''Open Instititions'' increases Government's transparency, involves civil society in decision-making process

The project "Open Institutions", implemented by the NGO Centre for Democratic Transition (CDT) in cooperation with the Government and Parliament of Montenegro, started on January 1 and will lasts 18 months. It is financed by the European Union, through its Delegation to Montenegro, Deputy Executive Director of CDT Milica Kovacevic told a press conference today.

The goal of the project, according to Deputy Director Kovacevic, is to increase civil society organizations contribution to democratic development of Montenegro and to promote the principles of good governance through advancing cooperation between state institutions, NGO sector and citizens.

In this respect, she pointed to a number of projects the CDT started implementing, namely the Internship program, publishing of the Bulletin "Open Government", citizens’ visits to the Government, as well as Annual Report on the work of Government. “We were very happy to see the openness for cooperation from Government’s side, especially regarding the Annual report. Annual report is something that governments in this region do very rarely. That is the tradition of the countries which have had democracy for 200 years and more”, said Kovacevic.

In addition, the CDT is also preparing an analysis of legislation, international standards and best practices related to openness and transparency of governmental work, which will serve as a basis for further work on improving openness of the Government and implementation of high standards of transparency in Montenegro, Kovacevic said.

Nicola Bertolini, a chief of Operational Sector in EU Delegation to Montenegro, reminded that advancement of relations with the civil society is one of seven key priorities in the EC Opinion, referring in particular to the need for increasing the number of NGOs and media freedom in terms of decriminalisation of defamation.

He also said that the EU is still increasing its support to civil society organisations in Montenegro through IPA and European instrument for democracy and human rights (EIDHR) programmes. The ongoing projects concerning transparency of public administration, judiciary, NGO services’ quality improvement and support in EU integration amount to more than EUR 4 million, noted Bertolini.

Adviser for public relations to Prime Minister Gordana Jovanovic reiterated that the PM is determined to launch various initiatives in order to make Government an open and transparent service for all citizens. In her words,the Government has already adopted recommendation which obliges all public services and ministries to formalise the cooperation with NGOs through memorandums, forums and agreements on cooperation.

She also addressed the significance of employing young people, adding that ’’since 2007 52 students were interning in the Government, and about 20 of them stayed to work there’’.