Institutions Need to Invest Consistent Effort to Promote Civic E-Participation

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The institutions of the Republic of Macedonia need to implement the existing legal framework on civic e-participation consistently and to work on raising of awareness of the institutions and the citizens about the importance of the use of web-sites as tools for transparency and accountability, concludes a study that the Metamorphosis Foundation presented yesterday, June 17, 2014, at the EU Info Centre in Skopje.

Tamara Resavska, Bardhyl Jashari and Tanja Hafner Ademi at the presentation (Photo Metamorphosis)

“The e-inclusion and e-participation reflect the democratic capacity of the government. At this moment, the real challenge lies with the democratic capacity of the government, much greater than the very instrument they use to realize their will and readiness to ensure transparency and participation in decision-making process. The ongoing efforts of the public institutions need to be improved with strengthened capacities and synchronization of policies on central level and their distribution to all levels of government and administration", states the study "Increased of Use of Gov.mk Websites as Tools for Transparency, Accountability and e-Participation".

The study is a part of the cooperation project of Metamorphosis Foundation and the Slovak Balkan Public Policy Fund, implemented by the Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BSCDN) and the Pontis Foundation.

The study points out that all system are used primarily for one way communication and presentation of information to the citizens, and that activities are necessary to strengthen the two way communication and cooperation on joint initiatives.

“The awareness and care for protection of human rights in the digital sphere is an important aspect of the process of building of trust between institutions and the citizens. One step in that direction is the publication of privacy policies and other documents within the scope of competences of the institutions - rulebooks and codes of conduct - to guarantee such protections for human rights”, state the conclusions of the study.

The study was presented by Tanja Hafner-Ademi, BCSDN Executive Director, Bardhyl Jashari, Director of Metamorposis, and Tamara Resavska from Metamorphosis Foundation.

The study is available for downloads on the website of the Foundation Metamorphosis. (Source: Metamorphosis Foundation)