Action plan – Khoni, Georgia, 2021 – 2021

At-a-Glance

Duration

Nov 2021

Date Submitted

31st July 2021

Foreword(s)

Khoni is a small municipality in the western part of Georgia, far from the capital, with limited resources and the lowest municipal budget across the region. However, with a diverse community and a high priority to enlarge its resources, we are highly committed to fostering reforms aspiring open and transparent governance locally. We strongly believe that our 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... to promote 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, fight corruption, empower citizens, and support civic participation is a key to successfully achieving greater prosperity, well-being, and dignified life of our constituents.

In recent years, we have intensified our efforts to implement initiatives aimed at strengthening transparency, public participationGiving citizens opportunities to provide input into government decision-making leads to more effective governance, improved public service delivery, and more equitable outcomes. Technical specificatio..., quality service delivery, and access to information. As a result of these continues efforts, Khoni has become renowned nationwide for its dedication and aspiration towards open governance principles. Thousands of citizens have already benefited from new initiatives that resulted in easier access and higher quality of services, better 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, and access to information.

Notwithstanding the major steps taken to ensure co-creation with local civil society in the Municipality, we believe that as part of OGP Local we will continue our effort to foster a great collaboration between the government and civil society. In line with OGP aspiration, we would like to further pursue and accomplish open governance goals, and we are motivated to introduce new and ambitious, innovative, and lasting initiatives in active collaboration with civil society by initiating the action plan within the framework of the OGP Local in 2021.

We believe, that being a part of the OGP Local Program will strengthen our capacity to help build a global community of practices, where we can share our experience, and at the same time learn from our peers and other development partners to bring us closer to our aim towards establishing Khoni as a model in open government-oriented self-governance.

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?

Fully believing, that OGP Local provides a unique opportunity to further stimulate and encourage transformative changes in the open governance agenda in Khoni municipality, we are motivated to take new ambitious commitments and expand the Open Government horizon at the local level. In particular, we are committed to:

1. To increase access to municipal services, encourage higher quality service delivery, and improve citizen participation in local policy-making.
2. Create new opportunities for People with disabilitiesA government is not open unless it is accessible to all, and governments are working to ensure people with disabilities are afforded equitable services and opportunities to participate. Technical spec... in terms of accessibility to municipal services as well as engagement in social and political life.

To aspire and scale-up open government values and initiatives across Georgia and become an open government regional hub, especially for smaller and less-resourced municipalities. In doing so, to provide a unique and potentially transformative platform for smaller municipalities to develop and foster a robust open government culture of their own.

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

At the outset, Khoni has solid experience of Open Government initiatives at the local level. In close cooperation with non-governmental stakeholders, we have identified priority policy areas for our municipality and intensified our efforts to ensure transparency, public participation, quality service delivery, and access to information:

• Developed Transparency and Integrity Building Strategy: Within the current OGP NAP, we adopted the first Transparency and Integrity Building Strategy and Action Plan together with indicators and Monitoring Framework addressing ethics and integrity mechanisms, HR management, and civic engagement that were identified in response to the findings of the situation analysis.

• Improved Public Service DeliveryTo ensure that citizens of all groups are better supported by the government, OGP participating governments are working to improve the quality of and access to public services. Commitments in this are...: In 2019, we allocated additional internal resources from the City Hall budget and launched the first Citizen Center offering a new single-window service delivery to our citizens. Further, in collaboration with CSOs, we introduced a new hot-line service that resulted in easier access and higher quality service delivery, being especially important during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Also, we established functional platforms for civic participation such as the Council of Civil Advisors, GenderOGP participating governments are bringing gender perspectives to popular policy areas, ensuring diversity in participatory processes, and specifically targeting gender gaps in policies to address gov... Equality Council, and General Assemblies of Settlements. Besides, we developed the Social Strategy and implemented efficient and transparent social programs with civil society, and participated in global networking and institutional development programs.

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

Despite Georgia’s progress to stand out as a country where local self-governments provide high-quality public services, access to municipal services in rural areas still remains a challenge, which is also true in the case of Khoni. These challenges became especially observable during the COVID-19 outbreak and stand out as important factors for further improvement and facilitation of the provision of services to everyone, even in the most remote rural areas and to the marginalized communities.

