Two good reasons to use Alaveteli: it’s flexible, and there’s a supportive, worldwide community. So says Danko Nikolic from Serbia in this half-minute clip.

Danko is one of the founders of the Zajecar Initiative (ZI). ZI has grown into a leading civil society organization working outside the capital of Belgrade. On behalf of ZI, he has developed, co-managed and managed projects funded by various donors, such as National Endowment for Democracy (NED), USA Embassy Democracy Commission, USAID, Fund for an Open Society and others.

Zajecar Initiative is now working on the Serbian version of WriteToThem, aiming to enable the citizens of Serbia to communicate with their local representatives and MPs.

Last weekend Tony Bowden met up with Darius (WTT in Lithuania), Jaroslav (WTT in Slovakia) and Danko (upcoming WTT in Serbia) to discuss the processes and best practices around the international collaboration on cloning of the Write To Them website. Danko, the Serbian project’s representative, whom I hope to introduce soon in more detail,  has agreed to use the common platform built by the Lithuanian team. As Darius stated:

“That of course means that Lithuanian WTT will have to be internationalised”

Jaroslav will meet with KohoVolit.eu team soon to discuss similar proces soon, so I hope to tell you more about it as well.

I have also learned that the meeting in Belgrade, at least in its form, will be repeated on a fairly regular basis to ensure the best possible channel for discussion and common developments. Once again quoting Darius:

“The meeting was great, very productive and I look forward for future meetings like this”.

What problem are you solving?:

The processes of political positioning of individuals proposed by parties on elections (local, state) are not transparent for citizens. Nor criteria for professional engagement in public institutions is reasonable or based on professional records, curriculum, education background and measurable effects in profession (Minister for Ecology and Urbanism is a Doctor of Orthopedic, for exmpl.!?)… There is no obligatory method for elected representatives to act according to the proposed program, there’s no penalties for non accomplished mission, there’s a great abuse of common good (corruption), public opinion (media control&law of information which protects politicians) and general degradation of civil values.

Describe your idea:

PIC is an interactive (API) web protocol generated on civil participating&networking (political facebook, for expl!) which will work out as monitoring&mirroring tool of politicians’ activities, provoking them to work on more transparent&responsible manner.

PIC website will be equipped with pools, blogs, forums, video and photo galleries, chat, RSS feeds …
The PIC website will be connected with referential civil society groups and experts, law and institutional links to generate interactivity among civil sections and citizens, independent experts and politicians.

Citizens also will contribute in data collection of politician’s activities and thus create more open public communications which will provoke more responsible behavior of PR and more transparent practices of all legal bodies.

What country will this operate in?: Serbia

Who are you?:

I am a cultural worker&activist, a middle age free lance visual artist based in Belgrade, Serbia.

I am a mother of two immature kids who is afraid for their future in Serbia.

I am an idea developer, methodologists, organizer, project management, pr, educator, curator, graphic, furniture, mural designer, writer …

I am a self employed contemporary nomadic gallery art director (Gallery ALT) and a representative of a small ngo art group “Smarti-e Society” who contributes in more beautiful surrounding, cultural diversity and cross border ecology and creative arts education.

Our association gathers young people of different background who create beauty, arts and ideas for better living. We have computer skilled and educated members who will manage such a project working.

What problem are you solving?:

Thus will bring public discussions and help in public participation in an open networked civil web project (political facebook, for expl!), which will become a monitoring and mirroring tool for politicians and thus provoke them to work more responsible and more on demand of citizens.

Describe your idea:

The idea is to make a live feed interactive website with public politician profiles. They will consist of the program of each political party, their representatives, number of membership and their engagement in public companies, their duties and their incomes …
The data are both generated by politicians themselves (on public demand of a citizen or of an civil organization) and by citizens.
Data will be registered to a specified sphere of common interest> health policies, culture, employment, infrastructures, low, education, tax policies … Users will be able to comment without restrictions which is common in online magazines nowadays in Serbia. They will be able to demand changes in the important civil society related questions>

What country will this operate in?: Serbia

Who are you?:

I am a fine artist who explored relational aesthetics, alternative economy project based on public participation, and the art critics of the art system as a reflection of the state instrument. My work is a post conceptual art activism which relays on social, media and ideology critics.

