The goal of the proect is to make the system of gifts in the health care sector transparent. It achieves its aim by providing a web-page where gift givers can publish the amounts they give. By this, a more transparent market can arise in the place of private deals and obscure rules. Beyond gift amounts, users share opinions on quality and discuss issues of corruption in health care. The project was attacked by the ombudsman and doctors thus it had to be moved to serves outside the reach of the Hungarian authorities.
Activity Type: Monitoring
Transparent State
The goal of the project is to increase the transparency of public spending and of public activities in general. It achieves this goal primarily by providing data on public spending in a much more accessible way than usually and by checking governmental and semi- governmental bodies if they abide the law on freedom of electronic information (2005. XC. Law). It also produced a ranking of public institutions according to transparency.
Civic monitoring over the process of issuing licenses by Hygienic-Epidemic Inspectorate and National Fire and Emergency Safety Service in cases of building and reconstruction
The primary goal of the project was to identify and investigate corrupt practices in the process of issuing licenses in the targeted supervising agencies. The project team made official meetings with representatives of the target institutions: the Hygienic-Epidemic Inspectorate (HEI), the Fire and Emergency Safety Service (FES) and the Ministry of Health to present the project and negotiate the terms of project partnership. The main project outputs referred to: analyzes of citizens’ complains for illegally issued licenses; monitoring of the routine activity of the targeted supervising agencies;development of a legal data base the observed field and a hot phone line for signals; an active public awareness campaign for popularization of the investigated corrupt practices and the proposed measures for counteraction.
Civic pressure on corruption and incompetence at local and state administration levels regarding illegal construction
The project was designed to fight against corruption in the municipal and state administration in the sphere of illegal construction. for the purpose an expert group monitoring the process of issuing construction licenses in the municipalities of Sofia was established during the actual project implementation. The project activities included: 1. analytical report on corrupt practices in cases of illegal building in Sofia Municipalities based on one-year survey; 2. development and dissemination of a brochure: “What Should We Know in Case of Illegal Building and Reconstruction””; 3. setting up of a citizens “”Complaints and Information Desk”” for legal assistance and lodgment of signals; 4. research and publicity on the municipal-level process of issuing construction licenses; 5. active public and media campaign to educate citizens about their rights in cases of illegal construction and to present the made disclosures of corruption in this field.”
Civil Transparency Center
Anti-corruptive Patrol: The direction aimed to monitor the activities which were carried out by the Rustavi Branch of the Civil Registry Agency, by providing newsletters regarding their work. Finally the monitoring process was successfully accomplished, followed by recommendations which were delivered to the Civil Registery Agency Chairman at the Rustavi Branch. The monitoring was attended by the lawyer of Rustavi Council, NGO representatives, journalists and students. In the year of 2006, the monitoring aimed to perform the quarterly analysis of budget programs in the city of Rustavi and Gardabani district. After research completion, the Civil Development Agency (CiDA) issued the brochures which were delivered to governmental/non-governmental structures. The obtained information was also available via newspapers published by CiDA.
Local governance in Georgia
The goal of the project was to asses the stage of development of local governance in Georgia and work out policy recommendations to be discussed on the National Conference.
Survive Svanetia
The coalition project lead by “Civitas Georgica” was aimed at development of local communities in Svanetia by supporting establishment of active citizen’s groups, monitoring wood cutting, providing policy recommendations for local governments in Mestia and Lentekhi districts, distributing medicine etc. Target group: local population, CBOs, local councils, doctors, local businessmen
The Transparency of European Funds in Romania
The project aims to:
– Make the EU funding process more transparent;
– Make the management institution responsible for the funding process more accountable;
– Raise the level of citizens’ involvement in the EU funding process.
Partners in the Group are: Media Monitoring Agency, Romanian Training Institute, Romanian Centre for Investigative Journalism, Partners for Local Development Foundation, the Association for the Promotion and Protection of Freedom of Speech, OSI, Pro Democracy Association
Nu Da Spaga! – DON’T ASK FOR BRIBE II
The project sought to:
– inform and raise the awareness of young adults, especially those that (will) activate in fields frequently associated with small corruption;
– involve the professional associations from justice, public administration fields in promoting the legal stipulations and the deontological codes, and in promoting their self-regulation role, in order to increase their responsibility;
– strengthen TIR image as an organization with expertise in providing applicable models for reducing the small corruption phenomenon and to strengthen the role of the professional associations as promoters of an ethic and responsible attitude towards beneficiaries.
