PRESS RELEASES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

TI BiH School of Integrity in Trebinje

Announcements ● 15 October 2015

Banja Luka, 15th October 2015 – After having successfully completed with the School of Integrity in Travnik, the same School shall be held tomorrow in Trebinje, where the following topics shall be discussed through the method of expert lectures and two-day intensive course: The effects of corruption on economic development, Good governance and the Rule of law and the transparency and free access to information.

The School of Integrity which is being organized by Transparency International BiH (TI BiH) with the support of the US Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a unique place for young people to find out more about the anti-corruption topics through the lectures given by the eminent experts and practitioners. Some of the lecturers are Svetlana Cenic and Srdjan Blagovcanin who will give lectures regarding the effects of corruption on economic development, i.e. on the rule of law.

After Trebinje i Travnik, The School of Integrity will be held in Bijeljina (November) and Bihac (December) and after the lectures in the chosen cities are finished the most active students will be called to meet at the final workshop in Banja Luka. Besides, the best student essays from all cities will be published in a specially prepared publication after all lectures are given.

The School of Integrity in Trebinje will start on 16th October at 09.00h in the premises of the PIM University, Department of Trebinje, Trebinjskih brigada 3, and the students will be addressed by the Deputy Mayor of Trebinje, Nedjo Cebedzija, who will give his opinion regarding the efforts made to create and adopt the Local Self-Government Integrity Plans, the task being jointly worked on by TI BiH and the City of Trebinje.

The press conference is planned to be held at 08.45h.

To all media 15 10 2015

Warning on the abuse of the name of Transparency International and false presentations

Press releases ● 13 October 2015

According to the information provided to TI BiH, the unknown person presented himself using the identity of a TI BiH employee, asking for the meetings and certain information from the legal entities. They also illegally used the TI BiH form, usually used when filing complaint, in a faked official correspondence with the public authority. Hereby TI BiH would like to inform the public about the false representation of the organization and its employees, and emphasize that any kind of the inappropriate and unprofessional official correspondence or the illegal treatment in communication with other people, is not the way in which Transparency International works, nor it has ever worked. TI BiH informed the relevant authorities about the above mentioned events, and it will report all future similar attempts of the abuse.

Presentation of the Integrity System Assessment of the Municipality of Gorazde

Press releases ● 13 October 2015

Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina has, for the first time, in 10 units of local self-government, including the Municipality of Gorazde. The assessment has been made based on the methodology developed by the Transparency International and tested globally.

The aim of the assessment was to conduct the analysis of the efficiency of procedures and mechanisms for promotion of transparency, liability and integrity in order to supress the corruption at the local level, offering thereby the recommendations for their further improvement.

TI BiH and the Municipality of Gorazde are organizing the public presentation of the study results, which shall be attended by the key actors in the Municipality of Gorazde (representatives of the local self-government and the Parliament, officials, representatives of non-governmental organizations and the media) and they will discuss the results and recommendations for the improvement of transparency, liability and good governance in the Municipality of Gorazde.

Presentation will be held on Wednesday, 14th October 2015, at 11.00h in the official premises of the Municipality of Gorazde.

Presentation of the Integrity System Assessment of the Municipality of Gorazde

The draft and procedure for the adoption of the FBiH Civil Service Law are also unacceptable

Press releases ● 10 October 2015

Banja Luka, 10. October 2015 – The Government of the Federation of BiH violates the procedures and carries out legal violence in the process of determining the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Civil Service, ignoring the Office of the Government of the Federation of BiH for Legislation and Compliance with EU Regulations and the Complete Public.

Namely, the Office for Legislation gave an opinion on the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Civil Service, which points out numerous shortcomings in the procedure itself, but also in the content of the Draft. Transparency International BiH has already warned that the proposed changes seek to provide even greater political influence on the selection of staff in public administration, and that the claims of the FBiH Government that they want to save and rationalize are unfounded, because it will actually put additional burden on the budget.

The opinion of the Office also states what TI BiH itself pointed out – that the proposed provisions completely undermine the “principles of professional impartiality and political independence”. It also points out the issue of the future status of executives whose proposed changes deprive them of the status of civil servants, which is not defined in the Draft, as well as how these officials will be redeployed to other positions if there are no vacancies. We remind you that TI BiH has already pointed out the fact that these changes will lead to finding 250-300 new positions in order to redeploy officials, which will produce multimillion costs and additional accumulation of the administration.