I am a leader of a small NGO “Smarti/-e Society” which deals with the fine arts and applied arts educational programs for youth, students and young artists. I organize gallery programs for young and emerging artists, art activists, helping them to become professionals and self sustainable.

What problem are you solving?:

Hate speech in the countries of former Yugoslavia is very strong since this region emerged from the civil war with embedded misunderstanding towards the needs of others. New countries have the minorities whose mother state is neighboring state which was engaged in the past war. Therefore, some still perceive their fellow citizens as intruders. Politicians are not addressing this problem since they rely on the right wing electorate. Without overcoming the past and achieving reconciliation it is impossible to achieve respect for human rights of minorities living scattered in the region. This project addresses the problem of still present intolerance and misunderstanding among the Balkan nations. The circle of bigotry and chauvinism must be broken in order to bring about positive changes and better future to the region as a whole. This problem is best dealt with on the regional level. That is why this project proposes a regional approach involving several states.

Describe your idea:

The idea is to empower Balkan states citizens to hold their officials’ accountable for pejorative statements towards other nations by collecting signatures condemning the respective statement and generating emails asking for apology. Web site could follow the statements of politicians and initiate a debate on specific questions. A list of politicians in the region could be created disclosing their stance towards the reconciliation process, attitude towards other nations and initiatives addressing the issues related to recent conflict. It would cover Serbia, Kosovo, BIH and Croatia

What country will this operate in?: Serbia

Who are you?:

The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights (Beogradski centar za ljudska prava) was established by a group of human rights experts and activists in February 1995 as a non-profit, non-governmental organisation. The main purpose of the Centre is to study human rights and humanitarian law, to disseminate knowledge about them and to educate individuals engaged in this area. It hopes, thereby, to promote the development of democracy and rule of law in Serbia and other successor states of the former Yugoslavia and societies in transition from authoritarian to democratic rule. The recipients of the services of the Centre and its target groups are members of legislative bodies, law enforcement officers, civil servants, NGO activists, military officers, teaching staff at universities and other educational institutions and their students, journalists, etc.

What problem are you solving?:

We want to work on transparency of inspections in Serbia. The main problem of the work of inspections and is non-transparency of their work. The business subjects and citizens are not adequately informed about:

• Their duties and responsibilities which are subject to the control by inspections;
• Policies and procedures that inspections use in implementation of regulations;
• Individual procedures that they are subjected to (case management in the first and second instance of the inspection procedure).
Moreover, inspectorates have not established adequate mechanisms for open and timely information sharing with the public about results of controls that were undertaken, and that are important for the citizens and general public (such as: findings of the controls performed by the Sanitation Inspection in restaurants and hotels; the results of control of the Environmental Inspection performed on business entities / factories polluting the environment, and so on).

Describe your idea:

The aim is to support business sector and citizens in their right to have transparent and accurate information about their duties and responsibilities which are subject to the control by inspections, as well as policies and procedures that inspections use in implementation of regulations. Moreover, this project aims at offering to inspectorates adequate mechanisms and models for open and timely information sharing with the public about results of controls that are undertaken, and that are important for the citizens and general public.

Objectives:
• Establishing mechanisms for information sharing related to the work of inspections in Serbia (such as: publishing of policies and procedures, reports and relevant data on web-sites, on a permanent basis);
• Decrease of corruption (bribes) in the work of inspections in Serbia;
• Streamlining of practices of inspectors;
• Increase of responsibility of the state services towards citizens.

What country will this operate in?: Serbia

Who are you?:

THE BALKAN CENTER FOR REGULATORY REFORM IS A NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION ESTABLISHED IN 2004 IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF SERBIA.

THE FOUNDERS OF THE BALKAN CENTER FOR REGULATORY REFORM ARE A GROUP OF REPUTABLE LAWYERS, ECONOMISTS AND ACADEMICS.

THE FOUNDERS RECOGNIZE THAT SERBIA NEEDS A MORE EFFICIENT AND MARKET-ORIENTED ENVIRONMENT WHICH WILL BOOST MARKET REFORMS. REGULATORY REFORMS AND BUSINESS SIMPLIFICATION CAN INCREASE INVESTMENTS, BUSINESS START-UPS AND INCREASED EMPLOYMENT.

