The Albanian Experience: Tiranamunicipality Information Centre - an Initiative to Promote

THE ALBANIAN EXPERIENCE: TIRANAMUNICIPALITY INFORMATION CENTRE - AN INITIATIVE TO PROMOTE CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT AND TRANSPARENCY

Silvana Braculla

Programme Officer/Training Expert

Urban Research Institute, Albania

Introduction

Considering that our Government has signed the Agreement of Association and Stabilization with the European Union, it is natural to be focused on establishing and safeguarding the high standards of good governance and administration of state affairs.

The standards of good governance defined by the European Union for attainment shall be based on such principles as respecting freedom, democracy, rule of law, and human rights. The Charter of Human Rights for the European Union member states, adopted at the Nice Summit, December 2000, constitutes the first official text ever adopted in the world in the area of human rights protection, which officially sanctioned the right of good administration (article 41), the right of access to official documents (Article 42) as well as the presence of the Ombudsman Institution and the right to complain at his office (Article 43).

In view of the fact that the people’s right to good governance is already considered as one of the human rights, in many countries, the principles of good administration have been explicitly collected in a Code of Administrative Procedures.

In the member states of the European Union, it is termed Code of Administrative Conduct (Ethics), whereas in Albania it has been termed Code of Administrative Procedures. In practice we do encounter not the proper implementation of the law. The complaints of the individuals, group of individuals or the Media are numerous about the lack of transparency in the activity of all the segments of the pyramid called the public administration of the state.

Among the numerous reasons responsible for producing the embargo of information on the official documents, for the common citizen as well as for the journalists, that rightly are called “the public guards”are identified at list two of them: One is that, the responsible officials for providing information are not specifically educated and trained to manage with transparency their responsibilities in this democratic system. The second is related to their personal attitude that does not correspond to the spirit of laws. The paradox properly lays on the second reason. This is because in the “having coffee environment” you can hear such information that overcome the limits of the law on the protection of the personal data, or the limits of the information classified state secret, whereas in the institutions offices the employee hesitate to respect the right of information not only towards the journalists but also towards the citizen.

Such deficiencies are normal for a country in transition, but not at the fifth year of the existence of the law on the right of information and the Code of Administrative Procedures.

We are aware that the public services to the citizens are often monopolistic, in the sense that, in several instances the citizens have no other option but approach the administration to receive the service needed, for which the public authority is employed.

The Information Centre for the Municipality of Tirana has been created as part of a broader initiative of the municipality to encourage citizen engagement and promote transparency in order to improve service delivery and accountability of the municipality to the local citizenry.

Overall, the objectives and related activities that are proposed in the information centre strategy provide the employees of the Information Centre with the capacity and skills to meet the overall mission that is “to provide citizens of Tirana with timely and relevant information and of services provided to them by the municipality”.

Two of the main activities of this initiative were:

(i)Preparation of Citizens’ Report Card (CRC); and

(ii)The development of a “Municipal Information Centre” to collect and disseminate municipal information.

As a pilot project, it would support participating municipality in:

(i)devising a strategy (internal and external) for handling information essential to improved service delivery (planning through implementation);

(ii)implementing municipal information strategies – including adequate equipping of physical information access sites; and

(iii)using technology to allow ‘real time’ information access for increasing citizen information and participation – especially including televising of local deliberative for gatherings such as council meetings.

This is being achieved in whole or in part through the achievement of the following related objectives:

1. informing all citizens of available services, procedures, trends and issues;
2. providing consultations to all citizens on obtaining specific information relevant to their individual needs;
3. monitoring service delivery and needs of citizens; and
4. Alerting local government on trends, issues and needs of citizens.

Chapter 1: Development ofthe Information Centre

1.1Background Information

As part of the recent positive development in Tirana, under the leadership of the Tirana mayor, there has been an increasing trend towards working cooperatively with local stakeholders in finding practical solutions to everyday problems that affect the “quality of life” for most citizens. Within the changing political and economic landscape, it is essential that citizens are kept informed of policies and programs that affect their daily way of life, not to mention where they need to go when they need social assistance, request information or even lodge a complaint. At the same time, local government officials need the feedback and support of citizens so that they are in the position to design more effective programs. Essentially, both sides – local authorities and citizens – need each other and it is this mutual cooperation that should set the community development agenda.

