Reciprocal Project Highlight: Development of Performance Audit in the Republic of Armenia

Reciprocal Exchange Projects are an important and unique facet of the Professional Fellows Program, allowing Americans whose organizations host or work closely with our Fellows while they are in the U.S. the opportunity to travel to the Fellow's home country and share wisdom, best practices, and collaborative efforts towards a common goal. In May of 2022, American Councils facilitated our first in-person Reciprocal Exchange for the Professional Fellows Program since the beginning of the pandemic. Dr. Gary VanLandingham, Professor, MPA Program Director, and Reubin O'D Askew Senior Practitioner in Residence at the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy at Florida State University, set off for Yerevan, Armenia to implement a Reciprocal Exchange Project with his PFP Fellow Hayk Bejanyan, Deputy Head of the Department of the Audit Chamber of the Republic of Armenia.  

This is what Professor VanLandingham had to say about his experience:  

In May 2022, I was privileged to spend approximately two weeks in Armenia making a reciprocal visit to support Dr. Hayk Bejanyan's outstanding efforts to build the National Assembly's program auditing capacity. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Hayk's planned trip to the U.S. to work with OPPAGA - the Florida Legislature's Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (which I formerly led) - had to be converted to a virtual visit in 2021. Accordingly, my trip to Yerevan was the first time that we had been able to meet in person. 

Since regaining its independence, the Republic of Armenia has made significant progress in establishing systems to fight corruption. However, it has lacked the expertise needed to carry out performance management, policy analysis, and program evaluation studies that help ensure public programs are efficient and achieve desired outcomes for the nation’s citizens. 

Hayk's virtual visit to the United States and interactions with OPPAGA staff helped him to create a performance auditing training manual for his office, which will also be shared with other developing nations. My return visit focused on conducting a series of workshops for National Assembly staff to support the manual's rollout and acquaint the staff with additional tools and resources that they can use in their work. Additionally, I met with faculty of the Armenian State University of Economics to discuss collaboration opportunities and give a talk to students on evidence-based policymaking. 

I feel that I learned just as much if not more from Hayk and his colleagues than I was able to convey through my presentations. The trip gave me a new appreciation of Armenia's amazing history, its incredibly welcoming people, and the challenges it encounters as a developing nation. I will cherish these memories and the friendships I made during the visit. I am hoping to continue to work with Hayk in the future as he is currently seeking a Fullbright grant to study program evaluation and evidence-based policymaking at Florida State University, where I currently teach. 

The American Councils and its Professional Fellows Program provide superb opportunities to build understandings, share best practices, and create long-term partnerships between professionals working in the U.S. and developing nations. I cannot thank its staff enough for their support of the program, my trip to Armenia, and young professionals across many nations.