Workshop for NGOs and Public Institutions “Contemporary Approaches to the Fight against Corruption: Benefiting Effects of Public Information Campaigns” Held in Sarajevo

Address:

Hotel Europe, Vladislava Skarića 5, Sarajevo

The workshop, intended for NGOs and public institutions' communication officals that deal with various aspects of corruption, was held on 20 March 2015 in the conference hall of Hotel Europe in Sarajevo. Workshop on anti-corruption information campaigns was organized in order to transfer knowledge and best practices from the region and the world to the participants of this event. Within four sessions, the speakers presented basic principles, concepts and approaches, as well as practical examples of the most recent anti-corruption campaigns.

In the opening session, Ksenija Renko, communications expert, presented methodology and two examples of anti-corruption campaigns conducted in the Republic of Croatia. On this occasion, Ms. Renko stressed the importance of environment analysis and research before and after the implementation of a campaign. Furthermore, the emphasis of her presentation was on partnerships with various sectors, particularly with the media in the format of investigative journalism.

Campaign Officer of Transparency International UK Alice McCool gave an overview of anti-corruption campaigns in international perspective. She concluded with several crucial factors necessary for the success of anti-corruption campaigns: the relevance of topic, cooperation with the media and the creation of key messages differentiated by target audiences.

Head of PR Unit of the Agency for Fight against Corruption of the Republic of Serbia Lidija Kujundžić presented the components of the recently implemented anti-corruption campaign of the Agency, and particularly pointed out the procedures related to funding and implementation of campaigns, primarily those funded by the European Union in EU countries and countries in the accession process. In her presentation, Kujundžić said that the cooperation between public institutions and non-governmental sector is extremely important because the NGO sector functions as a positive corrective and provides the necessary support for implementation of campaigns.

The workshop concluded with the presentation by Jurgita Razmyte from the Public Relations Division of the Special Investigation Service of the Republic of Lithuania, who directly worked on implementation of a national campaign to fight corruption.

After each session, about thirty participants discussed the implementation of regional and world practices to the B&H context. The workshop’s conclusions included the main shortcomings of implementation of anti-corruption campaigns, which lie in the lack of resources and knowledge, while their success largely depends on the level of participation of public institutions, the involvement of civil society and active involvement of the media.

The workshop was organized within the project "Strengthening the Communication Capacity of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption of Bosnia and Herzegovina", implemented from December 2013 by Center for Social Research Analitika, funded by the British Government. The event was organized in partnership with the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption.

Themes: Uprava i uslugeTransparentnost i otvorena vlastInstitucionalno komuniciranje