Finally, the Office for Legislation considers that this Law could not have been nominated as a draft, but as a preliminary draft, and calls into question the very procedure of its consideration and determination.

TI BiH considers it particularly worrying that the Draft Law was determined without obtaining the opinion of the Office, because the Draft was submitted only before the session of the FBiH Government. This, as well as the fact that he was sent to the Parliament by urgent procedure, additionally speaks of the intention of the Government to place these solutions at any cost, without consulting and considering their merits.

The question is in whose interest the FBiH Government is acting, if it ignores the professional public and its own procedures, and whether it is worth returning the complete public administration reform to the beginning only to further enable the recruitment of politically suitable staff.

TI BiH appeals to the FBiH Parliament to stop the controversial amendments to the Law, which not only make the role of the civil service meaningless and contradict the principles of the Public Administration Reform Strategy, but also abuse the process of its creation and referral to the parliamentary procedure.

Press rls – 10 10 2015 doc

Opinion_Civil Service Act

Politicisation of the Civil Service under the Guise of Streamlining

Press releases ● 09 October 2015

Banja Luka, 9 October 2015 – The Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Civil Service in the Federation of BiH, which was tabled for speedy deliberation and passage in parliament, threatens to completely undermine the civil service by linking the position of senior civil servants to the term of office. This will open the door for the parties in power to overtly install party-supported personnel in these positions.

The FBiH Government’s explanation that this is aimed at “aligning the provisions with the recently adopted Labour Law” and that the amendments are inter alia necessitated by “the need for the reorganisation of public administration in FBiH with a view to streamlining the civil service” is just a smokescreen for the intended elimination of all categories of senior civil servants and ensuring that these positions are linked with the term of office of the managers of administrative bodies.

This is particularly problematic given that one of the main tasks of the civil service is to ensure the smooth performance of the functions of public administration, especially when there is a change of government or where the formation of government is beset by problems.

A public administration that changes its entire management structure every four years (and without open competition procedure!) can, by no means, be efficient and expeditious. Are there any guarantees that the current senior civil servants, who, regardless of their possible political background, were recruited through an open competition procedure, will be replaced by better qualified personnel, especially if it is known that the selection of this personnel will be the exclusive responsibility of relevant ministers?

Furthermore, it remains unclear how this is going to help reduce the budget expenditures of FBiH. Given that the Draft Law will encompass some 250-300 civil servants, for whom the FBiH Government has promised to secure employment elsewhere within the civil service, it follows that this move will actually increase the number of people in public administration by about 300. Knowing their average monthly pay, it is immediately obvious that the newly created multi-million annual cost is dished up as “streamlining”. Also, a similar principle is very likely to be adopted by the cantons and municipalities, further increasing budget allocations.

The proposed amendments stand in stark contrast to the recommendations of the EU, whose Progress Reports for Bosnia and Herzegovina consistently show that there has been no improvement in recruitment procedures that would ensure the application of objective and merit-based criteria, transparency and prompt appointments to vacant positions. Granting powers to ministers and other appointed office holders to freely install loyal people in public administration positions will sever any links with transparency and merit. Furthermore, tabling the draft law for speedy deliberation and passage in parliament, circumventing the requirement of a public hearing, only goes to confirm the intention of the political parties to push an even larger number of party appointments through the back door, under the guise of streamlining.

TI BiH emphasises that the issue of efficiency of civil servants at all levels of government in BiH must be given due attention, but the problems of poor performance must be addressed by ensuring better administrative management, rather than by defeating the very purpose of public administration through its further politicisation.

Press rls – 09 10 2015_English

Initial training courses for the creation of integrity plans in BiH municipalities started

Press releases ● 08 October 2015

Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) started in Kozarska Dubica (07/10/2015) and the Municipality of Centar Sarajevo (08/10/2015) the initial training course for the creation and adoption of integrity plans, i.e. anti-corruption plans aimed at the improvement of transparency and accountability in the work of additional eight units of local self-government.

This was the opportunity to present the program of the course that will be led by TI BiH experts, but also to present the project objectives and cooperation with the units of local self-government. The participants were addressed by the representatives of TI BiH and the representatives of the host municipalities and expressed their satisfaction for having been chosen as the first municipalities that will, with the help of TI BiH, be trained to make quality plans as a tool for prevention of corruption.

