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The Government of the Republic of Armenia’s 2026–2031 Program opens a new phase of public administration reforms and raises the level of ambition. The success of this phase will be determined not by the scope of reforms but by the quality of their implementation. It will depend on the extent to which the new Public Administration Reform Strategy ensures clear objectives, accountability, realistic sequencing, an appropriate culture, and effective implementation mechanisms. To this end, the state system must have sufficient institutional capacity, professional depth, and flexibility to plan, coordinate, implement, evaluate, and review reforms.
The problems within the system have been documented in international monitoring assessments, including the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development/Support for Improvement in Governance and Management (OECD/SIGMA) 2025 report, “Public Administration in Armenia.” At the national level, APRI Armenia also conducted the study “Better Policy: Reforms to Armenia’s Public Administration” from September 2024 to February 2025. The study examines the previous phase of public administration reforms and the structural and cultural barriers to policymaking, while presenting practical recommendations. According to APRI Armenia, the key challenges of the previous phase were linked not to the definition of reform directions but to issues of clear leadership, coordination, capacity, and continuity of implementation, which are systemically interconnected.
Therefore, the central question is whether the new phase will have, from the outset, clear frameworks of institutional and political accountability, realistic priorities and sequencing, and effective implementation mechanisms.
A New Strategy and Implementation Architecture
In the Government’s new program, improving governance effectiveness and developing institutions are viewed not as separate sectoral reforms but as preconditions for implementing the entire program.
The introduction of the project management approach deserves particular attention, as its purpose is to ensure the timely and successful implementation of key reforms. Project management can be effective only within a comprehensive strategic management system in which areas of responsibility are clearly defined, interagency coordination is in place, and priority-setting, results measurement, and problem-solving are anchored in functioning mechanisms. APRI Armenia’s study found that, during the previous phase, fragmented responsibility and insufficient clarity in coordination limited the implementation of reforms. It will therefore be necessary to strengthen high-level political coordination and ensure continuous implementation coordination capacity within the Office of the Prime Minister.
In this context, the new reform strategy will be of particular importance. Its institutional basis is the Government of the Republic of Armenia’s January 8, 2026 “Doctrine of Economic and Institutional Transformation of Armenia” and the September 18, 2025 Concept on Strategic Management. The new model provides for the adoption of six sectoral strategies, one of which is the Public Administration Reform (PAR) Strategy. It covers policymaking, local self-government, public finance and assets, services and administrative functions, data governance and digital transformation, and human resource management.
The new PAR Strategy should not become yet another broad document of ambitions and activities, which could again lead to the problems of the previous phase: diluted ownership, unclear priorities, and a focus on completing activities rather than achieving results. Therefore, it is imperative, and from APRI Armenia’s expert perspective it is recommended, that the new strategy be understood and positioned as a “living” document that creates a clear implementation architecture and ensures a link between short-term actions and long-term objectives. This means clarifying not only the objectives and sub-objectives but also who will implement them, when, with what resources, and under what responsibility; how comprehensive reforms will be coordinated; how deviations will be recorded; and through what mechanisms their timely correction will be ensured. This approach is also in line with international good practices, including the OECD/SIGMA Principles of Public Administration, which consider clear coordination at the political and administrative levels, the provision of sufficient resources, and continuous monitoring of implementation and results to be preconditions for effective reforms. Applying such an approach would also strengthen the state system’s capacity to more consistently implement commitments arising from the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement, the new Armenia–EU Strategic Partnership Agenda, and international commitments, including those under the national action plan of the Open Government Partnership initiative. In this logic, APRI Armenia’s forthcoming sectoral work will also focus on Section 6 of the Government’s new program, particularly on practical mechanisms for evidence-based and effective policies, implementation readiness of the new public administration reform strategy, monitoring, and independent expert assessment of results.
The strategy should also be viewed as an instrument for implementing the reform agenda and strengthening the resilience of state institutions. In this regard, the institutionalization of reforms is essential to ensure that new practices and capacities become a sustainable part of the system and do not depend on individual officials or external support. Financial sustainability is also important. The level of state budget funding allocated to this area should be gradually increased. In parallel, the internal capacities of state bodies must be developed consistently. In this logic, the expert community should also support state bodies and test new capacity-building formats through joint work, focusing on evidence-based policies in the public sector, analytical capacities, and the use of new tools.
The Importance of Governance Culture and Participatory Governance
The success of reforms also depends on a change in governance culture. APRI Armenia’s 2025 study showed that effectiveness is hindered by a focus on processes, limited engagement of civil servants, and a lack of trust toward them, as well as a weak culture of participation. Therefore, the new strategy and approach should be clear in this regard: promoting results-oriented governance, ensuring greater engagement of civil servants at the problem-definition stage, and developing a participatory culture should be viewed not as secondary components of reform but as preconditions for their institutional sustainability. This will create a domino effect within the state system by encouraging greater responsibility and initiative and shaping new practices of cooperation and participation.
The Government’s new program provides for the systematic participation of citizens, civil society, the professional community, and the private sector in the stages of policy development, implementation, and evaluation. From the perspective of participatory governance, the unified website for publishing draft legal acts, the E-Draft system, the Prime Minister’s September 22, 2025 decision on public councils adjunct to ministers, and the establishment of the Department for Participatory and Open Governance within the Office of the Prime Minister have ensured visible progress. Nevertheless, participatory governance should not be limited to the formal opportunity to submit comments on a draft legal act. State bodies must continuously develop a culture of open and constructive engagement with civil society and professional communities, where cooperation becomes a tool for improving the quality of policies.
Digital Governance and AI: The Problem Before the Technology
The Government’s program is also ambitious in terms of digital transformation. The principles of “zero bureaucracy,” “digital by design,” and “AI first,” the standardization and interconnection of databases, the “once-only” approach to data, and the use of AI tools indicate the existence of a long-term digital transformation agenda.
It is important that this agenda does not become an end in itself or a mechanical transfer of complex and ineffective processes into the digital environment. In this sense, public service business processes should first be reviewed, simplified, and redesigned, and only then should appropriate technological solutions be selected. It is also important to deepen the Government of Armenia’s cooperation with international partners, including Estonian state and expert institutions with significant experience. The same logic applies to artificial intelligence. The starting question should not be “where should AI be applied?” but rather “which governance problem are we trying to solve, and is AI the most effective tool for solving it?” The legal, ethical, and technical regulations envisaged by the program provide an important foundation, but success will depend on the formation and accumulation of practical knowledge and capacities within state bodies.
In conclusion, the Government’s 2026–2031 Program significantly raises Armenia’s level of ambition in public administration reforms. In the next phase, the state must correspondingly strengthen its institutional capacity, resilience, and governance flexibility to bring these ambitions to life.
Author: Armenak Minasyants Senior Research Fellow on Public Administration Reforms, APRI Armenia