The workshop on application of the Freedom of Information Act for representatives of the Inter-institutional Group for Communications and Knowledge Management of the Strengthening Public Institutions Programme in BiH has been held on December 2, 2013 in Doboj. Organizer of the workshop, the German Society for International Cooperation – Deutsche Gesselshaft for Internationale Zussammenarbeit – GIZ, who is also a bearer of the SPI Programme in BiH, along with the Public Administration Reform Coordinator’s Office, has gathered representatives of the Civil Service Agency of BiH, Statistics Agency of BiH, Public Procurements Agency of BiH, Higher Education Agency of BiH, Directorate for European Integrations, Information Service of the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers of BiH and the Public Administration Reform Coordinator’s Office. Participation at workshop has also been taken by Jasminka Džumhur, Ombudsman of BiH, as well as representative of the non-governmental organization Transparency International.
Objective of the workshop was related to the exchange of experiences between particular institutions as well as with organizations of civil sector that are active in this field, such as Transparency International. Motivating institutions – Programme beneficiaries for implementation of common activities on increasing transparency and drafting concrete recommendations for future work in this area have represented a part of this workshop’s objectives.
Some of the topics in the field of this act application issues have been related to non-formal procedures, statistics, media inquiries, evidence, dissemination of data, internal system, separation of first-instance and second-instance decision-making process, procedures in the Information Access Guidelines etc.
Presented have also been experiences of the Civil Service Agency of BiH in a sense of the information access as well as the key aspects of the Freedom of Information Act of BiH, planned changes and experiences and problems in its application from the perspective of the Ombudsman of BiH. Transparency International has presented its findings and research which is regularly being implemented in a sense of the FIA application as well as some key characteristics of that process.
Organization of this workshop is one of the mutual activities defined according to the needs of institutions – Programme beneficiaries and the workshop on communication plan drafting and program budgeting of institutions included in the Programme has led to it. Participants have evaluated this event as very useful for their further work as well as the initial impulse for stronger future cooperation and defining common activities in a sense of better functioning and more effective application of the Act, as well as distribution and availability of information to citizens.