The Republic of North Macedonia is part of the Global Open Government Partnership (OGP) Initiative, which is an international platform within which governments and civil society organizations strive for governments to be more open and accountable to their citizens. So far, the Government of RNM has adopted four action plans (in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018), and according to the time frame, in the next six months, our country will work on the preparation of the Fifth National Action Plan for OGP for the period 2021-2023, a process that envisages the involvement of all relevant stakeholders.
The informative meetings aim to promote the OGP initiative between civil society organizations and state institutions and to inform and educate them in more detail about the importance of the OGP process, how can everyone be involved and contribute, what are the benefits and progress, what are the priority areas to be decided in NAP5, the dynamics of the implementation of the process, the manner of coordination, co-creation and monitoring of NAP5 and the announcement of developing of a tool for conducting online consultations for OGP.
The online informative meetings held on 29 October 2020, were opened by the National Coordinator for OGP at MISA, Gordana Gapic Dimitrovska, and were addressed by German Filkov from the Center for Civil Communications, Darko Antic from the Association for Equality, Solidarity and Emancipation, and Ivona Stalevska from the Foundation Open Society – Macedonia.
The meetings presented the benefits of joining the OGP, as well as the identified priority areas that would be addressed through open government partnerships such as transparency, accountability, proactivity and inclusiveness, Prevention of Corruption and Promotion of Good Governance, Delivery of Public Services and Access to Justice. At the same time, the dynamics with which the process is implemented was presented. The first phase of raising awareness of the application process finished in September 2020, and the current period October-November 2020 will be used to gather ideas and solutions from all participants in the process. The preparation of the proposed measures is planned for December 2020 – January 2021, while the adoption of the measures will take place in the period March – June 2021.
The process of coordination, co-creation and monitoring of the OGP process, as presented at the meeting, will take place through several mechanisms.
The Network of CSOs for OGP, which is being formed in anticipation of the preparation of the new, fifth national action plan, will aim at a more organized action of civil society in creating the plan as well as encouraging and monitoring its implementation. The network will coordinate and strengthen the voice of civil society organizations that advocate for participation, openness and accountability of the authorities.
The Council for Coordination and Monitoring of the OGP Process and the NAP for OGP has an advisory and decisive role and in a structured way will maximize the participation and cooperation between the institutions and the civil society, by involving all relevant partners in the discussion. The 14-member council (7 representatives from the institutions and 7 from the civil society) was established in order to encourage the openness and transparency of the institutions, to provide cross-sectoral cooperation but also to establish clear, structured and permanent mechanisms for constant dialogue between the authorities and the civil society, but also to increase the participation of CSOs in the OGP processes.
The tool for conducting online consultations, i.e. the platform for Open Government Partnership will be used for sharing of information, consultations, monitoring and exchange of knowledge between all parties involved in OGP – institutions, civil society organizations, citizens, the Council and the Network. At the same time, the web portal will offer communication and coordination tools that will facilitate the process of developing the new AP for 2021 – 2023.
Having in mind the planned dynamics, starting next week, according to the previously filled application for participation in the consultation process and creation of the Fifth National Action Plan for OGP 2021-2023, the documents Time Framework for preparation of AP5 and the Procedure for conducting consultations for creating commitments – adopted by the Council for Coordination and Monitoring of the Open Government Partnership process and the National Action Plan for Open Government Partnership 2018-2020, e-workshops will be held for each priority area, as follows:
- Access to Justice – 3 November 2020, Tuesday, 09:45 – 12:00
- Delivery of public services – 4 November 2020, Wednesday, 09:45 – 12:00
- Preventing Corruption and Promoting Good Governance – 5 November 2020, Thursday 09:45 – 12:00
- Transparency, accountability, proactivity and inclusiveness – 6 November 2020, Friday, 09:45 – 12:00
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30 October 2020