THE MAIN GOALS OF THE CENTER ARE TO:

• GIVE ITS CONTRIBUTION IN THE REFORM OF THE LEGAL AND ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK IN THE AIM OF ITS IMPROVEMENT AND MOVING TOWARDS EUROPEAN STANDARDS;
• GIVE ITS CONTRIBUTION IN THE CREATION OF THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK WHICH IS NECESSARY FOR THE EFFICIENT FUNCTIONING OF THE MARKET, OF THE STATE, DECREASE OF POVERTY, PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT ETC.;

What problem are you solving?:

As a result of the transition to a market economy and years of conflicts and political instability, Serbia is one of the poorest countries in the region. There are an estimated 700,000 people living below the poverty line and many more just above it, 300,000 people with disabilities, 500,000 Roma, many of whom are living in slums, squatter settlements, etc.
Citizens have major needs for social services, however they are not well informed on how to access existing services, where services are located, the quality of the services, etc. Additionally, there are no real mechanisms to influence decision makers and policies are created without feedback from beneficiaries of services. Furthermore, the state lacks the capacity to monitor existing services.

Describe your idea:

Our idea is to start up a forum for citizens of Serbia to ask for information and receive answers, express their views and suggestions regarding social welfare services.

Additional benefits:
– Service providers (state, local governments, NGOs, associations, individuals, etc.) are be able to offer their services, receive feedback from citizens to improve their services, get ideas to start up services…
– Citizens who have already had experience with services could recommend (or not) these services, putting pressure on service providers to improve their services….
– Information from the web site would provide feedback to policy makers, i.e. which services are useful to citizens, which services do not exist, what the main issues are around implementing services/policies, which part of the country doesn’t have appropriate services, etc.

The project would be implemented in cooperation with the Serbian Institute for Social Welfare and the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy.

What country will this operate in?: Serbia

Who are you?:

LINK 011 was founded in 2005, in Belgrade. The aims of this organization are: to contribute to the development, implementation and monitoring of reforms directed at improving the quality of life of all vulnerable and marginalized groups, their empowerment and inclusion into society, and to develop citizens’ awareness through the promotion of the values of democracy, equality and tolerance.

Some of our donors are and have been:
The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy of the Republic of Serbia
The Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Serbia
City of Belgrade
UNDP
CIDA
UNICEF Serbia
Norwegian Government
Social Innovations Fund
The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia

In the past few years our individual members have been working as consultants on the implementation of social policies of international financial institutions such as the EBRD and EIB, in relation to investment projects and loans.

What problem are you solving?:

• Lack of communication between citizens and local government
• Low transparency in the work of local government

Describe your idea:

Interactive web site that would serve as an intermediary in communication between citizens and their local authorities. Citizens would pose their questions for the local government officials on the site. These questions will be automatically forwarded to e-mail addresses of these officials. Replies from the officials would be automatically displayed on the site. Questions and answers would be public for everyone to see. White and black ranking lists would be formed.
For example, the white list would consist of:
• The names of the officials with the biggest number of questions answered, etc.
The black list would be consisted of:
• The names of officials, who responded to the smallest number of questions.
The society would gain:
• A unique tool (site) where the public can ask questions to the local officials,
• Local officials will be motivated for a greater communication with the citizens because of pressure of public opinion and transparency of the ranking lists, etc.

What country will this operate in?: Serbia

Who are you?:

Ivan Stankovic
Date of birth 03-28-1980
Work experience
06-25-2007–to present, Accordia Group LLC New York, branch office in Niš
System Engineer, Project leader,
Manage the development of a five-member team; Oversee the administration and maintenance of the company’s ICT infrastructure; Plan and schedule project deliverables, goals, milestones;
Education and training
2008 – to present, PhD student
Information Technologies, Faculty of Electronic Engineering, University of Niš, Serbia
1998 – 2006
MSc in Electronic Engineering, field of telecommunication
Faculty of Electronic Engineering, University of Niš, Serbia

What problem are you solving?:

In Serbia, there is no possibility for citizens to communicate with MPs who represent them in the legislative process. Besides 3 recently established constituency offices, there are no other channels of communication between citizens and the MPs. However these offices cannot provide enough space for citizens to talk to elected politicians, having in mind the 250 MPs and population of over 7 million people. There are no internet based tools for effective and transparent democratic discussions between citizens and elected politicians as e-democracy solutions have not been used or developed in Serbia. Parliament has the official web site, but do not offer e-mail addresses of MPs for citizens’ inquiries. Introduction of internet failed to bring more interactivity for the Parliament, focusing more on information transfer and less on the dialogue with the citizens. Such practice erodes citizens’ confidence and trust in the Parliament.

