OSCE Mission to Serbia supports enhancement of transparency and accountability at local level

The first of five workshops on Open Government Partnership (OGP) at the local level was held on 28 June 2017 in Vranje for representatives of local municipalities from Pcinja and Jablanica.

Serbia officially joined the global OGP initiative in 2012 aiming to promote transparency in governance, strengthen the accountability of different branches of government and raise public awareness of and increase citizens’ participation in the process of governance.

“Our aim is to bring the principles of OGP closer to local actors and to establish a foundation for the engagement of local municipalities and civil society in the co-creation of local OGP action plans,” said the Head of the Democratization Department of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, Jan Lueneburg. “This will improve the dialogue between local civil society organizations and public administration, one of the main goals of the OGP initiative.”

The Mission, in partnership with the Centre for Research, Transparency and Accountability, a civil society organization launched the project, Open Government Partnership at Local Level, in June 2017. Its aim is to support the implementation of the OGP initiative across Serbia.  One of the results of the project will be the development of a model Local OGP Action Plan reflecting the needs and issues raised by local representatives and tailor-made for selected local self-governments More than 20 LSGs, including relevant local civil society organizations, will be engaged in the process.

The draft version of the model Local OGP Action Plan will be communicated to all participants and finalized in the course of three additional consultative workshops during the autumn of 2017.

The model Local OGP Action Plan will enable local authorities to better plan and implement OGP principles, tailor measures to local community needs and thus improve the framework for public participation, higher transparency of local institutions and provision of better public services to the citizens.