The 6th conference on the right to information/promotion of integrity in anti-corruption policies is held

2024-06-26 19:01:00, Aktualitet CNA

The 6th conference on the right to information/promotion of integrity in

The Office of the Commissioner for the Right to Information and Protection of Personal Data and the Minister of State for Public Administration and Anticorruption (MAPA) co-organized the 6th National Conference on the Right to Information with the main theme "Building trust: Promoting transparency, accountability and integrity" in anti-corruption policies".

The focus of this national activity was the indispensable role of civil society and the media in promoting the right to access to public information and strengthening transparency, for the formation of responsible institutions with integrity, as well as the sharing of best practices. in strengthening accountability, as a pillar of the preventive approach of anti-corruption policies. The VI National Conference brought together, in the form of a discussion table, officials and high-level representatives, as well as coordinators from over 150 central, independent public authorities, the justice system and local self-government, together with civil society experts and activists or the media.

The 6th conference on the right to information/promotion of integrity in

In his speech, the Commissioner, Mr. Besnik Dervishi emphasized, among other things, that "it should not be denied in any case what has been done well, this also by the public authorities, since today we have more information in circulation than in any other period, we think that the path towards achieving the highest standards high levels of transparency is still long and difficult. Transparency as a strategic objective in itself, but not only, transparency also in its positioning as the antechamber of the fight against corruption, clearly defines the challenge for each of our institutions. It is time to conclude a contract for a new challenge, the transparency of public authorities, which strengthens accountability, for the inclusion of citizens and as many actors of civil society, the media, the academic world, in their irreplaceable role, in the function of building of a transparent climate that rejects corruption."

Special guest at this Conference was the Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania, Mr. Edi Rama, who evaluated as important the ranking of the legislation on the right to information in the 7th place in the world.

The 6th conference on the right to information/promotion of integrity in

He said that "what is very impressive is that still today there is a dominant mentality in the administration that providing information is an unnecessary exposure, while here it is about providing information on decision-making, on actions translated into decisions which are there and it is absolutely as dramatic as it is funny when then receiving the information, i.e. receiving the documents that are practically written, signed, protocolled and that exist and releasing it to the public is presented as a discovery: "I found a document". In fact, that document is not the property of anyone in the institution, it is not the property of the next government, but it is public property and as public property it should be accessible."

The 6th conference on the right to information/promotion of integrity in

In her speech, Mrs. Adea Pirdeni, Minister of State for Public Administration and Anticorruption, emphasized that "this year marks the decade of the adoption of the law on the right to information and the start of a process of understanding, acceptance and implementation of a new, more effective and faster approach to transparency. Over the years, there was a gradual process of increasing the number of public authorities that have the obligation to implement the Transparency Program, from 145 institutions in 2015 to 332 in 2023, as well as in 2018, the central register of requests and responses was implemented. , which today is operational in 222 public authorities, thus laying the foundations of a capillary extension of the information delivery system."

During this activity, the approach to the consolidation of stable and democratic institutions was underlined, through guaranteeing the right to access to information, increasing transparency and increasing accountability, as the key to citizens' participation in good governance. A valuable contribution was made by the expert of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mr. Drago Kos, with his presentation on "The fight against illegal financial flows".

At the VI National Conference, through practical examples, the state of transparency of Albanian public authorities, the existing problems, as well as proposals for increasing it to the required levels were discussed. In the two special panels on the topic "Applicability of the law on the right to information seen from the perspective of public authorities, the future of proactive transparency" and "Transparency of public authorities seen from the perspective of civil society and the media" the participants emphasized the growth of trust and cooperation between all parties/actors of this dynamic process, for the achievement of the common objective, that of guaranteeing with the highest standards the exercise of this fundamental right and freedom by citizens./ CNA