Describe your idea:

The Zajecar Initiative (ZI) will create website at www.e-parliament.rs which will serve as a bridge to ensure two-way communication between citizens and their representatives. Email addresses of MPs will be gathered in cooperation with Deputies’ Groups and National Parliament Support Service. Website will include user-friendly interface that will allow users to easily search and browse MPs database and to generate and send messages. It will be also possible to use spam filters to eliminate unsolicited and offending emails as well as email templates to clearly indicate reply-to address. Website will be extensively promoted via media. ZI will regularly assess responsiveness of MPs using following indicators: the reply rate, the interval for reply and answer’s relevance considering the solicitation. Assessment results will be published and promoted by media. This will also be the way of involving citizens into debates over Parliament ‘s actions through forums and blogs.

What country will this operate in?: Serbia

Who are you?:

Zajecar Initiative (ZI) is non-profit organization, which mission is development of a civil society and grassroots democracy in Serbia. The vision of ZI is strong civil society, acting as democracy watchdog, that is able to both keep a check on government performance and participate in policy formulation and implementation that will enhance good governance. ZI was established in 2001 as a response to emerging transition challenges by a group of young people. So far, ZI has cooperated with the European Agency for Reconstruction, National Endowment for Democracy, National Democratic Institute, International Republican Institute, Norwegian People’s Aid, Fund for an Open Society, Institute for Sustainable Communities, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Schueler Helfen Leben etc. Since 2007, ZI has been awarding small grants to youth NGOs in the Eastern Serbia. ZI is a member of two nationwide networks: The Network of Resource Centers in Serbia and the Peace Policy Network.

What problem are you solving?:

Ever since the democratic change in 2000, Serbia’s political scene has been lacking one of the most important components of a truly democratic system: accountability. In addition to political parties being ideologically poorly defined, proportional representation system fosters elected representatives’ and civil servants’ loyalty to their parties instead of their accountability to voters. All relevant political polls conducted in the last several years show that citizen confidence in political elite readiness and will to introduce substantive changes has greatly deteriorated. The pressure from the civic and media sector has still been sporadic, unsystematic and inconsistent. Mechanisms to help voters remember all the un/fulfilled pledges, un/proven mutual accusations, and politicians’ programmatic/ideological in/consistencies during numerous election cycles have been severely lacking, as well as investigative journalism.

Describe your idea:

We aim to promote accountability in Serbia’s politics, to mobilize and empower citizens and NGO, and connect them in common efforts to create public pressure towards local and national officials’ accountability. Out of necessity to systematically combat (deliberate) oblivion climate in Serbian politics we created a beta version of the fact-check website that relies on an easily searchable database with public officials’ statements and compares them with their previous statements and official decisions. Full access will be free to all users.

We are committed to restrain any partisanship and encourage users’ active engagement in on-line discussions and contribution with their own research on accountability. We will reach out to prominent intellectuals, journalists, artists, sportsmen, etc. and offer them blog space at the website.

What country will this operate in?: Serbia

Who are you?:

LiNet is a nonpartisan, nongovernmental and nonprofit organization from Serbia. Founded in 2002 by a handful of young activists who wanted to present an alternative to Serbia’s increasingly inert civic sector, it currently has 4 project staff, 13 experienced trainers, and more than 50 volunteers throughout the country. Our trainers’ are experienced in areas of campaigning, communications, advocacy, negotiation, grass roots empowerment, and human rights.

Through trainings with international organizations (ISC, NDI) and implementation of its own projects LiNet has developed significant capacity in the area of advocacy and has worked with high school and university students and with local watch dog organizations. We also act as umbrella organization for small local NGO and students groups providing them capacity building and project development assistance.