The units of local self-government whose representatives actively participated in the initial training course are: Istocna Ilidza, Bratunac, Centar Sarajevo, Srebrenica, Bosanska Krupa, Kozarska Dubica, Cazin and Sipovo.

All representatives of the local self-government units will be part of a one-year education program consisting of 8 modules, while at the same time, they will be working in their home governments on creation of integrity plans that will be presented to the public in late 2016.

TI BiH performs these activities in cooperation with the Agency for prevention of corruption and coordination of fight against corruption, and with the help of the Association of Local Authorities of the Republic of Srpska and Association of Municipalities and Cities of the Federation of BiH, along with the financial support provided by the Netherlands Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Initial training courses for the creation of integrity plans in BiH municipalities started

The proposed amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest in Governmental Institutions of the Federation of BiH are only an interim solution

Press releases ● 08 October 2015

The amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest in Governmental Institutions of the Federation of BiH, which are being discussed today by the House of Peoples of the Federation of BiH, although representing a short-term improvement in terms of eliminating a two-year blockage related to the implementation of rules on conflict of interests, will not provide independent and objective implementation of the Law in the long-term sense.

In fact, the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest in Governmental Institutions of the Federation BiH, prescribes that this Law is also applied by the Commission for resolution of conflict of interest in BiH, comprised of the members of the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and representatives of the Agency for prevention of corruption and coordination of fight against corruption. Transparency International BiH was continuously warning about the harmful effects of such composition of an organ in charge of determining and sanctioning the conflict of interest, due to the simple fact that it cannot be objective and independent if mostly comprised of the members of the Parliament, i.e. representatives of political parties. TI BiH reminds us of the fact that the European countries long time ago abandoned the practice to allow the parliamentary commissions decide on the conflict of interest, precisely because that would be a conflict of interest itself.

Although the harmonization of BiH Law with the Law on conflict of interest at state level introduces again monitoring over the implementation of this Law after two years of a complete stagnation, we must find solutions that will ensure long-term unitary and independent monitoring over the implementation of the Law on Conflict of Interest at all government levels.

Considering the fact that the Law on the Agency for Prevention of Corruption and the Coordination of Fight against Corruption assigns the implementation of the Law on conflict of interest to the Agency, Transparency International BiH believes that the most efficient solution in a long run would be to expand the jurisdiction and capacities of the Agency, and to enable the Agency, by consolidating and harmonizing the regulation, to consistently apply these rules. It is also necessary, within the same process, to expand the circle of persons to whom the Law on conflict of interest is applied and to introduce more effective sanctions.

Finally, it is worrying that the official opinion of the both Houses of the FBiH Parliament regarding so important amendments to the Law will be given in two days, without leaving any opportunity for public discussion.

The proposed amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest in Governmental Institutions of the Federation of BiH are only an interim solution

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Initial training for the development of integrity plans in the Municipality of Centar Sarajevo

Press releases ● 07 October 2015

An initial training, part of the project Strengthening Integrity in Local Self-Governments aimed at creating and adopting the Integrity Plan in the Units of Local Self-Government, will be held tomorrow at the Municipality of Centar Sarajevo. This Municipality will host representatives of four municipalities (Istocna Ilidza, Bratunac and Srebrenica) with whom they will discuss the educational program developed by Transparency International BiH (TI BiH). The overall number of 20 BiH municipalities will take place in the development of integrity plans.

Integrity plans are anti-corruption plans that will contribute to the improvement of transparency and accountability of the local self-government work. The project objectives, as well as the training program, that will be run by TI BiH experts, will be presented at tomorrow’s initial training. The participants will be addressed by Lejla Ibranovic, Acting Executive Director of TI BiH and Dzevad Becirevic, the Mayor of the Municipality of Centar Sarajevo.

Project Strengthening Integrity in Local Self-Governments shall strengthen the work of local self-government, especially in relation to the challenges of the anti-corruption fight, and it is being conducted by the joint forces of Transparency International of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Agency for prevention of corruption and coordination of fight against corruption, Association of Local Authorities of the Republic of Srpska and Association of Municipalities and Cities of the Federation of BiH, with the financial support of the Netherlands.