Another challenge that relates to not only service accessibility, but an overall inclusionOGP participating governments are working to create governments that truly serve all people. Commitments in this area may address persons with disabilities, women and girls, lesbian, gay, bisexual, tr... of PWDs in the social, economic, and political life of the municipality originates from the lack of infrastructure adapted to the PWDs’ needs. This eliminates the opportunity to aspire “service accessibility for all” including PWDs, as well as our strive for all-inclusive policy-making at the local level.

Although Georgia has considerable open government achievements on the national level, the low overall awareness of open governance values, and practices remains a challenge on a local level. This contributes to lower overall transparency and citizen participation and engagement in local policy-making, especially in those small municipalities located remotely from the capital and with limited resources. Thus, we acknowledge the importance of raising awareness and promoting open governance values and practices across the region, within municipalities, and among local communities.

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

Khoni municipality is committed to achieving the following medium-term goals:

1. To enhance inclusive, citizen-centered, and transparent public service delivery and improved access to services for the marginalized communities and citizens from the rural areas.
2. To ensure mainstreaming the needs of People with Disabilities (PWDs) in urban development policies/projects/decisions
3. To increase awareness and promote OGP values, principles, and practices across the region through institutionalizing dedicated platform and/or mechanisms.

The medium-term goals are aligned with the long-term strategic vision of Khoni municipality and address the challenges identified in the previous section.

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

Khoni Municipality is committed to implementing the following commitments for the OGP Local Action Plan 2021.

1. Improve access to and delivery of municipal services, especially for the most marginalized communities

Introduce single-window service delivery units in pre-identified (remote) locations in the municipality to ensure easier access and quality service delivery to the most marginalized communities.

2. To ensure mainstreaming of the needs of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in urban development policies/projects/decisions through institutionalized practice of engagement of Municipal Council on Persons with Disabilities

Institutionalize practice of Municipal Council on PWDs’ engagement in urban planning and infrastructural project design stage through the relevant municipal legislative act, as well as kick-start the central park rehabilitation and adaptation process.

3. To conduct an Open Government Regional Forum to promote OGP Values and share experience among similar municipalities

Organize the Open Government Regional Forum to kick-start the regional networking, advocacy of OGP values, increase visibly and civic engagement, and identify collaboration opportunities for open and accountable local governance in the Imereti region. Also, Khoni plans to establish a Regional Open Governance Hub to lead and scale up open government initiatives across regions and nationwide.

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

Pursuing its ambitions Open Government goals, the OGP Local Action Plan 2021 will further stimulate Khoni’s agenda to promote OGP values and principles not only within the Municipality but across the region, thus, fostering inclusive and citizen-oriented local governance nationwide. This vision reflects the Khoni administration’s aspirations to enhance accessibility to and delivery of quality services to its citizens, especially to marginalized communities, while at the same time promoting open government principles and practices in the region.

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.

• Khoni Municipality City Hall

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

Khoni City Hall will be committed to lead the implementation of the 2021 OGP Local Action Plan. Further, by the decree of the Mayor of Municipality, the Working Group has been created to develop and implement OGP Local Action Plan 2021. The Working group consists of representatives of Khoni Municipality and its subordinate legal entities, City Council, civil society organizations, international development organizations. The Working Group will act as a coordination mechanism to develop and monitor the implementation of the short-term and long-term goals identified by the strategy. The rules of procedures including frequency of meetings, membership, etc. will be determined by the relevant Mayer’s decree.

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.

At the initial stage, Khoni Municipality conducted the public meeting with the key stakeholders including civil society organization, IDPs Initiative Group, PWDs Organization – “Phoenix”, Regional Initiative Center – “Bright Future”,  Council of Civil Advisors, Gender Equality Council, and development partners to discuss its aspiration in terms of OGP Local and kindly ask for input, suggestions, and initiatives in writing, within a week period. As a next step, the provided input was analyzed, the first drafts of the strategy and action plan were developed and circulated among the stakeholders. The second meeting served as an effective forum to discuss the draft documents and revise them in line with the comments and suggestions outlined during the meeting. The final draft versions of both documents were published on an official municipal webpage for public comments and additional input.

