THREE STEPS TO INCREASING INTEGRITY IN CITIES: THE EXPERIENCES OF ZHYTOMYR, NIKOPOL AND CHERVONOHRAD
The concept of integrity is often referred to the context of government activities. It encompasses promoting transparency and accountability, and adherence to the principles and standards of democratic governance that help minimize corruption. But how can it be achieved in practice?
Over a year, UNDP was involved in the Integrity Cities project implemented by the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative in Ukraine, enhancing integrity in Zhytomyr, Nikopol and Chervonohrad City Councils. See below for more information on the outcomes of this intervention.
INTEGRITY DEVELOPMENT — GETTING STARTED
Understanding the direction for change is contingent upon identifying key needs and existing barriers to development. In particular, a number of assessments were conducted in the cities, including
- an assessment of corruption risks that may arise in the activities of councils;
- procedures for initiating and conducting public hearings;
- opportunities and needs of municipalities to implement an e-reception system for citizens.
The next step is to create detailed and feasible action plans and set up working groups for their implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
STEP 1 — CORRUPTION RISK ASSESSMENT AND APPROVAL OF CITY INTEGRITY PLANS
Corruption risk assessment is the identification of corruption risks, or the probability that a corruption offense or a corruption-related offense will be committed. This assessment was conducted in four sectors of activities of city councils: public procurement; architecture and urban planning; management of community-owned property; and land relations.
As a result, corruption risks in the activities of local government bodies were identified and recommendations were provided to eliminate or mitigate them.
The EU Anti-Corruption Initiative in Ukraine has developed a special methodology to apply a coherent method for assessing corruption risks in the activities of city councils, and common indicators for such assessments. Given the amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Public Procurement” and the adoption of a new version of the Law of Ukraine “On the Lease of State and Community-Owned Property,” UNDP experts have updated the methodology.
Now, every city council that seeks to increase transparency and mitigate corruption risks can capitalize on the methodology to independently assess the corruption risks in its activities and draft a Municipal Integrity Plan based on its findings.
The key outcome of the analysis in the field of corruption risks was the development and subsequent approval of Municipal Integrity Plans. The city councils of Zhytomyr, Nikopol and Chervonohrad have already adopted their Integrity Plans.
A Municipal Integrity Plan is a strategic, and at the same time operational instrument drafted to effectively counteract and prevent corruption in the activities of the executive bodies of a city council.
The plan identifies:
- specific measures for minimizing/eliminating corruption risks;
- persons responsible for the implementation of these measures;
- deadlines;
- necessary resources;
- expected results (performance indicators);
- the procedure for monitoring and evaluating its implementation.
Every local government body independently determines the timeframe for the implementation of the plan (usually from two to three years).
Refer to this article for more information on how the Integrity Plans help city councils minimize corruption risks and what difficulties they may face in assessing corruption risks.
STEP 2 — STRENGTHENING THE INTERACTION OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES WITH THE PUBLIC
The promotion of online communications between city councils and the public is very important for their cooperation, in particular through developing an electronic reception, as well as laying down procedures and practices for conducting public hearings in these cities.
Assessment of the readiness of the e-reception system enabled the outlining of the needs of city councils for technical and human resources to develop their IT potential, and to assess the effectiveness of existing IT solutions and city council documents on digitalization.
An E-reception hall is a system that improves online communications between citizens and local authorities, allowing the making of an online appointment with officials, as well as collecting and systematizing information for city authorities for responding to citizens’ requests and inquiries.
Currently, working groups are being set up in three cities to finalize the concept of e-reception and develop a system in accordance with the desired functional features.
It is also critical to assess the procedures and practices for conducting public hearings in cities. The instruments of local democracy — including public hearings — are provided for by the Law of Ukraine “On Local Self-Government in Ukraine.” Normally, detailed conditions for initiating, conducting and following up on the legal consequences of public hearings are formalized in the Statutes of the territorial community and in the relevant regulation annexed to it.
The city councils were provided with detailed recommendations for improving the practice of public hearings, ensuring the inclusiveness and democracy of the process.
In addition to working directly with the three city councils, UNDP also conducted six focus groups and online surveys for residents of these cities. For instance, we assessed the needs of citizens when using online communication tools to interact with local authorities, including via the e-reception hall and in the practice of public hearings. In all three cities, the residents had similar topics that were of the most concern to them, and that they wished to discuss with city council representatives.
The topics included:
- urban development;
- budget use (distribution and use of funds);
- quality of drinking water;
- illegal construction;
- housing and utility services;
- operation of public transport.
STEP 3 — BUILDING INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY OF EXECUTIVE BODIES OF LOCAL COUNCILS
Employees of the city councils need certain knowledge and skills to assess corruption risks, draft and implement Municipal Integrity Plans, and to ensure there is effective interaction between local government bodies and the public.
