LESSON
Lesson Learned: Civic Involvement for Transparency and Accountability in Kosovo
Participating CSOs were given training and reference materials to enable them to engage in hands-on processes including monitoring of the proceedings of the municipal assemblies and the decision-making of the municipal executive. The training also enabled them to draft monitoring reports, facilitate community participation and assess priority issues in local communities as well as to develop policy analysis, prepare policy briefs and engage in advocacy. The training was highly effective in all three cases, and was followed up by continuing coaching and accompaniment at key points in the process by the grantee project team.
Project Partner
Kosova Democratic Institute
Project Description
Within the broader context of advancing good governance at local level, the project objective was to enhance the involvement of civil society in local governance through: local assembly monitoring; policy analysis and policy dialogues with public officials; and advocacy campaigns.
The grantee sought to promote two-way communications between local officials and citizens in 14 selected municipalities and to support the strengthening of the capacities of locally-based CSOs to monitor the performance of municipal assemblies and municipal government in order to improve accountability. The emphasis of the project on transparency and accountability in municipal government while also reinforcing the position and capacities of civil society at local level was entirely appropriate. The project took place in a difficult context. Yet, despite having to deal with public passivity and indifference about politics, along with a political establishment under little direct pressure to change, it did succeed in highlighting the importance of democratic processes and in engaging citizens in the public sphere. It also made some progress in pressing local government institutions to think differently about their responsibilities.
Report
Evaluation Date
August 2015
Theme
Country