Here you can access the regional database of reports and analyses of civil society organisations from Western Balkan countries for different areas of public administration reform.

Designing better public services in Serbia: With citizens, not only for them

Serbia’s public service providers make decisions with little knowledge of people’s preferences. Designing services together with citizens will not only benefit service users but will also help the government to learn about its own performance in service delivery.

Public servants’ profound and specific knowledge about the services they provide or design often impedes them from placing themselves in the position of an ordinary user. Without an evidence-based approach to designing services (such as collecting qualitative information on user experience and testing prototypes with real users), projects will not be tailored to the needs of citizens, people will be dissatisfied and deterred from using them, and service providers will waste skills and resources on ineffective solutions. Therefore, the way in which Serbia’s public administration thinks about developing and delivering services should shift, implementing concepts of design thinking.

Download

  • Country: Serbia
  • Organisation: European Policy Centre – CEP
  • PAR Area: Public Service and Human Resource Management
  • Language: English

Implementation of the strategy on modernisation of public administration – Monitoring Period: October 2015 – October 2016

Strategy on Modernization of Public Administration covers a period of six years (2015-2020) whereas the Action Plan covers the first three years 2015-20174. The Strategy and Action Plan were adopted by the Government in September 20155 and as a result a few activities have been projected for the last quarter (Q4) of 2015.

The Strategy and its implementation Action Plan consists of three strategic objectives: 1) the civil service, 2) administrative procedures and providing public administrative services and 3) organization of public administration and accountability. Each strategic objective contains a number of specific objectives and each specific objective consists of a number of activities, responsible institution/s responsible, budget and implementation deadlines.

Download

  • Country: Kosovo
  • Organisation: GAP Institute
  • PAR Area: Public Service and Human Resource Management | Accountability | Public Finance Management
  • Language: English

Policymaking in the Western Balkans – Creating Demand for Evidence Beyond EU Conditionality

EU aspirants from the Western Balkans find themselves in a lengthy and demanding process of improving their policymaking systems. Sustainable results require not only robust tools and procedures, but also the involvement of all interested parties – civil society, media, interest groups and associations – into policymaking.

However, policymaking as a topic is under-researched and its relevance somewhat underestimated both by the state and the civil society actors in the region. This Position Paper presents arguments to highlight the necessity for more streamlined engagement of the civil society to act as effective scrutinisers of policymaking reforms as well as to take a more constructive role in policymaking processes, consequently rendering it more transparent and evidence-based.

Download

  • Author: Think for Europe – TEN
  • Country: Region
  • Organisation: European Policy Centre – CEP
  • PAR Area: Policy Development and Co-ordination
  • Language: English

Openness of Executive Power Institutions in the Region and Montenegro

The policy of openness must be the policy of all governments in the region and it must be defined as other important policies. It shouldn’t be a result of a current decision or of a current mood of power.

This proposal is addressed to decision-makers of executive power in the regional countries on all levels: Government, ministries and executive agencies. It can be useful for representatives of international institutions and for NGO colleagues, who tackle with these issues.

Download

  • Author: Dragan Koprivica, Đorđije Brkuljan, Milena Gvozdenović
  • Country: Montenegro
  • Organisation: Center for Democratic Transition
  • PAR Area: Policy Development and Co-ordination
  • Language: English