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The training provided city and municipal good governance focal points with the opportunity to gain new knowledge and share experiences with their peers about the principle of transparency in the everyday work of local administrations. They, notably, had the opportunity to discuss the issue with Slavoljupka Pavlović, the Assistant Secretary General of the Office of the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection.
“Transparency – in the broader sense, not only in the context of the implementation of the Law on Access to Information of Public Importance – is an extremely strong anti-corruption mechanism, which simultaneously enables the citizens to engage in the decision-making process. Communication with those seeking information of public importance is important – from scheduling meetings on extensive and confusing requests to sending them letters notifying them that you are not in possession of such information,” the Commissioner’s representative emphasised.
The participants in the training discussed specific issues and dilemmas regarding the determination of the overriding law where members of the public sought information about public procurement, the issue most requests concern.
“Spending of public funding is of interest to the citizens and no other interests based on law are more overriding. Local self-governments must improve their practice of publishing their budget decisions and execution reports. The number of complaints increased in 2019 and a major share of them concerned the silence of the administration,” Pavlović, who heads the Appeals and Enforcement Sector in the Commissioner’s Office, noted.
Proactive publication of information of public importance was qualified as the best mechanism, which led to fewer requests for access to information of public importance. Timely updates of the information booklets, improvement of the websites, publication of the official gazettes and relevant enactments were just some of the measures discussed during the training.
This training is part of broader support the Swiss Government has been extending, through the Swiss PRO programme, to cities and municipalities to improve local public sector management and administration. Support to local self-governments also includes the introduction and improvement of e-government and the provision of e-services to citizens and businesses, alignment of local regulations with the new laws, and e-training and experience sharing workshops Swiss PRO has been conducting in cooperation with the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities.