BiH Joining OGP Initiative Supported by the Council of Ministers

Banja Luka, 4^th June 2014 – Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) welcomes the support of the Council of Ministers of BiH for joining of BiH in the Open Government Partnership (OGP) initiative, proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and included in the session of the Council of Ministers held on 2^nd June 2014.

The Open Government Partnership is a global initiative committed to strengthening of broad accessibility to information held by the government, and at the same time promoting the empowerment of citizens’ participation and highest standards of accountability and integrity of government. The Partnership requires from the government institutions of the participating countries to promote open, efficient and accountable government and to cooperate with the civil society during the whole process.

For over a year, TI BiH, in cooperation with the Foundation CPI (Centre for Public Interest Advocacy), with the support of the Open Society Fund of BiH, has been advocating joining of BiH in the Open Government Partnership initiative. Meanwhile, contacts with the numerous organizations in the country and the region have been established, as well as participation at global and regional Partnership summits, which contributed to the creation of a clearer picture of priorities and importance of BiH joining the Initiative. Also, the first few steps are taken towards cooperation with the institutions of BiH enabling conduction of upcoming joint activities within the Partnership.

BiH still remains the only country in the region which has not officially started the joining process to this global initiative, and TI BiH welcomes the initial support of the Council of Ministers of BiH to join the Partnership. However, TI BiH hopes that this initiative, as many initiatives so far, does not represent a form of declarative support of the government, and expects from the Council of Ministers and other institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina to fulfill all the requirements for sending a letter of intent to OGP and, of course, to apply principles of the Partnership in the future.

BiH Joining OGP Initiative Supported by the Council of Ministers