WORLD BANK–AUSTRIA URBAN PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM (UPP) Social Sustainability and Citizen Engagement Cities for the People: Making Collaborative Governance Happen January 2018 Table of Contents Abbreviations 3 Acknowledgements 4 Executive Summary 5 Social Sustainability and Citizen Engagement Initiative: Achievements 7 City Profiles 9 Elbasan Local Governance Challenges 10 Service Delivery Challenges 10 Existing Social Accountability Practices 11 Gjilan Local Governance Challenges 12 Service Delivery Challenges 12 Existing Social Accountability Practices 13 Karlovac Local Governance Challenges 14 Service Delivery Challenges 14 Existing Social Accountability Practices 15 Kolasin Local Governance Challenges 16 Service Delivery Challenges 16 Existing Social Accountability Practices 17 Kumanovo Local Governance Challenges 18 Service Delivery Challenges 18 Existing Social Accountability Practices 19 1 Sabac Local Governance Challenges 20 Service Delivery Challenges 20 Existing Social Accountability Practices 21 Tuzla Local Governance Challenges 22 Service Delivery Challenges 22 Existing Social Accountability Practices 23 Methodology 25 Stories and Key Messages 34 Existing Social Accountability Levels 34 Civil Society Organizations 34 People with Disabilities 34 Youth 37 Roma Community 38 Social Accountability and Citizen Engagement: Opportunities and Constraints 39 Annex I. Action Plans 42 Elbasan 43 Gjilan 44 Karlovac 45 Kolasin 46 Kumanovo 47 Sabac 48 Tuzla 49 2 Abbreviations CSO Civil society Organization GIS Geographic Information System IB Integrity Building ICT Information and Communication Technology MFSA Municipal Finance Self-Assessment NGO Nongovernmental Organization SEE South-East Europe SSCE Social Sustainability and Citizen Engagement UA Urban Audit UPP Urban Partnership Program 3 Acknowledgements W e would like to acknowledge the funding provided by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance under the World Bank - Austria Urban Partnership Program (UPP). Implemented by the World Bank, the program, which aims to strengthen the capacity of local governments in South-East Europe, has helped finance several products and activities under the Integrity Building Initiative. Key contributors to this work include: • World Bank: Sandra Kdolsky, Social Development Consultant (Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice); Tamara Nikolic, UPP Regional Focal Point, Operations Officer (Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice); and Sabine Palmreuther, Senior Operations Officer, UPP Team Leader (Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice). • Local consultants: The Social Sustainability and Citizen Engagement (SSCE) Regional Consortium, which was operating in seven countries in the region: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia. The Consortium was led by Co- PLAN Institute for Habitat Development (Albania) and i2UD - the Institute for International Urban Development and closely collaborated with six local city teams: ADT – Association for Research and Social Innovation (Bosnia and Herzegovina); GONG – Citizens Organization to Oversee Voting (Croatia); Archis Interventions Pristina (Kosovo); CSD – Coalition for Sustainable Development (Macedonia); MANS – Network for the Affirmation of the NGO Sector (Montenegro); NALED – National Alliance for Local Economic Development (Serbia). The UPP program and its team have greatly benefited from the close cooperation and partnership of the Network of Associations of Local Authorities in South East Europe (NALAS), Local Government Associations of the partner countries, and clients from all participating cities and municipalities, whose engagement in the Program and eagerness for knowledge, networking, and the exchange of experiences within and beyond the region made this Program a success. The team would also like to thank the World Bank office in Vienna, Austria, as well as respective country offices in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia for their support and assistance during program implementation. 4 Executive Summary A s part of the World Bank Group and Austria’s Urban Partnership Program (UPP): Strengthening Local Governments in South-East Europe, the World Bank Social Development Unit developed the Social Sustainability and Citizen Engagement (SSCE) initiative. It continues and expands on the success of UPP’s first phase in its approach to social sustainability assessments. The approach addresses two dimensions of socially sustainable and inclusive urban development: 1. Social accountability and participation. Increase accountability regarding the delivery of services and programs and empower marginalized and vulnerable groups to participate in the development of their city. 2. Marginalization. Identify the needs of socially excluded groups and associated inequalities to proactively address challenges related to marginalization. The initiative sought to increase knowledge and awareness around citizen engagement mechanisms among stakeholders, including vulnerable groups. The first phase of the project involved five pilot cities in four countries in South-East Europe: Banja Luka and Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Durres, Albania; Pristina, Kosovo; and Skopje, Macedonia. The SSCE initiative of UPP II built on the lessons