With this in mind, UNDP has developed a curriculum based on the needs of local government officials, and organized two training sessions for municipal employees.
As a result of the project, 289 officials of Zhytomyr, Nikopol and Chervonohrad City Councils benefited from the training and gained new knowledge about assessing corruption risks, developing and implementing Municipal Integrity Plans, and using e-government tools.
HOW OTHER CITIES CAN CAPITALIZE ON THIS EXPERIENCE?
Every local council that seeks to minimize corruption risks in its activities, to become more transparent and open, can independently implement integrity tools. The most important of them are the corruption risk assessment and the Municipal Integrity Plan. Detailed guidance on using these tools is provided in the guide Corruption Risks in the City Council: Assessing and Minimizing developed by UNDP for city councils. The guide provides practical answers to lots questions, including how to draft a report on the findings of a corruption risk assessment, what stages are involved in producing Municipal Integrity Plans, and who should be engaged in this process.
Another important area of activity of local government bodies is interaction with the public. First of all, this concerns the maximum involvement of citizens in policy development, including timely and comprehensive updates to the public, discussion of possible options, and the selection of a solution based on the submitted proposals.
Ukraine is actively promoting e-participation tools, such as e-requests for information, e-petitions and participation budgets. At the same time, unfortunately, the classical local democracy tools often are just window dressing. In particular, public hearings — that the law required be conducted — may take place only to tick a box, or are held in violation of the procedures provided by the statutes of the territorial community (if any). On one hand, this is due to a low level of public awareness of the mechanisms for initiating and conducting public hearings, and on the other hand, due to the reluctance of local councils to take on additional responsibilities and burdens.
UNDP has developed a brief guide to public hearings (with the example of Chervonohrad City Council) for those local government bodies that rarely conduct public hearings at the initiative of citizens or that lack the respective regulations, such as a local community statute. Even with limited resources, local councils can develop similar roadmaps to use each of the local democracy tools, and launch them in the appropriate section on their websites. As mentioned above, keeping citizens updated is the first, critical step in involving them in decision-making.
ENSURING SUSTAINABILITY OF OUTCOMES
Any transformation process takes time, but even when the starting opportunities are the same, cities achieve the desired results in different ways and at a different pace, or do not achieve them at all. During project implementation, we identified following factors that contribute to achieving successful and sustainable results from Integrity Cities:
● Strong cooperation and interaction between local government representatives, the public, and independent experts. Working groups were set up in the three city councils to identify effective practical and strategic actions to minimize corruption risks. They comprised members and employees of city councils, as well as representatives of NGOs. It should be noted that such a composition provided the necessary conditions for the exchange of experience, information and best practices on drafting Municipal Integrity Plans. In turn, the direct involvement of employees of city councils in selecting interventions aimed at minimizing corruption risks will ensure the further effective implementation of the plans;
● “Tone at the top.” The readiness of the leadership for change — the implementation of new procedures and effective mechanisms — is critical for the sustainability of results. In all three cities, the mayors and their deputies not only actively contributed to the corruption risk assessment, but also directly participated in various activities organized under the project — they chaired working groups to draft Municipal Integrity Plans, participated in training, and assisted in organizing various surveys among employees of municipalities.
● Simple and clear rules for citizen participation in decision-making. Yet another important factor is the readiness of the city council not only to comply with all requirements for unimpeded access to public information as required by law, but also to advertise opportunities to participate in decision-making for citizens. Infographics, and step-by-step guides published in the section “Public participation” on the official website of the city council, help citizens navigate the exercising of their right to initiate public hearings or use other tools of local democracy. Information on conducted or planned activities should also be made public, along with any related documents and — importantly — should be updated in a timely manner. This is how local government bodies become more open and transparent to their residents with a minimal effort.
● Synergy and partnership between cities. When it comes to strengthening the network of Integrity Cities, it is important to seek interaction and experience sharing between the participating cities, as well as promote synergy in their development. In particular, in all three municipalities, audits and training sessions were conducted, working groups were set up and Integrity Plans were developed and approved almost simultaneously.
While the experience of every city is unique, the readiness of local government bodies for dialogue, openness and transparency creates the necessary prerequisites for the successful implementation of integrity tools.
About the Project:
The Integrity Cities project of the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative in Ukraine aims to minimize corruption risks and strengthen cooperation between local government bodies and the public in five cities — Zhytomyr, Mariupol, Nikopol, Chervonohrad and Chernivtsi. The project is implemented with the support of the European Commission and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine.
The entry was authored by:
Anastasiia Korobai, UNDP Anti-Corruption Policy Specialist
Oksana Grechko, UNDP Local Government and Transparency Specialist
The entry was edited by:
Tetyana Kononeko, UNDP Communication Unit
Originally published at https://medium.com on May 11, 2020.