Responding to the demands of this changing political and economic landscape, the Tirana Transparency Project was developed at the request of the mayor and with the support of the World Bank and the government of the Netherlands. It is seen as important part of the many efforts aimed at increasing services in the municipality. Developing better service delivery, ensuring citizens are informed of relevant policy changes, providing them an access point to request information and/or lodge complaints, when necessary, represents a significant challenge that has been met by the TiranaMunicipality.

Significant efforts have been made by the mayor of Tirana and the municipal staff in the establishment of a modern Information Centre that is intended to increase citizen access to information on relevant municipal affairs of the city. This trend is part of a general effort to increase communication and open information channels between the municipality and its citizens in order to increase transparency and to create an access point citizens to lodge complaints or make requests for information. The Information Centre has been created as a comfortable and adequate environment - it has equipments for information management and communication means as well as brochures on various municipal services. Monitoring cameras have been installed in order to ensure quality and observe trends. Citizens are provided with a number upon arrival and served in priority sequence. Citizens can meet face-to-face with the staff of the Information Centre without any technical restriction or structural barriers that might restrict effective communication of their complaint or request. New information technology applications that will be fully implemented in the future by the municipality will help speed up the flow of information so that answers to requests of citizens can be processed more effectively.

1.2Roles & Availability of Information:

The main functions of the Information Centre are to:

1. provide answers and information to citizens who come to visit the municipality;
2. explain to citizens the parameters for making a request for information - where, how and when they must go to make the request;
3. provide information to the citizens about the availability of municipal services as well as the procedures that must be followed to receive these services (including eligibility and other requirements that must fulfilled); and
4. Inform citizens about the procedures required in making a request for information (i.e. what forms they need to fill out and what other information might be required).

The necessary forms are given to citizens. The form is then accepted, all the documentation - packaged, and the end result is received at the same place again – the complete service or response. The “entrance” and “exit” of the documentation is the same. The Centre staff is consultants who responsively assist in filling in the documents if necessary. They provide exhaustive information for everything the visitors of the Centre are interested in – regulatory timescale, fees and other important details. Each citizen is informed about the exact date when his/her application will be responded to.

At present the Information Centre consists of 12 employees which are subordinate to the respective department they represent in the Centre. They have the Civil Servant status. The Centre is an open and flexible system ready to respond quickly to a change of the needs for a service or information. The IC works 10 hours/day and serves approximately 180 – 200 citizens/day.

The new organisation of work creates barriers against possible abuse and corruption because the connection between the user of the service and the expert on whom its provision depends has been cut. This counters bureaucratic practices, too. It is encouraging that from the very beginning the Centre managed to break the negative stereotypes and prejudices layered from the past.

The municipality under the funding of the World Bank and the Dutch government managed to cope with the architectural part and the furnishing, and invested a lot of efforts and funds to make the Centre welcoming and functional. The Centre is situated in a spacious, bright, functioning hall. The offices are open and have modern furniture. The warm modern interior in which all architectural barriers are eliminated creates an atmosphere conducive to amicable communication. The Centre puts a stop to the wanderings of the citizens around different rooms and for a minimal amount of time provides them with maximum amount of information and services. Excellent visual environment has been created in which it is easy to find your way around. At the very entrance there is an Indication Board with the functions and numbers of the workstations. All the employees have badges with their name and photo, which inspires bigger trust in them and they, on their part, realise their responsible mission. During the provision of the service citizens are comfortably seated on movable chairs while for those waiting there is a specially designated area where they can read the publications of the Centre or fill in their documents at the tables.

The Centre not only presents the public face of the Municipality but also represents the live, direct connection with the general public and does not break its traditions for maintaining a good citizen’s dialogue on strategic issues. The Centre is a kind of bridge between the citizens and the municipal administration and aims to maintain a continuous “feedback”. Different means of provoking citizens’ activity are sought.

