Principles of Fair Administration of the City in Pre-Election Programs

Reviewing the pre-election programs of the parties running in the 2018 snap elections to Yerevan City Council from the perspective of gender sensitivity, we should state that none of the programs corresponds to the principles of gender mainstreaming, i.e. none of them separates sex specific needs and demands. Moreover, no party had incorporated the issue of ensuring gender sensitivity in its program, and during the political debates opinions were voiced that there are no women’s issues in urban environment and all the problems are the same for the entire population.  However, irrespective of this opinion and party positions on gender issues, many programs include provisions that match the concept of fair administration of the city and, therefore, can be viewed as gender sensitive. 

The concept of fair administration of the city

According to international approaches, a model of the fair administration of a city requires, on the one hand, establishment of partnership relationships between the state and civil society organizations, citizens’ engagement in administration, as well as proper representation of women in decision making related to the city. On the other hand, fair administration implies putting forth city problems taking into account the needs of different social groups, including those of the largest group, i.e. women.  It is not accidental that the paradigm for the fair administration of a city was for the first time put forward by European feminists. In essence, taking into consideration age and gender peculiarities of the needs of the urban population means that the comfortability of a city should be viewed from the perspective of private life, where the role of women is extremely large. For example, taking into account the daily purposes of women’s movement in the city, their needs are more diverse and consideration of their needs implies the improvement of the comfortability of the urban infrastructures.

Women also have a more active role in solving a number of problems. For example, a number of problems prioritized by the city authorities such as improvement of the culture of garbage removal, including sorting out of the garbage, are difficult to solve without involvement of women and without expansion of their civic participation. Overall, one can state that programs taking into consideration the principles of fair city administration cannot but be gender sensitive.

The evaluation of the pre-election programs of the parties participating in the Yerevan Municipal Council elections from the perspective of their correspondence to a fair city administration model creates an opportunity to assess these programs from the point of view of women’s interests and daily experience and to highlight those provisions the implementation of which is beneficial for women’s different social groups.

Specifically, to what extent the vision of Yerevan in the pre-election programs is:

• Fair, e. Is a goal set to engage civil society in city administration issues, including ensuring gender balance at the level of decision making related to decisions regarding the city?
• Safe for everybody, e. Is it envisioned that the streets, lanes, highrisers’ entrances be well illuminated and cleaned of snow in winter?
• Healthy: Is a goal set to increase the green areas in the city, to provide for garbage and harmful emissions removal from the city, and to guarantee efficient and quality medical services?
• Comfortable: Is it envisioned to solve the infrastructure and transportation problems taking into account the special needs of all social groups?

Even superficial review of the programs demonstrates that almost all the programs tried, in one way or another, to address the above noted problems. An exception is the issue of ensuring gender balance at the level of decision making pertaining to decisions regarding the city, which is, though, not a program provision, but is indirectly solved by equal representation of men and women in the electoral list of a given party, which was only provided for in the electoral list of Yerkir Tsirani Party. As regards this issue, one can view as progress the fact that for the first time three women were running for Mayor’s position and that half of the parties participating in the elections had included 40-50% of female candidates in their electoral lists.

It is interesting that some programs make a reference to the term “fair administration.” For example, in its program Luys Alliance notes that the alliance “views fair administration as pivotal to its activities, which will be aimed at fair solution to the problems.”  This is about an administration system that is close to the citizen, effective and decentralized, according to the principles of the European Charter on Local Self-Government.  In essence, some provisions of the program match the gender sensitive understanding of a fair city, however, their interpretation is strictly one-sided. For example, the safety of the city is viewed only from the perspective of civil defense, which is, of course, important, but does not include women’s viewpoints about the safety of the city.

By the way, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation too had made a reference to a fair city, one of the items in its program is entitled “For the Sake of Caring and Fair Yerevan,” which is followed by a number of important issues, however, from gender-neutral positions.

The Issue of the City Comfortability

The issue of the city comfortability is worthy of special attention, which means that the city’s infrastructures must be comfortable for both women and men, and help the daily routine of families and households.  A city comfortable for women specifically means a city with developed infrastructures, where there will not be problems  with enrolment of children in kindergartens, organization of school life,  for movement with of  baby carriages and by transport  and in terms of other numerous issues.

The Issue of Kindergartens in the Pre-Election Programs

A number of the parties participating in the elections have made references to the issue of preschool education in their programs, highlighting a diverse set of problems accumulated in this field.  The programs devote much attention to the order of children’s registration for kindergarten enrolment and housing conditions of kindergartens.

In its program My Step Alliance envisions  improving the housing and yard conditions of preschool institutions,  mapping the buildings and territories of preschool institutions,  returning, if possible, the leased out buildings to kindergartens,  making the process of electronic registration of preschool-age children transparent and accessible online, and  expanding their availability and inclusiveness.

The Luys Alliance program also envisages gradually returning the leased out kindergarten spaces to kindergartens and making electronic registration for kindergartens accessible to parents with children in the age group of 0-6. It is also envisioned to develop a preschool nutrition strategy.

Yerkir Tsirani Party has addressed the issue in different sections of its extensive program. Thus, the party envisions using budget means to renovate all preschool institutions in the capital city and to build new ones, to eliminate lines for registration of children’s enrolment in kindergartens and to ensure the right to preschool education for all children. It is also envisaged to provide kindergartens with appropriate specialists dealing with children with different health problems. Much importance is ascribed to cultural and esthetic education. As regards safety issue, the party believes it to be necessary to carry out monitoring of seismic resistance of all preschool buildings.

Yerevan Society Alliance of Parties envisions organizing registration for enrolment in kindergartens through open published lists, improving the yards of preschool education institutions and providing them with the necessary conditions for inclusive education. An interesting approach is proposed with respect to the food provision issue. The Alliance’s program notes that a production of ecologically pure foodstuff will be organized for preschool education institutions, thanks to which the expenses for food will decrease and the quality will be under control.

Orinats Yerkir’s program envisions development of free of charge kindergartens and upholding of the prohibition to privatize their buildings.

Heritage Party envisions increasing the number of kindergartens.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation also envisages expanding the network of kindergartens (opening preschool institutions adjunct to poorly loaded main schools).  

The Prosperous Armenia Party notes that the Yerevanians are displeased with the preschool education institutions, but does not specify how it is going to address the problem.

The other parties have not raised the issue.

Appeal to the Newly Elected Municipal Councilors

It is interesting that the issue of the city comfortability is a guiding and leading one in the program of My Step Alliance which garnered the largest number of votes. The priorities of the program include making Yerevan safe, healthy, and comfortable. Overall, the program is an enumeration of measures envisioned for different areas, and it is important that along the way of their realization the newly elected City Councilors and the Mayor take into account, in their city development plans, interesting and useful ideas proposed not only in the City Council, but also in the programs of other political forces, since this is in the interests of the city residents. In addition, it is desirable that the newly elected City Councilors be able to safeguard gender sensitivity of all city development programs during their activities, and thus, bring to life and realize the principles of the concept of fair administration of the city.