This campaig is the follow-up of a similar one developed in 2003-2004.
Eurofunds Watchdog – Decreasing the risk of corruption through monitoring of projects financed from EU funds
The project was designed to monitor the use of EU funds by the Slovak Government: it consisted of an analysis of information published by Slovak ministries with regards to distribution of EU money e.g. requesting CVs of evaluators of proposals, evaluation sheets for projects; it was based on the Freedom of Information Act.
“Public control over entrance campaign-2008: all-Ukraine project” and “Entrance Campaign-2009 – By Community’s Eyes”
The goal of the project was forming a coalition of NGOs and public monitoring of the admission campaigns 2008 and 2009 in 30 universities in 14 regions of Ukraine. Additionally, it foresaw the establishment of an anti-corruption information service.
Healthy Children – Healthy Nation
Goal of the project: the public monitoring of oblast program implementation of a child health improvement program run by the Kirovohrad oblast Department of Family, Youth, and sports.
How democratic are political parties of Latvia – procedure and criteria of nomination of election candidates in the municipal elections of 2009 in Riga and Jurmala
The project addressed the selection of candidates on party lists for the 2009 municipal elections in the 2 largest cities of Latvia. Interviews with 30 party members of different statuses were conducted on the practices of candidates’ selection and the statutes and bylaws of parties were analyzed. A public data base was compiled with information on the candidates proposed by major political parties by using public available information (media, news agencies). The data base was intended to draw public attention to cases where the lists included candidates with mixed reputation. The candidates were evaluated based on 6 criteria: charges of corruption, conflicts of interest, large tax debts to the state, repeated changes of political party, cash reserves of over 10 000 LVL or seemingly confusing financial transactions.
Implementation of Integrity Pacts in Three Large Construction Projects
The purpose of the grant was to improve transparency and increase efficiency in procuring and constructing three public projects – the National Library, the Acoustic Concert Hall and the Contemporary Arts Museum, all under the responsibility of the Latvian Ministry of Culture. This was to be accomplished through an “Integrity Pact” signed in September 2005 between the Ministry and DELNA.
The grant was expected to result in:
• More transparency in the procurement processes for the three projects resulting in lower project costs.
• An enhanced dialog between the public and private sectors and NGOs on transparency matters
• Anti-corruption policies and guidelines adopted by a number of private companies
• Based on the experiences of these projects improvements in the Latvian legislation and procurement practices.
Monitoring Government’s Initiatives to Address “State capture” Issues
The project was set up to help draft Anti-Corruption Legislation and to allow the grant receiver NGO to participate in three working groups set up by the Latvian Government to prepare legislation on political party finance, a new corruption law on public officials’ conflict of interest and a proposed new anti-corruption bureau to investigate corrupt officials. The objective was both to monitor the legislative process and to have an impact on the shape of this legislation. The main goal was to create a basis and a structure for closer cooperation and dialogue between the government and civil society. About half the funding was spent on expert services and the other half on support services, communications and distribution of reports.
Public Monitoring of the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau
The goal of the project is strengthening the independence of KNAB in the context of the politicization of the laying off procedure of the Head of KNAB and of a unprofessional and restrictive selection process of the new Head on KNAB.
The Project Implementation of Transparent and Corruption-Free Procedures of City Development
EUCCI coordinated the work of ACTION’s Public Anti-Corruption Advocacy Network focused on construction and city development and fulfilled the work on transparent procedures of construction and city development.
Millennium Challenge Grant Program Monitoring
The Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC) has played a leading role in promoting the civic oversight and transparent implementation of the Millennium Challenge Georgia (MCG) Compact – a seminal and innovative assistance programme for Georgia from the Government of USA, which entered into force on 7 April 2006 with duration of five years.
