Roadmap on good governance for state institutions in the Republic of Albania is the latest publication based on the research on the level of openness of institutions in six countries in the region, conducted within the Accountability, Technology and Institutional Openness Network in Southeastern Europe – ACTION SEE project, implemented by MJAFT! Movement.
Openness represents a key condition for democracy – since it allows citizens to receive information and knowledge necessary for equal participation in political life, effective decision-making and holding institutions accountable for policies which they conduct. Institutions worldwide undertake specific activities with the aim to enhance their transparency and accountability before the citizens.
Open governance is based on four organizational principles: transparency, accessibility, integrity and awareness. These principles apply to all branches and levels of power, from the central executive power to the local self-government, the Parliament and the judiciary.
The Index of Openness is a composite indicator that measures the degree to which governments in the Western Balkan countries are open to citizens and society and is designed in order to define to which degree citizens of the Western Balkans receive opportune and understandable information from their institutions.
In order to measure the degree of institutional openness, the ACTION SEE partners, adhering to international standards, recommendations as well as examples of good practice, assessed institutions through special quantitative and qualitative indicators, which assess institutions on the basis of: access to information on official websites of institutions, quality of a legal framework for individual cases, other sources of public informing and questionnaires delivered to institutions.
The research results show that the average level of openness in the Republic of Albania fulfills 22% of indicators, whereas the executive power amounts 38% of openness indicators, the Parliament has a score of 63%, courts demostrate a score of 39%, prosecutions score 10%, and local-self government units fulfill 12% under the indicators of openness.
The assessment was conducted in the period from October to the end of December 2016. On the basis of the monitoring of data and the findings, a set of recommendations and guidelines dedicated to institutions was developed based on the research results. The recommended steps for each category of institutions are made on the grounds of indicators that were not entirely fulfilled.
The Accountability, Technology and Institutional Openness Network in Southeastern Europe – ACTION SEE project is implemented by Metamorphosis Foundation in partnership with Westminster Foundation for Democracy from Great Britain, CRTA – Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability from Serbia, Citizens Association Why not? from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Center for Democratic Transition from Montenegro, Open Data Kosovo (ODK) from Kosovo, and Lëvizja MJAFT! from Albania, with financial support of the European Union.
The project aims to increase the inclusion of civic society and media organisations in decision making processes and the creation of public opinion and policies, as well as to raise the capacity of civic societies to address sensitive issues.
For more detailed information: https://www.mjaft.org/en/reports/roadmap-good-governance-state-institutions-republic-albania