Conference Open Governance in Local Authorities brings together representatives of 25 municipalities in Tbilisi

A conference titled Open Governance in Local Authorities held in Tbilisi on November 1, bringing together representatives from 25 municipalities across Georgia, focused on local government transparency and accountability as part of Georgia's national Open Government Partnership (OGP) commitments.

Municipalities with standards adopted on increased transparency and integrity, shared their experience with other local authorities within the scope of the conference.

Six municipalities that have already prepared local strategies for transparency and integrity – Akhaltsikhe, Bolnisi, Dusheti, Khoni, Rustavi and Tskaltubo – shared their hands-on experience with other local self-governments and discussed the approach they used to incorporate OG values within the conference's scope

Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Sakhokia noted in his speech that Georgia is one of the first countries in the region to join the OGP initiative.

“Georgia was one of the first countries in our region to join the Open Government Partnership,” said Sakhokia. “Georgia is also one of the few OGP countries to integrate open governance values into local governance as outlined in the current national OGP action plan,” he added.

Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze noted that one of the priorities for local authorities is the introduction of Open Government, and all reforms serve that priority. According to him, the Tbilisi City Hall has already implemented a part of the Action Plan on Open Government and its implementation will be finalized in the first quarter of 2020.

“There are two main issues to address as we strive to improve openness and effectiveness of governance and make it more democratic. First, reforms must respond to people’s needs. Second, open governance principles should be translated into effective mechanisms that are fully accessible for citizens,” noted the Tbilisi Mayor.

UNDP Head Louisa Vinton expressed hope that the successes of the pioneering municipalities would serve as examples for others.

“Transparency and accountability are vital to ensure that public resources are used wisely and fairly to meet people’s needs,” said Vinton. “UNDP is proud to be assisting municipalities in identifying transparency gaps, assessing corruption risks and finding effective solutions to enhance good governance at the local level. We are confident that the achievements of the pioneer municipalities presenting their experiences here will serve as examples for others,” she added.

Under the Open Governance Partnership (OGP), the introduction of municipal strategies for transparency and integrity to local governance is part of UNDP's wider assistance to Georgia in implementing national commitments.

The pioneer municipalities plan to adopt strategies prepared using UNDP’s Guide to corruption-free Local Government by the end of 2019. Their work is expected to pave the way to transparency and integrity for other local self-governments, says UNDP Georgia.

UNDP is Georgia’s long-standing supporter in introducing and implementing OGP principles at different levels of governance. This assistance has included EU-funded support to Open Parliament and UNDP’s active engagement in the global OGP Summit hosted by Georgia in 2018.

The conference was organized jointly by Georgia’s Government Administration and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with support from the Government of Denmark.