EPRC has been monitoring the Millennium Challenge Georgia (MCG) Program since January 2006. Supported by Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF), the monitoring of this key foreign assistance program in Georgia has been implemented in cooperation with other NGOs that are members of the Transparent Foreign Aid to Georgia Coalition.
Over the period between 2006 and 2010, the EPRC published five monitoring reports, corresponding to the five stages of MCG implementation. These reports have been recognized as important tools for achieving transparency of the program and promoting the accountability in its implementation. EPRC has identified serious flaws in the management of the project, revealed lack of competence in several contractors, facilitated the development of transparency strategy, analyzed the impact of the program on the economic and monetary parameters in the country, and reviewed the conformity of results achieved through the implementation of projects with the goals declared in the Compact.
source: EPRC
Engage and Monitor for Change
Goals
EPF’s Engage and Monitor for Change program fosters the active and informed participation of Georgian community groups, CSOs and media outlets in the political and economic decision-making in their regions by building capacity among civic groups, encouraging monitoring and evaluation of policy reforms and facilitating public discussions, debates and network building. EPF also provides targeted small grants to unite less experienced organizations with more developed CSOs in project development and implementation and conducts grant competitions in civic monitoring of various sectors.
Impact
The concept of participatory civic monitoring emphasizes the process by which primary stakeholders at the local level actively engage in monitoring the government’s commitments to the reform process and public service delivery and become engaged in identifying or taking corrective actions. Through this process, EPF builds the capacity of local people to analyze information and catalyze commitment at the local level. Since the program’s inception in 2007, EPF has awarded over $480,000 to thirty four local civil organizations to engage in civic monitoring and capacity building through the targeted grant competitions. EPF will award more grants in 2013 to foster community engagement through the two more targeted grant competitions.
Source: Eurasia Partnership Foundation. Read more about this project here.
Countering corruption at the municipal level – anti-corruption measures in the Pernik region municipalities
The project was realized in the course of Coalition 2000 and USAID Open Government Initiative Project: “Civil Society Against Corruption”” – Small Grants Program. The goal of the current project was the improvement of the interaction between administration, civil society and business at local and regional levels.”
Transparent Poland – Forum
In 2007 47 local governments from the 3 previous project stages were invited to take further their experiences with “Transparent Poland”” (PP) program. This project lasted from March to November 2007. The invited communities were one of the most active and advanced bodies in introducing previous stages of the program. The PP-Forum offered an opportunity to bring together the governments and allow information sharing and exchange of interesting practices. Moreover, strengths and weaknesses of the hitherto approach were pinpointed. The main goal of this engagement supported by external experts was to work out an internal audit scheme for both effectiveness appraisal and evaluation of local governance enhancing mechanisms enacted during the previous stages of the program. Monitoring and assessment of the at-that-time utilized procedures was carried out and policy recommendations were spell out to fine tune the effectiveness of the local governments’ actions.
Another objective of this stage was to create a set of solutions and recommendations that could be later on shared with other self-governments, which did not participate in this project phase. The final goal was to establish a benchmarking group of advanced in implementation of the program activities local governments, which in further years could be utilized as a reference point for other self-governments, which would like to take on some of the program recommendations. This benchmarking group could also share their experiences with and offer advice to other local governments.
At this stage the program enlarged its geographical scope and pilot projects began in other countries of the region (Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia). The project continued in 2008.”
Transparent District (pilot)
The project was a pilot for the larger project Transparent Poland (’Przejrzysta Polska’). The goal of this first stage was to elaborate, in cooperation with 16 local governments, a model of tasks, which these governments were to implement in order to attain project objectives. The model was later to be scaled up in the following stage, i.e. the massive action. The project set forth six rules, which should be present in the functioning of public offices and officials at the local level. Those were: transparency, citizens participation, no toleration for corruption, professionalism, predictability and accountability. Within the program the participating governments had to fulfill certain solutions/tasks which were related to each of these six rules, e.g. elaboration an ethical code of conduct for public officials and members of local councils, creating a road map of local initiatives, elaborating materials that in an accessible way explain the role and creation of budgets and community’s strategy etc.