and best practices that emerged from UPP I, enhanced the focus on the citizen engagement component, and expanded its scope to include seven countries and nine cities. Co-PLAN Institute for Habitat Development in Tirana and the Institute for International Urban Development (I2UD) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, formed a consortium and assembled a team of local experts to carry out research and fieldwork for this second phase in the cities of Elbasan, Albania; Gjilan, Kosovo; Kumanovo, Macedonia; Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Karlovac, Croatia; Ulcinj and Kolasin, Montenegro; and Pančevo and Sabac, Serbia. Seven out of ten cities and municipalities will be featured in this booklet. Inclusive urban development seeks to foster resilient and sustainable communities by improving service quality and urban policies and by strengthening citizen participation at the local government level. The SSCE initiative established a well-designed and structured methodology for: • Measuring social accountability in local governance; • Fostering cooperation between different actors in the public local sphere; and • Expanding social participation with a particular focus on marginalized communities. The project’s ultimate objective was to perform a cross-cutting assessment to address the broader challenge of ensuring that vulnerable groups are empowered to voice their demands and that those voices are integrated into the actions of local governments. The process undertaken by the study team can help the cities and municipalities as well as the World Bank identify potential interventions, which can then feed into a more comprehensive 5 sustainable development action plan that leverages citizen engagement. UPP I resulted in detailed, analytical reports for each of the nine project cities, covering demographic, social, physical, economic, cultural, institutional, and political issues. The results of this research are summarized in section two of this booklet—City Profiles. During this initial stage, the city teams identified vulnerable groups as the focus of the assessment’s second phase. This selection was made on the basis of official information obtained from institutions responsible for the provision of various public services at the local level; findings from research studies made by international and national organizations; other relevant documents, such as laws, provisions, and local development strategies; and consultations with representatives from marginalized and vulnerable communities and nongovern- mental organizations (NGOs) during the inception phase. The second phase involved extensive fieldwork and consultations with community members and other stakeholders. Each city team carried out multiple focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. Focus group discussions were held with each vulnerable group, often with men and women separated for part of the discussion. The teams also conducted focus group discussions with NGO representatives. In-depth interviews were carried out with at least two representatives of three of the following groups of stakeholders: local government, business sector, and NGOs. Section 4 of this booklet—Stories and Key Messages—provides a summary of the issues raised during focus group discussions and in-depth interviews, shedding light on the main concerns of citizens regarding their cities; how they see their role as citizens in transforming urban space; what they are demanding from their city administrations, and on what their willingness to engage depends. For the third phase, a participatory scenario development workshop was held in each of the cities, with the following objectives: • Raise awareness of the results of the previous two phases; • Provide recommendations for local government authorities, wider civil society, and intermediaries such as NGOs and community-based organizations; and • Map out solutions to reinforce socially sustainable city development and integrity in public services. The workshop brought together stakeholders from multiple sectors and engaged them in identifying locally relevant pathways for autonomous and planned change (improvements) in the context of social accountability, sustainability, and good governance. The participants were encouraged to envision a future scenario in which various social accountability and social inclusion mechanisms could be introduced, resulting in stakeholders developing a sense of ownership. A particular focus was placed on the use of information and communication technology to draft socially inclusive accountability initiatives. Action plans were developed for each municipality that were built on agreed-on scenarios by workshop participants, as well as their recommendations for detailed implementation actions and the most feasible interventions for setting each city on a path toward greater accountability and citizen engagement. This booklet describes the project’s qualitative findings and provides visualizations of project’s qualitative data. It presents a participatory, city-specific assessment of citizen engagement and social accountability in service provision; a framework for analyzing citizen engagement, including indicators to monitor and compare progress; and a citizen-led process for identifying solutions that can lead to change proposals. 6 Social Sustainability and Citizen Engagement Initiative: Achievements • The Social Sustainability and Citizen Engagement (SSCE) initiative contributed to a cultural change in South-East Europe by increasing knowledge and awareness of socially inclusive citizen engagement. On the supply side, the initiative promoted an increased recognition of the critical importance of citizen involvement in enhancing democratic governance, improving service delivery, and fostering empowerment. On the demand size, citizens took part in a participatory process that fostered their confidence to speak out and trust that the government will listen. • Municipalities were introduced to the possibility of and tools for more collaborative and inclusive city management. The approach of evaluating current mechanisms of citizen participation in a participatory manner increased the understanding of municipalities regarding the needs of their citizens, particularly vulnerable urban communities. Municipalities were provided support to learn about the citizens’ priorities and given options to address issues and better collaborate with them. • Community knowledge and assets were leveraged to ensure that a constructive dialogue aligns public investments with citizen priorities, strengthens accountability, and enhances social inclusion through explicit recognition of the particular challenges faced by marginalized communities. • Interaction was fostered and communication leveraged among diverse stakeholders. Numerous stakeholders were consulted regarding the potential for improving collaborative governance, initiating an unprecedented cross-border dialogue and creating a platform for the exchange of experiences and knowledge. The project increased familiarity and strengthened the partnership between the regional actors involved in the project, considered possibilities of future cooperation, and shared experiences and reflections on similar problems. 7 • The project strengthened the concept of socially inclusive cities and underscored the commitment of various stakeholders to improve their practices regarding informing, engaging, and providing feedback to citizens. The participation of nongovernmental organizations and representatives working on other Urban Partnership Program components, such as the Municipal Finances Self-Assessment,1 Urban Audit,2 and Integrity Building,3 linked social sustainability and citizen engagement to concrete budgetary considerations and anticorruption objectives. These synergies and partnerships promise to further integrate SSCE principles into all program components, enhancing participatory decision making in all municipal sectors. • Through the application of the SSCE initiative’s distinct methodology, which was designed with particular focus on participatory processes, participants were introduced to new concepts such as open citizen feedback,4 the feedback triangle,5 and the fix-rate6 principle, as fundamental components for socially sustainable governance mechanisms. 1 Municipal Finance Self-Assessment (MFSA). The main objective of this tool is to assess a city’s financial health and to identify specific actions to improve the mobilization of local resources, public spending, public asset management and maintenance, investment programming, and access to external financing (borrowing and donor funding). 2 Urban Audit (UA). This tool provides a snapshot of the level of services and infrastructure in the municipality. It aims to connect the dots between financing and investment programming and to encourage technical and financial departments to work together on strategic and capital investment planning anchored in financial realism (prioritization). 3 Integrity Building (IB). This participatory process, conducted by local governments, follows a strategic planning methodology, moving from diagnosis to solution formulation and implementation. It focuses on laying the foundation for improving organizational systems vulnerable to corruption and supports mayors as institutional reformers. The process involves city leaders, managers, staff, and external stakeholders who diagnose their organization’s vulnerability to corruption and then develop strategies and action plans. 4 Establishing open citizen feedback loops by local governments will build trust with citizens. Collected citizen feedback should be autonomous, findings should be transparent, and the loops should reach down to the individual level. 5 The feedback triangle is a multiple ownership model of feedback mechanisms, where such mechanisms are led and owned by (i) a principal, (ii) a manager, and/or (iii) citizens themselves. 6 The fix-rate is a metric of the effectiveness of governance interventions and is used to measure (i) the percentage of identified valid problems that are satisfactorily resolved using a certain type of intervention or (ii) the percentage of recommendations that are satisfactorily implemented. Therefore, it is a solution to the challenge of measuring outcomes, not just the activities or outputs of governance interventions. 8 City Profiles 9 Elbasan General City Profile Indicators: Vulnerable groups: Population: 144,382 • Youth Area: 872.03 square kilometers • Women Most prominent minority groups: • People with disabilities Roma (0.68%); Egyptians, (0.14%) • Elderly Unemployment rate: 32% (one • Ethnic minorities out of every two 15-24-year-old • Unemployed unemployed) Map 2.1. Municipality of Elbasan Local Governance Challenges Some of the challenges that Albanian municipalities face today are closely related to the recent territorial administrative reforms7. Since the expansion of its territory—it now ranks seventh in the country in terms of its size—the municipality of Elbasan has to provide services to a population about 1.8 times greater than prior to the reforms. Under these circumstances, the municipality must address the need for adequate urban planning and suitable rural development; increased demand for service delivery (wider delivery range and diversification of type of services provided to urban and rural populations); and the expansion of responsibilities, including education, forests, and a secondary drainage and irrigation network). The challenge posed by limited financial transfers to and revenues of the municipality highlights its need to improve the collection of taxes and fees, particularly property taxes. Improving the efficiency and training of municipal staff remains difficult, especially if a technician has to carry out diversified processes at a broader scale. Regarding civic participation, most of the existing local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations operate within the borders of the city of Elbasan (the municipality’s borders prior to the reforms); representation from the newly added administrative units is lacking. According to data from INSTAT (Census 20118), only 10 percent of private households in the municipality of Elbasan have an Internet connection compared with 12.3 percent nationwide. Only 16.9 percent of households own a computer compared with 20.1 percent of households nationwide. Service Delivery Challenges As a result of the territorial administrative reforms, the size of the municipality was expanded by about 39 times, and the population doubled, which created multiple challenges for the administration of the territory, service provision, and representation. 7 The government of Albania undertook territorial administrative reforms passed by the parliament in 2014, which included the consolidation of 373 local government units into 61 with the aim of increasing the efficiency of public service delivery. 8 www.instat.gov.al 10 An increasing number of families in need of housing cannot afford market prices in the municipality. By the end of 2011, there were around 1,772 identified housing requests—1,276 of which were from vulnerable groups. In terms of education, the radius of service for the 97 kindergartens, 127 primary schools, and 23 high schools covers moderately well the whole territory. Access to education is jeopardized by poor economic conditions and infrastructure. Regarding health care, a single doctor in Elbasan serves around 1,266 residents. In some of the municipality’s administrative units, the lack of medical staff and hospital beds is of crucial concern. There is disturbing data demonstrating a high infant mortality rate of 10.8 deaths per 1,000 births, which reflects the overall condition of the institutions of health, including hygiene, infrastructure, health care facilities, accessibility, and hospital equipment, as well as the level of education of and accessible information for pregnant mothers. About 30,330 inhabitants in Elbasan’s rural area do not currently have a constructed water supply system. Despite a suitable area of coverage, the service quality of waste management is poor, and the collection procedures and vehicles are fairly dated. The general condition of the roads is poor, lagging behind European standards. Existing Social Accountability Practices The municipality of Elbasan conducts participatory budgeting and gender budgeting in six regions within the city in addition to 12 administrative units. There is an active consultation process for involving the residents, specifically vulnerable groups, in city strategies and planning decisions. Another valuable participation mechanism is the Citizen Advisory Panel, which provides a forum to discuss and articulate key issues of municipal development, consult with municipal officials and staff concerning many topics, and exchange ideas for improving local governance. Citizen satisfaction surveys cover a substantial range of topics including the assessment of cleaning services, good management of green surfaces, potable water services, and administration of the sewage system, among others. Most of the questionnaires have a low response rate (10–15 people). In collaboration with United Nations Development Programme, the municipality of Elbasan was one of the first municipalities in Albania to incorporate information and communication technology (ICT) mechanisms to improve service delivery and increase citizen participation by successfully developing an institutional website and e-participation platform in addition to using other ICT tools such as e-newsletters and periodic gazettes and ICT mechanisms such as local television, radio, and social media. The municipality has a Facebook account, a Twitter account, and a channel on YouTube. Figure 2.1. Index Results, Elbasan Figure 2.2. Citizen Engagement Pulse Scores, Elbasan 11 Gjilan General City Profile Indicators: Vulnerable groups: Population: 90,178 • Children Area: 392 square kilometers • Youth Most prominent minority groups: • People with disabilities Albanians (97%); Turks (1%); Serbs • Long-term unemployed (0.6%); Roma (0.4%); other (1%) • Ethnic minorities Unemployment rate: 35.3% • Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians Map 2.2. Municipality of Gjilan Local Governance Challenges Key challenges for ICT services in Kosovo include developing modern telecommunications infrastructure, in particular at the local level —i.e., broadband Internet; privatizing the fixed-line incumbent PTK—Post and Telecommunica- tions Kosovo; and further improving the implementation and enforcement of a modern regulatory framework that includes competitive safeguards such as number portability, local loop unbundling, and wholesale broadband access. There is not yet any 3G or 4G services available in the country. Mobile penetration is significantly below average for South-East Europe, and broadband penetration remains very low. Service Delivery Challenges Based on 2011–14 figures, an estimated 289 households are in need of housing solutions in the Municipality of Gjilan, representing 1.7 percent of all households. According to the GAP Institute9, among the eight major identified challenges in Gjilan is an insufficient number of public kindergartens. It is at risk of being left with only two public kindergartens because one of them is located near the city center and built on state property that is now administered by the Kosovo Privatization Agency. Public transportation is hampered by narrow roads; inadequate crossroads; and a lack of parking, bus stations, and bicycle paths—even though bicycles are common in Gjilan. Roads and drainage continue to be a problem within the municipality. Roads still need to be paved with asphalt to connect major villages with the urban center. According to the municipal development plan, the total length of the sewage network is 65 kilometers, which is insufficient to meet the needs of the population. The atmospheric water network is very small and is in very poor 9 See http://www.institutigap.org/documents/30010_GJILANI2013.pdf. 12 condition, but many citizens connect to it because it is their only option. The city’s main collector drains into the river in Mulliri i Arapit, which results in frequent flooding in the city when it rains because the sewage pipes are unable to absorb the rainwater. Women and children are identified as the most vulnerable with regard to nutrition and health care. The elderly and people with disabilities are also vulnerable in this way. There is a general absence of outdoor spaces for sports and recreation, green areas, or public parks. Existing Social Accountability Practices The law mandates the participation of women and minority communities in the municipal assembly. Three assembly committees represent the interests of marginalized groups: the committee for communities (a permanent committee), which represents minorities; the committee for culture, youth, sports, and gender issues, which represents youth and women; and the committee for health and social welfare, which represents the Figure 2.3. Index Results, Gjilan elderly, people with disabilities, and the unemployed, among others. Meetings of the municipal assembly and its committees, including those of other commissions, are open to the public, media representatives, and interested parties. The venue, date, and time of each meeting is publicly available on the municipal website. A guide to services for people with disabilities is available online for the Municipality of Gjilan. Some open data links are made available through “Open Data Kosovo,” which channels the digital capacity of young software engineers and computer scientists in Kosovo to implement and maintain an online platform that collects, hosts, and distributes open data. The information office provides online reporting of corruption through kallxo.com10 as well as online applications for requesting civil documents. The Internews Kosova report E-Transparency Approaches in Kosovo Municipalities (2014)11 states: “Gjilan was the first to streamline document applications by integrating the civil registry with the application software, and simplifying the payment procedure.” In principle, public participation in municipal budget planning and other major issues is ensured by legal acts. In addition, through a decision by the mayor, in 2015, the Municipality of Gjilan established a register of administrative procedures to publicize all relevant information regarding administrative procedures for citizens in the municipality. Some specific citizen engagement mechanisms in municipal development programs include compulsory, biannual, and thematic, meetings with citizens invited by the municipality; social media; and civil society projects that produce reports regarding perceptions (usually through surveys). In general, there are no participation requirements specific to marginalized groups other than minority communities and women. 10 A United Nations Development Programme initiative that resulted in the launch of a web-based platform to fight corruption in April 2012. 