Description
About 20% of Lithuanians use their right to know while the level of civic engagement has not been increasing recently. Citizens do not seek information because they are not aware of the procedures effective, or do not know where to address. Meanwhile NGOs also possess little capacity to monitor or be involved in policy-making processes. The aim of the project is to encourage citizens to use their right to know as well as to develop openness standards of public institutions thus enhancing transparency and good governance in public sector. The project seeks the following results: 1) strengthen TILC capacity to engage in law making, policy shaping processes related to openness and transparency of institutions and civic engagement; 2) strengthen TILC role in legal and political initiatives in the field of access to information, openness of institutions and legal/fiscal environment of NGOs; 3) strengthen TILC capacity in fundraising and diversifying sources of income. TILC will co-operate with TI Norwegian chapter, which has prepared anti-corruption handbook and trainings for municipalities. Beneficiaries of the project: citizens and communities, media, NGOs.
Summary of project results
Less than 20% of citizens use their right to know and the level of civic engagement in Lithuania has not been increasing for the recent 4 years. The key reasons withholding people from seeking for information are lack of awareness of procedures as well as absence of information about where to address with certain inquiries. The goal of the project was to encourage the use of the right to know by citizens and their involvement into decision-making processes as well as to develop openness standards of public sector institutions and enhance transparency and good governance in the public sector. The project sought to contribute to 3 results: 1) strengthening the capacity of TILC to sustainably engage in law making, policy shaping processes related to openness and transparency of institutions and citizen’ engagement on the local, regional and national levels; 2) strengthening the role of TILC in legal and political initiatives in the field of access to information, openness of institutions and legal/fiscal environment of NGOs; 3) strengthening the capacity of TILC in fundraising To achieve these goals TI Lithuania prepared 5 legal proposals on how to reach more transparency in public sector; TILC actively involved in working group with a task to decide how Lithuania should transfer certain provisions from EU Directive 2014/24/ES into Lithuanian legal framework; another working group that aimed to decide how to make elections more transparent and decrease the risk of corruption; TILC organized several public consultations about transparency and accountability in Lithuanian Police and Public procurement office, cooperated with Special Investigative Service and the Ministry of Health in order to consult chief doctors of various Lithuanian hospitals about anti-corruption tools and policies. Also, TI Lithuania organized 7 intensive practical seminars on data analysis and FOI, conducted researches about transparency in municipalities and municipality-owned companies, consulted them and provided recommendations how to become more accountable and why this matters. TILC published a number of e-tools that help Lithuanian citizens better understand who is making decisions in their home towns, the state, the courts:
www.jurgiokepure.lt,
www.manoseimas.lt,
www.atvirasteismas.lt. What is more, TI Lithuania prepared its own strategy for the upcoming years and was able to introduce donations channels which will help TILC diversifying its financial flows.
Summary of bilateral results
TI Lithuania was in partnership with TI Norway whose representatives held 3 intensive seminars for Lithuanian municipalities where they discussed the following topics: - how to strengthen ethical standards among employees and politicians; - what is the system of risk analyses and assessment; - what aims should be raised and what methods applied; - how to guarantee the sufficient control system, - how to protect whistle-blowers and avoid conflicts of interests. TI Norway also helped TI Lithuania to meet key institutions in Oslo that work with access of information and public sector accountability. In this way TI team could grasp the best Scandinavian practices and get a deeper understanding of still unsolved risky areas in municipal work. Besides that, Norwegian colleagues helped TI Lithuania to prepare an anti-corruption handbook for Lithuanian municipalities where all major corruption risks were identified and probable solutions mapped. All in all, partnership with TI Norway greatly enriched the project and brought broader perspective to initiatives carried out.