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Description
The project includes the implementation of a Local Integrity and Accountability Standard, together with an implementation manual, introducing to Bulgaria the Principles of Good Governance, established internationally (i.e. Council of Europe recommendations). The Standard and corresponding implementation manual are to be developed by a team of Bulgarian experts from the ACF in collaboration with foreign experts from Scanteam, Norway following a local analysis and with the active collaboration of local partners from participating municipalities.The foreign partner is involved in analysis of internationally established good practices, in designing the Standard and manual, in meetings and trainings for local activists. The local partners are involved in the designing of the Standard, as well as in its implementation monitoring (via submission of regular monitoring reports and reports on certain malpractice cases). The participatory approach (active involvement of local activists and collaboration with local authorities) is to ensure the maximum possible ability to address local particularities. The participation of a variety of 10 municipalities (among which regional centers, smaller municipalities, economically disadvantaged regions) is to ensure the maximum possible universality of the Standard and applicability to municipalities beside the pilot ones. The project promotes the good practices (within the Standard) and exposes the bad practices (via implementation monitoring of the Standard and via reporting through an on-line tool). The local meetings and trainings aim to improve the local capacity for independent reporting of bad governance to competent authorities. The Standard shall be presented before the Regional Anti-Corruption Councils. It will be suggested to Municipal Councils to approve it in the form of Ethical Code to become part of the local legislation.
Summary of project results
The project aims to mobilize local support in efforts to counteract corruption, abuse of office and conflict of interests in local public bodies. It also addresses recommendations by many European institutions on the need for Anti-Corruption measures. The project goals include: increasing the transparency and accountability of local authorities in line with principles of good government; supporting civic participation in the creation of local governance standards and policies; building capacity among citizens so they are better prepared to monitor decision-making processes; creating and supporting an engaged local community; creating tools to influence local policies.
To achieve the project objectives, a Local Accountability and Integrity Standard was created and presented to the public. The standard introduced in Bulgaria the principles of good governance championed by the Council of Europe. ACF created a network of partnerships, using a participatory approach so that local partners and authorities are engaged in the process. In applying the standard, local partners prepared regular assessment reports about the ten municipalities that took part in the pilot phase of the project. The assessment reports uncovered violations and abuses. ACF organized public meetings with representatives of the local communities and led the discussions on how to improve the work of institutions and how to broaden partnerships. The possibility of building partnerships with the relevant local public institutions was also discussed. Meetings with representatives of public authorities in each of the ten municipalities also took place. ACF presented the standard and discussed the possibility of it being adopted by municipal councils.
The project facilitated the creation of a network of civic activists and journalists which are the main target groups. They took part in a meeting of local coordinators, a regional discussion panel and a concluding meeting where they shared their experience and impressions on the work of local authorities. The target groups were trained in applying the standard and were provided with an assessment instrument to support their efforts in building a culture of democracy. The standard also supports advocacy efforts and serves as a tool for local activists urging public bodies to act in a manner compliant with the good practices of accountability, transparency and engagement of citizens in decision-making. These benefits for project participants served to achieve the main goal: increasing awareness levels among citizens, strengthening democratic culture and encouraging civil society to participate in decision-making processes (the specific goal).
The project achieved the following results which have relevance for the target groups and society as a whole: identified violations and practices contrary to the principles of good governance; mobilization of local civic communities; encouragement of stronger participation in local policy-making; applying the newly-built civic capacity to carry out independent assessments and strengthening the capacity by continuing the assessment processes over a significant period of time (which in turn allowed activists to become well-versed in the relevant local issues and provided perspective on the temporal development of specific practices and cases).
Summary of bilateral results
The Norwegian partner is an established consultant with many years of experience in the field of good governance principles and significant international exposure. They took part in the creation of the standard and the third part of the guidebook (international and European standards and best practices). This contributed to a significant degree to the main goal as per Thematic Priority 1, namely supporting democratic culture and increasing the level of awareness of citizens. Our Norwegian partner was present during the concluding meeting where he presented practical tips on monitoring and assessment of local authorities as well as specific examples from their work increasing the transparency of local authorities in Georgia, Romania and Northern Macedonia. With this, they helped to increase the level of awareness of all participants and motivated more active civic participation.