Presentation of the entire project and the initial training for the development of Integrity Plans for four municipalities will be held tomorrow, on 8th October 2015, at the municipal premises of the Municipality of Centar Sarajevo, while the statements to the media will be released at 10 o’clock.

Initial training for the development of integrity plans in the Municipality of Centar Sarajevo

Presentation of the Municipality of Teslic Integrity System Assessment

Press releases ● 05 October 2015

Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina has, for the first time, made a detailed integrity system assessment (LIS assessment) in 10 units of local self-government, including the Municipality of Teslic. The assessment has been made on the basis of the methodology created by the Transparency International, which has been globally tested.

The assessment has been aimed at analyzing the efficiency of the procedures and mechanisms for the promotion of transparency, liability and integrity in order to fight corruption at the local level, thereby offering the recommendations for their further improvement.

TI BiH and the Municipality of Teslic are organizing the public presentation of the study results, which will include the presence of the key actors in the Municipality of Teslic (Mayor and the local government representatives, the President of the Municipal Assembly, officials, representatives of non-governmental organizations and the media) who will discuss results and recommendations for the improvement of transparency, liability and good governance in the Municipality of Teslic.

Presentation will be held on Tuesday, 6th October 2015, at 10.00h in the Small Hall of the Municipality of Teslic (Karadjordjeva no. 8).

During the presentation the attendees will be addressed by the representatives of TI BiH, but also by the Mayor of the Municipality of Teslic, Milan Milicevic and the President of the Municipal Assembly, Zeljko Perisic.

Presentation of the Municipality of Teslic Integrity System Assessment

TI BiH started the cooperation with 20 BiH municipalities regarding the creation of integrity plans

Press releases ● 29 September 2015

Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) started in Trebinje the first educational course regarding the creation and adoption of integrity plans for 20 BiH municipalities, i.e. anti-corruption plans aimed at the improvement of transparency and responsibility in the work of local self-government.

Units of local self-government participating in the project are: Istocna Ilidza, Bratunac, Centar Sarajevo, Srebrenica, Siroki Brijeg, Trebinje, Grude, Posusje, Bosanska Krupa, Kozarska Dubica, Cazin, Sipovo, Zivinice, Srebrenik, Lopare, Pelagicevo, Tesanj, Petrovo, Orasje and Samac.

All representatives of the local self-government units will attend the 8-module educational program while, at the same time, they will work in their home governments on the creation of integrity plans that will be presented to the public at the end of 2016.

At the beginning of the first session of this course held in Trebinje , the Mayor of Trebinje, Slavko Vucurevic, officially signed the letter of intent, on the basis of which the City of Trebinje is obliged to take part in all activities related to creation and adoption of the integrity plan. Vucurevic also emphasized how pleased they are to be the host to the first session of the course and how happy they are that TI BiH is the first to offer the instructions for the creation of quality plans that shall be used for the prevention of corruption in the future.

TI BiH conducts these activities in cooperation with the Agency for prevention of corruption and coordination of fight against the corruption, with the help and support of Association of Local Authorities of the Republic of Srpska and the Association of Municipalities and Cities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and with the financial support provided by the Netherlands Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

TI BIH cooperation with 20 BiH municipalities

TI BiH marks the International Right To Know Day

Announcements ● 26 September 2015

Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) is organizing a whole range of activities in order to celebrate 28th September, the International Right to Know Day. TI BiH uses this opportunity every year to remind the citizens that they have the rights to demand the responsibility and transparency of work of public institutions at all levels, and that these rights are guaranteed by the Law on Free Access to Information.

Therefore, TI BiH will organize street events in Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Mostar, in order to inform the citizens on their rights and ways to demand and obtain information which should be provided by public institutions, whereupon the citizens will be given the opportunity to prepare direct demands to access the information they need.

Street events will take place on Monday, 28th September 2015, from 11.00 to 14.00h in Sarajevo (Ferhadija, in front of Katedrala), Banja Luka (Trg Krajine) and Mostar (Spanski trg).

TI BiH is also participating in the organization of the Conference on Transparency in Public Administration in BiH, which is going to be held due to the International Right to Know Day, as well. The Conference is being organized by members of the interinstitutional working group on communication and knowledge management (representatives of the Public Administration Reform Coordinator’s Office, Directorate of European Integration, Agency for Statistics of BiH and Agency for Development of Higher Education and Quality Assurance in BiH), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and Transparency International BiH. This Conference will also take place on Monday, 28th September 2015, at 10.00 in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, hall 1/I floor,Sarajevo.

