Bank 4 April 30, 2018 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. EITI IN ARMENIA The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is a global standard for the good governance of oil, gas and mineral resources. The EITI Standard is implemented by 52 countries. Armenia became a candidate country on 9 March 2017 with the EITI International Board’s approval of Armenia’s application. The Republic of Armenia is required to publish its first EITI Report within 18 months of becoming a candidate (i.e., by 9 September 2018). By joining the Initiative, the Government of Armenia commits to publish information on financial flows and ensure greater transparency of the extractive sector. To accomplish this it has established a Multi- Stakeholder Group (MSG) comprising three groups: government representatives, civil-society representatives, and extractive or industry representatives. The MSG, EITI’s key decision-making body, has developed a workplan, outlining the range of issues that should be addressed by the Armenian EITI. The workplan adopted by Armenia’s MSG addresses the following issues: • Financial transparency of the sector, • Disclosure of beneficial owners of the mining companies, • Forming