Municipal Government in Bosnia Sees Increased Transparency, Effectiveness
In municipalities across Bosnia-Herzegovina, citizens have had to cope with slow government processes and complicated departmental systems for years. These burdensome inefficiencies create opportunities for corruption and often force citizens to spend extended periods of time carrying out simple processes, like acquiring birth certificates or registering to work. A lack of investment in staff training, organizational improvement, equipment, and modern technologies has prevented these municipal governments from overcoming these problems until now. As part of the Government Accountability Project (GAP), the Čitluk municipal government signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work with GAP to simplify municipal procedures and increase transparency, paving the way for the restructuring of municipal government agencies and the establishment of a modern Citizen Service Center (CSC).
Over the past year, GAP staff has worked closely with the Čitluk municipal government to construct the CSC, reengineer municipal procedures, install high-tech equipment, and train municipal employees to use new software. As a result, the municipality has a fully-operational CSC and a more efficient service delivery system. Today, 95% of Čitluk’s citizen services are provided on the ground floor of the municipal building – far away from individual offices – increasing transparency and reducing opportunities for corruption.
Čitluk municipality a Cohort III partner municipality in GAP project opened a very modern Citizens Service Center on 22nd May 2009.
