“When the Open Government Partnership initiative was launched 10 years ago, the topics that are a part of our everyday lives today were in their infancy. The Open Government and its values are being discussed around the world today, which encourages us to work on bringing the administration closer to the citizens and their needs,” the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Marija Obradović, has said in a video message on the occasion of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Global Summit.
She has stated that Serbia has joined the initiative in 2012 and has achieved significant results to date and raised important topics such as open data, fiscal transparency, digitization of public services and citizen participation in decision-making, but above all it learned how important understanding, dialogue and trust between the citizens and the government are. She has also stressed the importance of building a partnership with civil society, which makes a significant contribution to the implementation of complex and demanding reform processes in society.
“In the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, Serbia managed to adopt the fourth Action Plan at the end of last year, thus demonstrating its commitment to the Partnership,” Obradović has said, announcing further work on creating a platform for citizen participation in decision-making, introduction of an electronic fact sheet on the work of state bodies, and development of a platform for reporting violence involving children. Moreover, the legal conditions for the participation of citizens in the management of protected areas of nature shall be improved, while the data on the spending of budget funds allocated to the media shall be made available, Obradović has said.
“I hope that all of us together, through dialogue and partnership, shall continue to build an administration that is more open, inclusive, transparent and accountable to all its citizens,” the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government has said and, on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, congratulated the Open Government Partnership on 10 years of successful work on promoting and encouraging the value of Open Government worldwide
This year’s OGP Global Summit, hosted by South Korea, shall be held in an online environment, in the period from 15-17 December 2021 in Seoul. The priority topics of this year’s summit are citizen participation in decision-making, tackling anti-corruption and digital governance.
Statement by Minister Marija Obradović