Chapter 2: Citizen’s Report Cards

2.1Introduction

A recent study, entitled “A Citizens Evaluation of Municipal Services in Tirana” was carried out within the framework of efforts to increase transparency in municipal service delivery. It is part of an innovative approach of the TiranaMunicipality to increase the transparency of services it provides to the citizens and to enhance the participation of the citizens in shaping the services offered by the municipality. The conclusions and recommendations made by this study are expected to provide valuable feedback to the TiranaMunicipality and its various subunits, and represent a first step in services quality evaluation involving citizens. This study also serves as a model that could be implemented regularly in order to offer valuable and continuous feedback on the performance of the municipality in providing services to its citizens. As a result of this initiative, the municipality of Tirana will be able to find out the effectiveness of the service offered, to what extent services meets citizen expectations and it will also gain valuable insight so it can act quickly to the changing needs of the community. The evaluation and analysis of service delivery based upon the feedback of citizens - is a vital instrument in building transparency and will help further citizen engagement. This will subsequently support the development and implementation of policies and services that meet the needs of the public.

2.2Study Objective

The main objective of the study was to identify concerns of the citizens of Tirana and to help improve the flow of information using the Information Centre of the TiranaMunicipality as a focal point in ensuring adequate feedback of service delivery, identification of citizen’s needs and development of recommendations to further implement improvements.

The evaluation study specifically intended to:

• identify the services most frequently used by the citizens;
• examine the quality of the services provided to the citizens and identify the factors which influence their quality;
• identify indicators to assess the quality and quantity of the services offered; and
• establish benchmarks of citizen opinions and recommendations on service improvement.

2.3Survey Context

In Albania, the transition to a market economy has been very difficult. Despite relatively positive economic development, it has periodically gone through difficult economical and political periods. Acknowledging that the economical and political consequences from this transition come as a result of poor governance, the Albanian government has undertaken an ambitious institutional development and good governance program that was initiated in 1999. The decentralisation of power and decision-making authority to local governments was one measure taken to improve governance and service delivery.

Short-term improvements in local service provision and more active responsibility of local government toward its citizens are vital to the success of the decentralisation process in Albania. As part of this process, political leaders and local administrators face a number of very daunting challenges. One key element in this transformation of the local government into an effective and responsible governing unit is the improvement of information management.

The total lack of transparency and participation of the citizens in decision-making, combined with the unwillingness of citizens to complain about local government decisions has been the major impeding factor. This has fuelled corruption at all levels.

It is believed that adequate and complete information is necessary to increase accountability and, therefore, effectiveness of local government. In other terms, the flow of information from citizens to local government shapes public service delivery according to real needs, while the flow of information from local government to the public ensures transparency and accountability of local government actions.

In this framework, the study that was conducted in Tirana, “A Citizens Evaluation of Municipalities Services in Tirana”, is a vital instrument for furthering democratic principles and is designed to produce an assessment of the quality of services provided from the municipality so that they are shaped according to citizens needs.

2.3.1Survey results relating to the relationships with municipality

Recent attempts to build trust and confidence between the citizens and the municipality will help establish new community driven initiatives and facilitate a greater role for citizens into shaping the future of their community. Increased transparency and openness throughout municipal policies and activities will be the cornerstone of any such initiative.

Of all the citizens who say to have contacted different officials from the local government 43 % have a good or very good impression whereas 43 % have a negative or very bad impression. Reason for the opinion they hold is: 20% received a poor and incorrect answer, 14 % have not been given the required information, for 11% the ansver4 was much delayed, and 17% have received a negative answer (see graph 33).

Graph 33

Many citizens support the idea of establishing an Information Centre and believe it will give them an access point in solving their problems and lodging complaints. Some fifty-one percent (51%) of citizens also think that through the establishment of this office it will be easier to obtain information about public services. Similarly, fifty percent (50%) consider it as a structure that will help to facilitate quicker resolution of their problems. Also, it should be noted that thirty-eight percent (38%) of citizens think that the exchange of information and communication will generally improve (see graph 34) as a result of the creation of the Information Centre. Efficient operation of such an office will not only help just citizens, but will also increase the effectiveness of administration itself. It will be able to analyse problems more effectively, allow municipal employees to provide solutions based on collective decision-making, it will save time for both citizens and administration and it will also serve as access point in obtaining information from the municipality. It is hoped that through this new office it will be possible for the municipality to assess the level of performance of public services and initiate targeted studies that will continually assess community needs.

Graph 34

2.3.2Citizens’ information about municipality activities

The main source of information for the citizens is electronic or printed media followed by word of mouth information. The fact that only 14 % of them receive information directly from the municipality indicates that provision of information is still much too be improved (see graph 35 and 36).