Transparent Poland I – Massive Action
The project ‘Przejrzysta Polska’ (PP) is the largest program of this kind in Poland. It is state-wide and has been running since 2003 until today (although initially planned to last only 2 years). It has been organized by a coalition of widely recognizable polish NGOs, one of the biggest polish daily papers, international donors and recognizable individuals, e.g. the former ombudsman.
Moreover it had a large coverage in the media; some printed media as well as main channels of public TV and public radio took a patronage over the project. Thanks to its large scope and the backing from popular and widely known organizations and individuals, the project obtained a large support from local self-governments across the country.
The actors involved as well as project organizers have been changing over time, but the Foundation in Support of Local Democracy was always main part of it (here I would like to thank Ms. Katarzyna Żelichowska, for her invaluable support and patience to my questions regarding this program as well as other undertakings carried out by the Foundation).
The project’s goal was to improve quality of public life and local governance as well as to invigorate civil society. The PP aimed at those districts (local-governments), which were willing to cooperate with NGOs and citizens to improve local governance and wipe out from public life corruption and other pathologies. It also envisaged activating not only public official, but also local NGOs and citizens. Realization of scheduled tasks was to on the one hand enhance local governments’ resistance to corruption and unethical behavior, and on the other hand to ease access to public information to regular citizens as well as to make it easier for citizens to get their things accomplished in local offices.
The project set forth six rules, which should be present in the functioning of public offices and officials at the local level. Those were: transparency, citizens participation, no toleration for corruption, professionalism, predictability and accountability. Within the program the participating governments had to fulfill certain solutions/tasks which were related to each of these six rules, e.g. elaboration an ethical code of conduct for public officials and members of local councils, creating a road map of local initiatives, elaborating materials that in an accessible way explain the role and creation of budgets and community’s strategy etc.
On the basis of a model elaborated during the first stage of the project (Transparent District), this massive action took place. During the second stage (Transparent Poland – Massive Action) invitations were sent out to all local governments in Poland, of which 800 took part in the undertaking in 2005. Over 400 finished it and they were granted with certificates of the project. All the local governments were to attain objectives in each of the six program areas in order to accomplish the project. They had 12 months to do so.
The Initiative for Clean Justice
The Clean Justice Initiative represents a work group that will periodically inform public opinion in a correct and consistent manner in respect to the quality of the activity of the judicial branch activity, by monitoring the process of reform and by evaluating governmental decisions and actions in the field.
The Clean Justice Initiative aims to : monitor the legislative process and the approval of draft law by the Government, especially in the case of emergency ordinances; monitor and evaluate the management of human, material and informational resources in the judicial and penitentiary system; to evaluate the quality of internal procedures and management from the Ministry of Justice and National Administration of Penitentiaries; to evalute judicial practice in cases of corruption; to evaluate the legislative process concerning the structures involved in fighting corruption and organised crime; to issue reports, recommendations and alternative policies on the above mentioned subjects.
Member organizations: The Academy for Advocacy, Civic Alliance, “Society for Justice -SoJust”” Association, Freedom House Rom”
Georgian Government under the Sunshine and/within “FOI Implementation, Law Reform and Financial Transparency”
The project was one of the most important and influental in the anti-corruption sphere in Georgia. it had a long duration period with several phases, with strong support from many different international donors with large sclae funding. The project aimed at the promotion of accountable government structures through the implementation of the legislation on the access to information and, at the same time, through the promotion of financial transparency in the public institutions funded from the state budget by using FOI as an instrument. The following activities were implemented within the framework of the project: 1. Implementing freedom of information principles in real life by strategic litigation and monitoring access to information; 2. Monitoring and advocacy through the project “Georgian Government under Sunshine”, which includes the following elements: support of the establishment of public broadcaster; monitoring of the President’s reserve fund; monitoring of the Government’s reserve fund; monitoring of the reserve fund of Adjara autonomous republic; 3. Assistance to the development of the local NGO sector addressing corruption and transparency actions in Adjara and Kutaisi; 4. Round tables and trainings for judges and freedom of information officers; 5. Creation of data bases of freedom of information officers in Georgia; 6. Creation of an online guidebook on Freedom of Information; 7. Elaboration of recommendations for the promotion and development of freedom of information legislation and practice in Georgia.