IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD: 01.02.2024 – 31.12.2024
PROJECT COST: EUR 13,120.00
DONOR: Nordic Council of Ministers funding: EUR 11,808.00, Delna co-financing: EUR 1312.00
CONTACT PERSON: Jēkabs Kārlis Rasnačs
The overarching goal of the project is to foster Nordic-Baltic cooperation in ensuring transparent and accountable governance at the local level. This initiative aims to enhance the ability of citizens and journalists to prevent and detect corruption, hold decision-makers accountable and ensure the availability of channels for legitimate interest representation activities.
The project has specific objectives, including the improvement of the Transparency Index of Local Authorities (TILA) methodology. Whilst the methodology initially developed has undergone some changes to reflect feedback received from various stakeholders these have been almost exclusively of Latvia. This presents a challenge as the purpose of the TILA methodology has at its conception been to present an approach that could be applicable to various national and regulatory contexts.
STAGES OF THE PROJECT
- Revised and improved methodology of the Transparency Index of Local Authorities;
- Published Transparency Index of Local Authorities 2024, which has assessed the openness of all 43 municipalities in Latvia and about 10 municipalities in Norway;
- An online regional event that gathers at least 60 interested parties from Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, as well as other countries of the region to exchange experience and best practices on transparency and good governance of local governments;
- Strengthened cooperation between Latvian, Lithuanian and Norwegian anti-corruption organizations, as well as interested parties in the private and public sectors.
IMPORTANCE OF THE PROJECT
- Increasing the awareness and participation of citizens, civil society organizations and the media in monitoring and evaluating the openness and responsibility of local governments in Latvia, Norway and Lithuania;
- The abilities and knowledge of municipal officials and employees in implementing and observing the standards and principles of good governance, honesty and integrity;
- Exchange of experience on the involvement of civil society in local government management.
PROJECT PUBLICATIONS
- Press release
- PAŠVALDĪBU ATKLĀTĪBAS INDEKSS 2024 , report. (in Latvian);
- TRANSPARENCY INDEX OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES 2024, report. (in English);
- Final event programme (in English).
- Research article (in Latvian) “WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE MINUTES OF COUNCIL SESSIONS“, 2024. As a result of Delna’s research, Delna concluded that more than half – 24 out of 43 – of the municipal minutes fully comply with the procedure and requirements established by the Law, but the rest were found to have shortcomings, which we are analysing in this article;
- Blog article “IMPROVING THE TRANSPARENCY OF MUNICIPALITY WEBSITES“, 2024. Delna with TI Lithuania and TI Norway colleagues announces the renewed methodology.
This project has been produced with the financial support from the Nordic Council of Ministers. The content of this project is the sole responsibility of the coordinators of this project and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
