The Open Government Partnership Week was closed by a visit to the PI Secondary Economy and Hospitality School in Bar and a lecture on the topic of “Openness of public administration in Montenegro” organized by the NGO Institute for Social and Educational Policy – ISOP in partnership with the NGO Council for the Implementation of Youth Policy, in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Administration.

Minister of Public Administration, Ms. Suzana Pribilović, in the discussion with secondary school students, pointed out that the need for open government reform is recognized in all developed countries of the world, in order to better meet the demands of its citizens. She said that this is not something that can be achieved only by the governments themselves, but that the role of citizens and civil society is important, and in all these processes the role of young people is especially important.

“Our goal is to involve young people as much as possible in these activities, and therefore we invite you to join us, because you, as future active citizens in decision and policy-making, will be the drivers of the reform process” – said Ms. Pribilović.

She announced that, in order to improve the online space for public consultation during the policy-making process, the Ministry of Public Administration have upgraded the eParticipation Portal, an electronic service for public consultations on strategic documents and laws passed by the Government of Montenegro. She said that the Ministry of Public Administration is working to improve the ePetition service, in order to increase the possibility for citizens to propose solutions for the functioning of the community, said Ms. Pribilović.

Chief Executive Officer of ISOP and member of the Operational Team for Open Government Partnership in the area of ​​increasing accountability of companies, Mr. Mitar Radonjić, introduced the high school students to the history of the Global, National and Local Open Government Partnership with a special focus on the OGP principles and values, which Montenegro has fostered from the start.

“From the very creation of the OGP Global Partnership, Montenegro showed its interest and efforts, as well as the OGP values, and has started to actively work on the implementation of the OGP Principles in Montenegro”, said Mr. Radonjić.

Mr. Radonjić said that the goal of the global initiative of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) is to promote transparency, inclusiveness and openness through concrete initiatives, and to empower citizens, fight corruption and use new technology to strengthen governance.

Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a voluntary international initiative launched in 2011, promoting multilateral cooperation, supporting and assisting the development of openness, transparency and accountability of the administration through open cooperation of state administration representatives, primarily with civil society, and with other segments of the society in order to promote and increase transparency, fight corruption and actively involve and strengthen the participation of citizens and the civil sector in public policy-making. Montenegro joined the OGP on 13 February 2012, and signed the declaration on the open government as a participating country.

During the previous week, the Ministry of Public Administration organized a series of events to mark the Open Government Partnership Week.