16 May 2014
Albanian Government, a member of OGP since 2012, is currently drafting the second National Action Plan 2014-2016, a process which is supported by several consultative meetings between the Ministry of Innovation and Public Administration (National Coordinator of OGP in Albania) and Civil Society Organizations. One of the recommendations pointed out from IDM and the OGP Coalition of Civil Society Organizations is the involvement of local government institutions (city halls) in undertaking concrete commitments in the framework of OGP.
Transparency is the cornerstone of local governance accountability; it gives the citizens the tools and information they need in order to play a greater role in the society. Transparency and active participation of citizens is important for improving the management of public resources, fight corruption and make public officials and political leaders more accountable to the citizens. The Local Governance Institutions offer a wide range of services, so the transparency in this field is very important to strengthen local governance and to build a culture of transparency, accountability and citizen involvement.
In this framework, IDM and the Coalition of Civil Society with the support of UNDP organized on 16 May 2014, Hotel Tirana International a Round Table with the topic: “Open Local Governance for Citizens”. The Round Table, gathered together representatives from local government institutions, civil society organizations as well as experts on local governance.
The round table achieved two main objectives:
- Informed Local Governance institutions on OGP and encouraged their participation in this initiative;
- Informed participants on concrete possibilities that exist in the adaptation of OGP principles in local level and undertaking concrete commitments, as part of 2014-2016 Action Plan
The Coalition of Civil Society, in the end of the implementation action plan will accord 3 prices for “The Champion of Open Governance”, where one of the prices will go to local governance units.
The proposed commitment was forwarded to the Ministry of Innovation and Public Administration for further action. You can find the proposed commitment in the following table.
| COMMITMENT | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Promoting Open Government Principles at Local Government in Albaia | ||||
| Leading Institution | Ministry of Innovation and Public AdministrationMinister of State for Local Government | |||
| Other involved actors | Government | |||
| Civil SocietyPrivate Sector | Coalition of OGP Civil Society Organizations | |||
| Status Quo or the problem/ issue to be addressed
|
OGP Action Plan 2012-2013, included only commitments undertaken by institutions at Central level.On the other hand, Law 8652, dated 31.07.2000 “On the Organization and Functioning of Local Government” extends a wide range of functions and powers to local governance.
In this context, PQH principles, such as transparency, accountability and inclusion are the foundation of good governance by giving citizens the tools and information they need to play a greater role in society. Transparency and active participation of citizens are important for improving the management of public resources, reduction of corruption, growth and integrity of civil servants and political leaders promotes accountability to citizens. |
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| Main Objective | In order to strengthen the mechanisms of participation and to build an open government at the local level, the Government in cooperation with Civil Society Organisations commits to promote the principles of the Open Government Partnership at the local level. Government will encourage the undertaking of concrete commitments and strengthening of local government by promoting a culture of transparency, accountability and citizen participation. Main topis to be focused on awareness raising activities will be:- Publication of decisions, legislative acts taken by local government unit;
– Financial Transparency; – Citizen participation in planning and implementation of the budget / programs and local government plans; – Ensuring access to information; – Strengthening the mechanisms for participation, consultation and oversight of government; – Strengthening accountability mechanisms and increasing public integrity |
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| OGP Challenge addressed by the commitment | Improving Public ServicesIncreasing Public Integrity
Effective Management of Public Resources |
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| It is relevant to the advancement of: | Transparency | Accountability | Citizen Participation | |
| V | V | V | ||
| Verifiable and measurable milestones |
New or previous commitment |
Start Date |
End Date | |
| – No. of promotional / information activities / organized;- No. of the local government institutions / citizens informed on
– No. of LGUs committed to take concrete commitments within OGP; – Success Stories of LGUs to implement principles PQH; |
New Commitment | July, 2014 | June, 2015 | |