TI BiH invites the media to attend street events and the Conference and thus contribute to the activities aimed at increasing the transparency of BiH institutions.

TI BiH marks the International Right To Know Day

Usaglašen treći set prijedloga za Akcioni plan BiH u okviru Partnerstva za otvorenu vlast

Press releases ● 25 September 2015

Banking Agency of the Republic of Srpska refuses to clarify a new financial affair

Press releases ● 21 September 2015

The Banking Agency of the Republic of Srpska and Banka Srpske refused to submit complete audit reports of Banka Srpske upon the request of the Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH), indicating they were confidential, regardless of the public interest and the fact that this is a state-owned bank. At the same time, the Agency refused to provide any information on the actions taken regarding this case, acting thus in a completely non-transparent and irresponsible manner, as in the case of Bobar Bank.

In fact, after the short audit reports indicating the illegal operations of Banka Srpske appeared in public, TI BiH requested from the Banking Agency of the Republic of Srpska and Banka Srpske the delivery of copies of complete reports made by the external auditor for 2013 and 2014. At the same time, it was requested from the Agency to provide information on all actions undertaken against the controversial Bank, which meant all additional information regarding the control of solvency and the legality of business operations, in order to clarify new financial affair.

The Banking Agency refused to provide all requested information by having declared them confidential, and thus ignored to take into account the public interest to disclose all actions undertaken so far, including the complete audit reports, in order to eliminate doubts regarding another financial affair. Banka Srpske also refused to submit the requested reports, and thus almost a year after Bobar Banka was shut, the users of financial services are faced with new disturbing doubts concerning the legality of business operations in the financial market monitored by the Banking Agency of the Republic of Srpska. Once again the Agency refused to act or explain its actions, making thus its role in the system of protection of financial system useless.

This practice only additionally deepens the doubts regarding the regularity of the Bank’s operations and the public must be urgently provided with all information on the business operations of Banka Srpske in order to restore the confidence in the banking sector, but also to clarify the doubts regarding the work of this Bank.

The Banking Agency, as a supervisory body, showed in both cases, of Banka Srpske and Bobar Banka, that it was not ready to demonstrate even the minimal responsibility, nor to justify its existence or role. TI BiH has already filed a complaint against the Agency regarding the violation of the Law on Free Access to Information in connection to the case of Bobar Banka, and it is expecting the judgment to be made in that case. However, it will continue to insist to have all the requested information provided in this case too, and it will use all available legal means to obtain them from the Banking Agency of the Republic of Srpska and Banka Srpske, since this is the state-owned bank and it is obliged to provide information of public interest.

Banking Agency of the Republic of Srpska refuses to clarify a new financial affair

First School of Integrity started in Travnik

Announcements ● 18 September 2015

The first School of Integrity is taking place in Travnik, organized by the Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) as a kind of educational course on anti-corruption topics designed for students and young people in four towns of BiH. The School provocatively deals with the topics such as the effects of corruption on economic development and the importance of the rule of law, as well as the role of transparency and free access to information of general importance as an effective method in the fight against corruption.

First School of Integrity started in Travnik

Civil Service Agency of the Republic of Srpska violated the law

Press releases ● 14 September 2015

Upon the complaint submitted to its Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre, Transparency International BiH determined that the Civil Service Agency of the Republic of Srpska violated the law while having conducted the employment procedure for vacancies in the Republic Hydrometeorological Service of the Republic of Srpska, TI BiH determined that, besides having announced the vacancy which has already been occupied by a certain person to formally employ that person, the Civil Service Agency of RS allowed the same person not to take the professional exam, although there was no legal grounds for such decision.

During the employment procedure, TI BiH requested from the Republic Hydrometeorological Service the record made by the commission which investigated the applications of the candidates, and thus discovered that the candidate, who has already been employed with the aforementioned institution, was released from the obligation to take the professional exam for the work in administrative bodies by the decision brought by the Civil Service Agency of RS. This exam is a precondition for the employment with the civil service and is taken before the commission designated by the Agency, and only in specific cases the Agency may issue a decision to release the candidate from taking the exam – e.g. if the candidate has already passed the bar exam, if the candidate holds a Master’s degree in Law, or if the candidate has passed the professional exam within some other profession. The candidate we mentioned above did not meet any of these conditions so TI BiH asked the Agency to explain the legal grounds for releasing the same candidate from the obligation to take this exam, especially due to suspicions that this very candidate was going to be elected for the job position.

