What problem are you solving?:

Level of public participation in governmental decision-making in B&H is extremely low. In this way, adopted public policy rarely responds to the needs and interests of common citizens and civil society. Concurrently, adopted policies rarely reflect the real situation on the terrain, thus their implementation is ineffective, obsolete and oftentimes even impossible.

Although greater number of governmental institutions in B&H has established public participation mechanisms, these attempts have not been effective as information on public participation opportunities is highly dispersed and non-visible. Moreover, as the civil society consists of diverse agents, it is very difficult for governmental institutions to direct their call for public participation to all relevant NGOs across the country. Finally, NGOs themselves know little about these instruments and ways to use them and influence public policy.

Describe your idea:

Our website will collect and publish:
1.calls for public participation – PP (public consultations, reporting, research, call for provision of services, budget reviews, etc) from all B&H institutions and levels of government
2.public policy materials in the process of creation and adoption (law and budget proposals, sector strategies, etc)
3.NGOs’ public policy initiatives and recommendations.
The website and a newsletter will be customized according to visitor’s interests and location. Each material will be connected to existing public policy framework (laws, sector strategies, other relevant websites, etc) and visitors will be able to place comments for each material.
The website will also incorporate informative materials (already developed by various organizations):
1.existing PP instruments and procedures on all levels of government;
2. overview of good PP practices;
3. recommendations for PP practices for NGOs and governmental institutions.

What country will this operate in?: Bosnia-Herzegovina

Who are you?:

Association for Democratic Initiatives (ADI) is a non-governmental organization working on political and economic development in B&H by fostering participatory democracy practices and instigating partnerships between the civil society, governmental institutions and the private sector. ADI’s efforts are especially directed towards building institutional capacities of civil society organizations and promotion of their role in the society.

I work for ADI as Research Analyst and Project Coordinator on two projects, and will also work as Project Coordinator for this project in case it’s supported. Prior to my engagement in ADI, I worked as researcher in public policy field (government and international organizations) for several years. I holds a BA degree in Political Sciences and MA degree in Globalization Studies. I have great interest in direct democracy and e-participation.