Action plan – El Kef, Tunisia, 2021 – 2023

At-a-Glance

Duration

May 2023

Date Submitted

26th August 2021

Foreword(s)

In the context of establishing a new approach to the management of public affairs at the local level, El Kef municipality has developed an action plan within the framework of open partnership with the participation of citizens, associations, specialists and media in an effort to improve municipal performance.

This initiative aims mainly to ensure the serious commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... of member countries on a set of principles focusing essentially on promoting transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More, accountability and combating corruption as well as further involvment of citizens through the use of information and communication technology thus improving citizens quality of life and their relationship with the government.

Since the announcement of the opening of nominations for the selection of a number of municipalities to prepare action plans for the open government in implementation of the commitment N°11 of the national action plan for the Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More, El Kef municipality submitted it candidacy to join this initiative and pledged to prepare and implement a two years Action Plan 2021/2023.

This plan contains 17 commitments to promote integrity and support participatory and modernize the administration, in a way that contributes to improve the public services of the municipality in coordination with civil society, that will follow-up all the stages. Whether related preparation and implementation or follow-up and evaluation. It will also work during the local action plan to support the gains made. The most important of which is the digitization of the municipality.

The Open Government in el Kef municipality aims to improve efficiency and responsibility and to establish a new approach based on principles that allow citizens to understand the municipal work by establishing transparency and also guarantee building trust between them and officials.

Open Government Challenges, Opportunities and Strategic Vision

This subsection details the Open Government Strategic Vision in your local area that should guide the commitments for the action plan period.

What is the long-term vision for open government in your context and jurisdiction?

• Promote more openness in government.
• Fight corruption, empower citizens.
• Government will be more effective , more accountable .
• Innovation.
• Building coalition.
• Monitoring and evaluation.

What are the achievements in open government to date (for example, recent open government reforms)?

• New mechanisms for greater collaboration between government and civil society.
• New technology to empower people and promote transparency.
• Save public fund and build trust.

What are the current challenges/areas for improvement in open government that the jurisdiction wishes to tackle?

In open government, El Kef municipality want to tackle many problems and improve its  public service  in coordination with civil society. Where the citizens can demand the municipality to present its general policies. In addition to that, improving the living standard of citizens and build a close relationship with the municipality, as well as to achieve a pattern of governance based on the principles of transparency and participatory democracy whose advantages attracting investment and international cooperation.

What are the medium-term open government goals that the government wants to achieve?

• Enhancing trust between citizens and the municipality and establishing transparency.
• Accomplishing tangible achievements at the institutional, legal and technological level and cooperative work between the administration and civil society in order to establish dynamic « Co-creation ».
• support, coaching and accompaniment of young micro-entrepreneurs
• Integrate young people and women in social and economic life by implementing collective solutions
• the promotion of El Kef city
• More local and citizen-centered local administration

How does this action plan contribute to achieve the Open Government Strategic Vision?

• The possibility of participating in an international network forum for the exchange of successful experiences and best practices in the field of Open Government
• Achieving one of the indicators of adapting a governance model based on the principles of transparency and participatory democracy whose advantages attracting investment and international cooperation.
• create behavioral change in among citizens
• Implement Open Government initiatives in the El Kef region
• Provide services to its stakeholders and listening to the problems of our residents and involve them in managing local affairs

How does the open government strategic vision contribute to the accomplishment of the current administration’s overall policy goals?

The open government strategic vision contribute to help enhancing citizen participationAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, citizen participation occurs when “governments seek to mobilize citizens to engage in public debate, provide input, and make contributions that lead to m... More in municipal activities and take their opinions into accounts in preparing projects development as well as, Organizing cleaning campaigns in cooperation with civil society.

• Collective action.
• Strengthen the skill of cleaning agents
• Set up a cell that will be in charge of complaints management.
• Enhance participatory in decision-making.

Engagement and Coordination in the Open Government Strategic Vision and OGP Action Plan

Please list the lead institutions responsible for the implementation of this OGP action plan.