The Agency responded that the candidate was released from the obligation of taking the professional exam since he had passed the professional exam at the level of BiH. This is not the legal basis for releasing someone from the obligation of taking the exam and TI BiH warned the Agency about this. In spite of the warning, the Agency appointed the candidate to the position of civil servant with the Republic Hydrometeorological Service of the Republic of Srpska. TI BiH reported this to the Administrative Inspector of the Republic of Srpska who investigated it and found the irregularities, and ordered to the Agency to annul the decision based on which the candidate was released from the obligation to take the professional exam. The Agency refused to act upon the inspector’s order and filed an appeal to the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government trying to protect the elected candidates at all costs. TI BiH also addressed the Ministry and the Ombudsman for Human Rights, emphasizing that the elected candidate has already been employed with the institution and that he has never passed the professional exam, while all other candidates, who met all requirements prescribed by law, were rejected. After this the Agency annulled the decision by which the mentioned candidate was released from taking the professional exam, in which way it finally admitted that it was a precedent with no legal grounds..

TI BiH considered the case should not end like this, so it requested from the Administrative Inspector to annul the decision on the disputable employment, for it would be unfair to have the candidate, who had not even met the requirements for application, employed with this position and take the professional exam after the employment, at the expense of all other candidates who met all requirements. Acting upon the request submitted by TI BiH, the Administrative Inspector of RS ordered to the Republic Hydrometeorological Service of RS to terminate the employment to the mentioned candidate. At the same time, the Ombudsman for Human Rights in BiH in this case issued a Recommendation ordering to the Republic Hydrometeorological Service and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the Republic of Srpska to annul the disputable decision on the employment.

Finally, the Republic Hydrometeorological Service of the Republic Srpska informed TI BiH that it acted upon the Inspector’s order and terminated the employment to the civil servant.

The given case showed it is possible to prevent the possible abuse in the employment area by persistent insisting and use of all legal means. TI BiH will continue to insist on the fact that none of the candidates who do not meet the requirements to apply for the job position is hired to the same. Also, having in mind that this is not the only case of illegal release from taking the professional exam, TI BiH will insist on investigating all similar cases, in order to end the bypass of regulations and preferential treatment in employment with public administration institutions.

Civil Service Agency of the Republic of Srpska violated the law

Coalition of NGOs announces the third working meeting to define the action proposals for the Action Plan of BiH within the Open Government Partnership

Press releases ● 04 September 2015

Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina, Center for Social Research Analitika and coalition of NGOs responsible for the initiative the Open Government Partnership (OGP) shall organize a meeting to define the action proposals and initiate the public consultations for the preparation of the first Action Plan of BiH within the OGP initiative.

The meeting will be held on Monday, 21^st September 2015, at the Hotel Europe in Sarajevo, starting at 11.00 h.

This will be the opportunity to define the action proposals for the first Action Plan of BiH in the field of fiscal transparency and strengthening of the public institutions’ integrity, but also to define new proposals which have not been considered so far. The Action Plan is a two-year strategic document by which the member states of the OGP initiative shall be strongly obliged to achieve the set goals.

In the past two months there were two meetings of this kind which were attended by the representatives of public institutions, as well as the representatives of NGOs in BiH. The discussion referred to the set of action proposals regarding free access to information, the key priorities concerning the transparency of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and specific activities that public institutions, in cooperation with civil society, should undertake in order to improve the transparency of the government and increase the participation of civil society when bringing decisions of public interest. The participants also emphasized and defined actions which shall provide the launch of central portals for the announcement of open data in BiH, the establishment of online platform at BiH and entity level to perform consultations regarding the enactment of laws and other regulations, and the improvement of application of the law on free access to information at all levels of government.

A coalition of NGOs continue to support the institutions of BiH in creating the first Action Plan through the organization of meetings and public consultations aimed at defining the set of actions for the first Action Plan within the Open Government Partnership. Considering that the process of action planning promotes and encourages the cooperation between the government and the civil society, all representatives of relevant public institutions, civil society, academic community and citizens are welcomed to participate.