Active Transparency of Institutions is Still Very Low

Today, 11 June 2019, the Center for Civil Communications published the ranking list of institutions under the Index of Active Transparency, which concerns proactive publication of public information for the year 2019 (March 2019) and covers all ministries, the Government and municipalities. The Index shows some key aspects, as follows:

-In 2019, active transparency of ministries and municipalities remains very low, although it is marked by an increase compared to last year. The compliance rate with obligations on proactive publication of information for all 97 institutions accounts for 56% (from possible 100%) and is increased by 12.5 percentile points compared to last year (when the average compliance rate stood at 43.5%).

-For the third year in a row, proactive publication of information by ministries shows a trend of increase and they demonstrate a significantly better track record compared to municipalities which, after two-year trend of decline, are demonstrating improvement in terms of active transparency. Average rate of active transparency accounts for 77.6% among ministries and 51.7% among municipalities.

-Bitola maintained its overall first rank from last year, while the best ranked among ministries this year is the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy, as the second ranked institution overall. As regards regions across the country, the East Region has taken the primacy from last year’s top ranked Pelagonija Region, with the Skopje Region dropping to the bottom of this list.

-Both ministries and municipalities publish the least information on their respective financial matters, whereby the compliance rate among ministries stands at 57% and among municipalities it accounts for only 26% of information they are obliged to publish.

-As regards the response rate to requests submitted to all institutions under the instrument for free access to public information on the same day and with the same contents, municipalities responded thereto within an average deadline of 21 days (last year it was 20 days) and ministries responded within an average deadline of 34 days (last year it was 41 days). Unlike last year when all institutions responded to information requests, this year as many as 12% of institutions did not disclose information requested.

The Index of Active Transparency is developed as part of the activity Public Spending for Public Good, supported under the USAID Civic Engagement Project. This activity aims to increase effective public spending by reducing corruption and increasing transparency. For more information about work and activities of the Center for Civil Communications, please visit our website www.ccc.org.mk and http://www.opendata.mk/.

NOTE TO EDITORS

Since 1993, the American people, through USAID, have invested over 640 million dollars in North Macedonia. USAID is the world’s premier international development agency and catalytic actor driving development results. USAID’s work advances U.S. national security and economic prosperity, demonstrates American generosity and promotes a path to recipient self-reliance and resilience. For more information, please visit our Facebook pages: https://www.usaid.gov/north-macedonia and https://www.facebook.com/USAIDNorthMacedonia/