A responsible government has nothing to hide: Open all phases of decision-making by governments and parliaments.

Mostar, November 13, 2025 – Transparency International in BiH presented recommendations at the conference “Open Government for an Open Society” in Mostar for governments and parliaments to improve transparency in decision-making at all levels of government in BiH. This includes: establishing the obligation for timely and regular publication of documents accompanying government and parliamentary decision-making, publishing agendas and draft decisions before and after sessions, developing and enhancing electronic tools and platforms for citizen engagement and public discussions, ensuring public participation in working groups for law preparation, etc.

The event highlighted positive examples of proactive transparency from the BiH Parliament, the Government of Zenica-Doboj Canton, and the Assembly of Brčko District BiH. Practices of these institutions were presented by the Prime Minister of Ze-Do Canton, Nezir Pivić, the President of the BD Assembly, Damir Bučević, and the Head of the Public Relations Sector of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, Zlatko Vukmirović. Despite room for improvement, these institutions lead in publishing key documents and developing digital solutions that allow citizens easier access to information of public importance.

However, the latest review of the level of proactive transparency in decision-making processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina shows that, despite visible progress, further and more serious improvements are needed for transparency to become the norm rather than the exception.

The research showed that no government in BiH regularly publishes materials from held sessions, while the Council of Ministers is the only executive institution whose minutes from held sessions are published, albeit with certain delays.

This fact, along with the fact that only 3 out of 14 governments in BiH regularly publish decisions on their official websites, indicates that citizens are not adequately informed about executive decisions that directly affect them, which reduces the level of trust in their work.

Although a slight improvement has been observed in the publication of annual work programs, which are now regularly published by seven governments, the publication of annual reports remains at an extremely low level.

The state of proactive transparency is no better in legislative bodies across BiH, as cantonal assemblies, entities, and both houses of the BiH Parliament do not regularly publish plans or reports on conducted public discussions, and only 6 out of 16 legislative bodies regularly publish reports on their work. A positive circumstance is that all assemblies regularly publish agendas, but access to other information remains uneven – still, 4 cantonal assemblies do not publish materials for sessions.

TI BiH calls on all levels of government to recognize transparency as a key mechanism for strengthening integrity and accountability of government in BiH. Timely, complete, and proactive publication of information must become an inseparable part of institutional practice, so that citizens have a real insight into the decisions made on their behalf. Therefore, in the coming period, TI BiH will again send initiatives to governments and parliaments with concrete guidelines and solutions for establishing more transparent practices.

The conference was held with financial support from Sweden and Denmark.

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