Center for Social Research Analitika and Transparency International BiH, in cooperation with an informal network of organizations gathered around the OGP initiative, hosted the third and final working meeting which was held on September 21 in Sarajevo. The last set of proposed measures and activities for developing an action plan as part of the Open Government Partnership was presented, this time with a focus on fiscal transparency and strengthening the integrity of public institutions.

On September 24, 2014, Bosnia and Herzegovina formally joined global multilateral initiative Open Government Partnership (OGP), serving as a platform to its member states to carry out reforms in the areas of transparency, efficiency and good governance. After joining this initiative, Bosnia and Herzegovina took over the responsibility to develop an action plan that will include concrete commitments and activities to be carried out by public institutions in order to improve their work. One of the key principles of this initiative is the cooperation between the government and civil society, so it is expected from an action plan to be the result of joint work of public authorities, civil society organizations and the interested public.

The consultations, so far covered by three working meetings, were attended by representatives of the informal coalition of non-governmental organizations (TI BiH, CPI Foundation, Center for Social Research Analitika, Association “Why not?”, Center for Investigative Reporting), as well as other non-governmental organizations and the executive power. Previous consultations covered the measures in the areas of freedom of access to information, open data, and consultations in the legislative process, with a total of 13 measures agreed - with corresponding activities.

The third meeting began with the presentation by a representative of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption (APIK), who referred to the Action Plan for the implementation of the Strategy for the Fight against Corruption 2015-2019, and, in accordance with it, commented on the proposed measures. Representative of the Office of the Coordinator for Public Administration Reform contributed to the discussion on the transparency and accountability of public institutions in BiH and referred to the ongoing reform process and the key challenges that these institutions face. The last meeting ended with a set of proposed measures related to fiscal transparency and strengthening the integrity of public institutions, with proposals for more transparent and open process of budget planning and execution, enabling participatory role of civil society in creation of the budget, as well as the ability to create the so-called “Citizens’ Budget”.

All defined proposals are available for comments to institutions and civil society organizations, the media and the academic community, as well as all other citizens on the Open Government Partnership Bosnia and Herzegovina website, where it is possible to leave comments directly below an agreed set of measures.

This working meeting is organized within the regional project Advocacy for Open Government: Supporting the Right to Know in South East Europe, with the financial support of the European Union and the Open Society Fund BiH.