On 23rd and 24th March in Skopje, the Ministry of Information Society and Administration and TACSO Office Macedonia/MCIC organized a 2-day conference devoted to discussing the Open Government Partnership (OGP) achievements in Macedonia and designing a new Government Action Plan 2016-2018. The event brought together over 50 participants from relevant public institutions and CSOs, including Tanja Hafner Ademi, Executive Director of BCSDN, to give their suggestions on measures to be achieved in the new Action Plan.
The current Action Plan has had mixed success with many of the measures implemented through activities of CSOs, which have been increasingly involved in the OGP initiative. The proposals stemming from the discussion between all representatives included both extending measures from the current plan which have not been fulfilled, but also adding new. The focus was on identifying measures that have transformative effect on the life of citizens, which will be a challenge given that the Government is currently not planning to allocate additional funds for implementation of the new Action Plan, and that over the recent years there has been decreasing openness on the part of public institutions. Still, the OGP process both in Macedonia and wider region is an opportunity and in many cases best practice in engaging interested CSOs, stakeholders in designing measures for more open, accountable public institutions.
To read more about the OGP initiative at the global level read the OGP blog our Director co-wrote with Cathal Gilbert from CIVICUS and discussions from the 2015 OGP Summit held in Mexico.