• El Kef Municipality
• TWIZA Association

What kind of institutional arrangements are in place to coordinate between government agencies and departments to implement the OGP action plan?

A public consultation was held during the period extended between May25,2021 and June20,2021 to prepare action plans by launching initiatives to consolidate the OGP at local level. This consultation aims to obtain ideas and proposals from participants which enable the municipality to include commitments in line with the requirements  and peculiarities  of regions and that will be implemented during the period 2021-2023 and in parallel with  public consultation via the consultation website ,the joint  leadership committee  tasked with preparing the open government action plan, held joint working sessions with civil society to introduce the concepts related to the principles of OGP, while recording some proposals in the field of enhancing the right of access to information, opening public data, and the governance of disposal of natural resources, supporting the mechanisms of participatory democracy and the principles of local governance, transparency in the field of public procurementTransparency in the procurement process can help combat corruption and waste that plagues a significant portion of public procurement budgets globally. Technical specifications: Commitments that aim t..., financial and fiscal transparency, Combating administrative corruption, simplifying municipal services and improving their quality. In addition to that, providing mechanisms to enhance citizens participation in identifying projects and reforms priority.

Launching the first phase of the local consultation to prepare the action plan via the public consultation website: http://www.e-participation.tn/

Field consultations, workshops, forums and open days.

What kind of spaces have you used or created to enable the collaboration between government and civil society in the co-creation and implementation of this action plan? Mention both offline and online spaces.

Offline:

• Working session in the headquarters of both El Kef Municipality and TWIZA Association.

Online:

• Publishing the questionnaire on the public means of communication and sending it to all the  governmental institution and associations.
• Publishing of El Kef action plan and the consultation in the public consultation website.
• Creating a facebook group between the municipality and  citizens

What measures did you take to ensure diversity of representation (including vulnerable or marginalized populations) in these spaces?

The participation in the offline space was limited due to corona pandemic. So that, the number women was over that the other groups such as, youthRecognizing that investing in youth means investing in a better future, OGP participating governments are creating meaningful opportunities for youth to participate in government processes. Technical .... But in the online spaces all the categories participated and presented their opinions in a free secure, and transparent manner.

Who participated in these spaces?

In the co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive... three different groups have participated such as: women, youth and men.

How many groups participated in these spaces?

3

How many public-facing meetings were held in the co-creation process?

8

How will government and non-governmental stakeholders continue to collaborate through the implementation of the action plan?

The government and non-governmental stakeholders continues to collaborate to implement the action plan through: controlling, Monitoring, observing and managing of the co-creation process.

Please describe the independent Monitoring Body you have identified for this plan.

We have selected a member from I Watch Organization. I Watch is a Tunisian non-profit watchdog organization created on March 21,2011, after the revolution. It aims to combat financial and administrative corruption, in addition to promoting transparency in the country. It gathers a group of motivated young people from different regions working on preserving the gains of the revolution. It is founded upon two principles : No exclusion and No trusteeship.Men, women and youth should be involved in decision- making process. It works on two main axes : Transparency and Anti-Corruption. It became the Official Point of Contact for the International Transparency Organization in Tunisia.

Provide the contact details for the independent monitoring body.

Name of Contact: Safa Zarrouki / Title: Representative of I Watch Organization in El Kef / E-mail: szarrouki@iwatch.tn

What types of activities will you have in place to discuss progress on commitments with stakeholders?

Field consultations, workshops, forums and open days.

How will you regularly check in on progress with implementing agencies?

Online means of communication: facebook, e-mail and public consultation.

Offline by holding working sessions in the municipality.

How will you share the results of your monitoring efforts with the public?

Using the website of the municipality.

The regional and private media.

Launching a speech on the municipal website official page.

Endorsement from Non-Governmental Stakeholders

Amel Arbaoui,  Joussour Al Mouwatana Association
Mahdi Klai, Agency for Industry and Innovation Promotion
Marwa Nwasria, Center for Democracy,  Citizenship and Development
Rawia  Jbeli, Tunisian Association
Safa Zarouki, I Watch Organization