Although Khoni municipality took the major steps to ensure co-creation together with non-governmental stakeholders in the municipality, the dedicated Working Group will serve as an additional mechanism to further safeguard cooperative spirit between government and CSOs at the local level. It will also help to ensure that marginalized groups take an active part in designing policies considering the special needs of those groups. Thus, it will strengthen the role of local CSOs and citizens to play an important role in the decision-making process.

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

Fully aware that the participation of non-governmental stakeholders in policy creation is essential for inclusive, citizen-oriented local governance and public service delivery, we are committed to facilitating the engagement of diversity representation, including vulnerable and marginalized groups. As a result, we foster active engagement of the functional platforms for civic participation, such as the Council of Civil Advisors, Gender Equality Council, and People with Disabilities, to advocate the rights of the marginalized and disadvantaged groups of Municipality who are underrepresented at the local government level. By doing this, we ensure that marginalized groups take an active part in designing policies reflecting the special needs of those groups.

Who participated in these spaces?

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... of OGP Local 2021 has opened with organizing public consultation in May 2021. Khoni Municipality City Hall led and initiated the online consultation process. All the key stakeholders, such as representatives of local government, local non-governmental organizations, Citizens Advisory Boards, and international development organizations were invited to participate in the consultation process and provide input on how to plan for the OGP Local 2021 action plan development process. In addition, public consultation allowed participants to provide their views and feedback on proposals related to good governance initiatives to be considered as part of OGP Local 2021. On average, 14 participants attended each online consultation meeting (3 meetings in total). After the meetings, it was decided to establish the Working Group as a major mechanism that would be in charge of the co-creation of the Strategy and Action plan with local governance and civil society.

Overall, all the key non-governmental organizations, civil advisory bodies, and international development organizations participated in the design stage of the OGP Local 2021.

How many groups participated in these spaces?

5

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

4

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

The Working Group served as the main mechanism of the co-creation process of the Strategic Vision and Action Plan of OGP Local 2021. The Working Group will also be responsible for ensuring that government and non-government stakeholders continue to collaborate through the implementation of the action plan.

Monthly meetings will be held to provide updates about the implementation process and inform the Working Group members. The detailed meeting notes will be taken, and the transcripts will be published online publicly through the official website and social media.

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

Khoni Municipality will actively work with the development partners to conduct independent, neutral monitoring of the OGP Khoni Action Plan 2021. The National IRM would be considered as the most suitable candidate to conduct the neutral and valid monitoring of the implementation process of the Action Plan. The Working Group will ensure that the monitoring results are reflected in the implementation process of the Action Plan. The monitoring results will be shared with the major stakeholders, international organizations, and interested parties publicly.

Provide the contact details for the independent monitoring body.

• Not available yet

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

To discuss the progress on commitments with stakeholders Khoni municipality will commit to the following activities:

1. hold regular meetings with key stakeholders, including implementing units, local civil society organizations, and OGP Georgia’s Secretariat as an independent monitoring body
2. hold regular meetings with the representatives of well-established civic participation platforms of such as the Council for Gender Equality, Council of PWDs, General Assemblies of Settlements, and Council of Civil Advisors
3. hold meetings (depending on the COVID-19 situation) with the wider public to discuss the progress and deliver information about major achievements
4. Carry out outreach campaign through various social media platforms

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

Khoni municipality will be responsible for regularly checking on the progress with the implementing units from the City Hall through its Working Group. The Working Group meetings will be organized regularly, at least once a month to discuss implementation updates, provide feedback on ongoing challenges (if any) as well as input and support as necessary.

Additionally, an independent Consultant identified as an independent Monitoring Body, will participate in Working Group meetings, and maintains continues monitoring process.

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

Various mechanisms shall be engaged:

Firstly, an independent Consultant will present midterm monitoring results to the members of the Working Group. Secondly, Khoni Municipality City Hall will present information on implementation updates and major monitoring results to the City Council. Thirdly, the monitoring results and data will be made available publicly through City Hall\’s official webpage as well as through various social media channels. Eventually, the public discussion event will be organized to disseminate the final monitoring results to a wider audience.

Endorsement from Non-Governmental Stakeholders

• Bachana Basilaia, Director, IDPs Initiative Group

– OGP Local Action Plan – Open Government Strategic Vision Khoni – ENG

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