Public environmental information centre opened in Armenia

YEREVAN, 27 May 2002 - A public environmental information centre has been opened in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, on Friday, 24 May.

The centre will be run by a board of experts representing civil society, the Ministry of Nature Protection, and the National Assembly, supported by an Advisory Board composed of representatives of the donor community. It will facilitate free public access to a specialized library, the Internet, a legal database and environmental information provided by the Ministry. The centre will also serve as a venue for public discussions, meetings of non-governmental organizations and public relations activities of the Ministry.

"This centre has been established to promote democratic development in Armenia, to serve the needs of all those individuals who are interested in the country's environmental situation and would contribute to decision-making in this area", Vardan Ayvazyan, Armenia's Minister of Nature Protection, said at the opening ceremony. He also expressed his appreciation at the efforts of the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the donors - the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany - for their financial assistance.

Roy Reeve, Head of OSCE Office, stressed the importance of the centre from the point of view of exercising freedom of information, and underlined the uniqueness of the initiative on the territory of the Commonwealth of Independent States. He also pointed to the close co-operation and valuable contribution to the establishment of the centre by the United Nations Department for Public Information, the UN Environmental Programme, and the British Alumni Association who co-ordinated and implemented the initiative.

It is expected that the establishment of the Centre will reinforce the implementation of the UN Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making, and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention of 1998) in Armenia. Armenia ratified the Convention in May 2001 following a joint campaign by NGOs and the OSCE Office in Yerevan. The Convention came into force in October 2001.