Public Participation in Employment Policy and Services (MK0187)

Brief Description of the Commitment

The commitment aims to map the existing processes, practices and policies of ESARNM for consulting stakeholders (unemployed, businesses, NGOs and other institutions) before creating and adopting the annual operational plan for active measures, policies and employment services, as well as during its implementation. In addition, the commitment aims to standardize and expand these processes, practices and policies, in such a way that all stakeholders will have the opportunity to provide informed suggestions during the planning, implementation and evaluation of the annual operational employment plan. Also, the commitment will contribute to the creation of a base stakeholders who will continuously receive information about the opportunities for inclusion and will eventually get the opportunity to provide their proposals for improving the efficiency and economy of active employment policies, measures and services. This commitment is a continuation of the efforts to improve transparency, accountability, and participation in ESARNM’s operation started in the previous OGP Action plan 2021-2023. What is important to note is that ESARNM publishes information on the implementation of annual operational plans, which will enable stakeholders to get involved in an informed manner and provide their proposal for the improvement of employment measures, policies and services. Essentially, the commitment means much more than simply collecting proposals from target groups and it is set at several levels, namely: - The first level refers to the promotion of policies, processes and practices of ESARNM for the inclusion of interested parties, establishing a broad group of stakeholders (unemployed citizens, NGOs working on various issues, businesses, academia, etc.) that will provide long-term input for the creation of a better Annual Operational Plan and the creation of a local network and capacities between the 30 regional units of ESARNM for mobilizing and involving the local unemployed local population and stakeholders in providing input before the creation of the Annual Operational Plan. - The second level refers to the creation of a technical solution for collecting proposals from the general public (those not covered by the first level) prior to adoption of the Annual Operational Plan and evaluating the implementation of the adopted plan thereat. - The third level refers to the promotion and putting the entire system into operation.

Problem Definition

1. What problem does the commitment aim to address?

Employment Service Agency has an established practice for consulting the business sector and civil society organizations. However, the consultation process and the method of involving stakeholders is not available to the public, which in turn limits the opportunity for all those who are not directly invited but are interested, to ensure their contribution to the decision-making process. In addition, the unemployed, as one of the key users of employment programs and services, except through daily communication with employees, do not have the opportunity to provide their proposals for their improvement in an organized manner.

2. What are the causes of the problem?

A key reason for this problem is that the public is not informed about the existing opportunities for inclusion, due to the lack of publicly available information about the method and opportunities for inclusion, as well as the lack of a public channel for submitting proposals and solutions.

Commitment Description

1. What has been done so far to solve the problem?

During 2021-2023, the Employment Service Agency and Association for Emancipation, Solidarity and Equality of Women (ESE), with the support of GRNM, have developed and published a platform that actively generates information on the degree of utilization of funds from the current annual operational plan of active employment measures, policies and services, as well as information on the coverage of persons/businesses with each of them. Additionally, ESARNM publishes a series of statistical and financial indicators that give all stakeholders the opportunity to conduct an independent analysis of the functionality of measures, policies and services. In the same period, ESARNM and ESE developed a standardized questionnaire to assess the level of satisfaction with employment measures, policies and services and piloted it in three regional units of the Agency. In addition, during the implementation of the fifth OGP Action plan, a working group was established and the same consist of representatives of MLSP, ESARNM, ESE, and three local NGOs, but the objective of this working group was only to coordinate the activities under the fifth action plan, but our aim is to be a key group for consultations before creating the annual operational plans therein.

2. What solution are you proposing?

The implementation of the commitment will allow preparation of a procedure for the inclusion of stakeholders that will be publicly available (method, time limits, criteria, etc.), other stakeholders will be identified and involved, and the possibility of electronic submission and processing of proposals will be developed thereat.

3. What results do we want to achieve by implementing this commitment?

Establishing a procedure for consultation and collection of proposals from stakeholders for the creation of measures, policies and employment services based on their requirements.

Commitment Analysis

1. How will the commitment promote transparency?

First of all, stakeholders will have access to information on the proposal of the annual operational plan prior to its adoption and access to information on the implementation of previous plans. This information will enable them to engage in an informed discussion and propose concrete and efficient solutions that will help ESARNM to adopt a plan based on the needs of the end users.

2. How will the commitment help foster accountability?

The received proposals will be publicly available, and the public will be informed in advance about the criteria for selecting the relevance of the proposals. In addition, information will be provided for each received proposal on whether and how it was accepted (according to the criteria) and, if not accepted, what is the reason for its non-acceptance.

3. How will the commitment improve citizen participation in defining, implementing, and monitoring solutions?

The commitment has a key goal of providing a channel for continuous communication with stakeholders, by standardizing the consultation procedure and opening the possibility for electronic submission of proposals.

Commitment Planning (Milestones | Expected Outputs | Expected Completion Date)

2.1.1 Preparation of a procedure for collecting proposals and conducting a public consultation prior to the adoption of the Annual Operational Plan of active measures, programs and services for employment. | Prepared and published procedure | September 2024

2.1.2 Creating a base of NGOs, academia, business, unemployed, who have an interest in being consulted by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and ESARNM prior to the preparation and adoption of the Annual Operational Plan. | Created base | September 2024

2.1.3 Development of a consultation section on the ESARNM site. | Developed consultation section on ESARNM site. | December 2024

2.1.4 Putting the procedure and the consultation section into operation during the adoption of the 2026 Annual Operational Plan | Conducted one round of consultations and included proposals in the 2026 Annual Operational Plan | December 2025