11 See http://46.101.126.245/internewskosova/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/SMReport20140426c_747048.pdf. 13 Karlovac General City Profile Indicators: Vulnerable groups: Population: 55,705 • Unemployed Area: 401 square kilometers • Women Most prominent minority groups: • Youth Croats (88.21%); Serbs (8.01%) • Serbian national minority Unemployment rate: 21.9% • People with disabilities • War veterans Map 2.3. Municipality of Karlovac Local Governance Challenges The City of Karlovac has a development index of 96.14 percent—3.86 percent below the average in Croatia. The most pressing difficulty of the Roma community in Croatia is their unresolved legal status. Their position is predominantly associated with their inability to exercise fundamental rights due to the lack of identification documents. In the city of Karlovac the Roma represents 0.04 percent of the city’s population. The City of Karlovac is rated as a generally transparent city, with an increase in total scores across dozens of indicators, although with some areas still needing improvement. Based on the new provisions of the Law on Access to information from 2015, it is expected that each public body publishes final reports after conducting public consultations, as well as an annual plan for public consultations. The City of Karlovac does not yet have complied with these provisions. Service Delivery Challenges The city of Karlovac has sufficient capacity in terms of pipelines, water intake, and capped amounts. The water supply is as high as 97 percent, although several marginal settlements in the northern, eastern, and southern parts of the city still do not have access to the water supply. Approximately 0.64 percent of apartments in Karlovac do not access to the water supply and 0.79 percent do not have access to sewerage. Only 5.53 percent of apartments have gas installations. The city of Karlovac has built apartments under the Subsidized Housing Construction Program, aimed at meeting housing needs and improving the quality of housing for a wider range of citizens. The Housing Program for Victims of the Homeland War is organizing the construction of apartments and houses that are adapted to the needs of war veterans with disabilities as well as purchasing finished or nearly complete apartments with these adaptations. Regarding security and personal safety, Karlovac rates second of 28 cities in its rate of violent crimes, seventh in property crimes, and eleventh in accident victims. 14 The most significant problem relating to road transportation is the large number of cars per capita not that is not accompanied with adequate infrastructure development. This creates traffic jams in the city center, especially around the star-shaped historic city center, which also has insufficient parking. Existing Social Accountability Practices The city has a comprehensive development strategy for communicating with citizens, e-governance, and the provision of public services. ICT tools have been developed primarily for internal administrative procedures, such as ePortal for the exchange of documents among city employees, eReceipts for the electronic processing of receipts, and the eRegistry office for the digitalized management of official documents. In 2013, the city introduced a new portal for citizens and legal entities to monitor the status of their requests for city. Further development of ICT tools for the provision of public services must be analyzed in the context of 52.3 percent of households having a personal computer and 48 percent using the Internet—slightly lower than national averages. Based on the 2002 Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities, the city of Karlovac holds national minority elections every four years. The last national minority elections have been held in May 2015. The city’s official website does not refer to these or any previous national minority elections nor does it list the elected members of the national council, hindering their overall visibility. Actual suggestions of concrete measures for improving the status of national minorities are not available. According to the Law on Youth Councils, the city has established a council to serve as an advisory body representing the interests of youth. With a dedicated subpage on the city’s main website and a Facebook page with around 700 “likes,” the youth council demonstrates growing visibility. With the support of Carpe Diem, a local NGO, the youth council also produced the City Program for Youth in the City of Karlovac 2015–20, the second strategic document of its kind in Karlovac, extensively based on quantitative and qualitative research around the needs of youth. Figure 2.4. Index Results, Karlovac Figure 2.5. Citizen Engagement Pulse Scores, Karlovac 15 Kolasin General City Profile Indicators: Vulnerable groups: Population: 8,380 • Children and youth with Area: 897 square kilometers special needs or disabilities Most prominent minority groups: • Adults with disabilities Montenegrin (57%); Serbs (36%) • Children and youth at risk of Unemployment rate: 27.8% being in conflict with the law • Elderly Map 2.4. Municipality of Kolasin Local Governance Challenges In 2014, the municipality of Kolasin’s public debt was over €7 million, increasing further over the following several months. At one point, the municipality was over €10 million in debt. The municipality’s bank account was blocked for five years until it received a bank loan at the end of 2015 that enabled it to pay off some of its debt. The remaining debt is still a cause of serious concern, creating great challenges for the administration. The most recent data provided by the Montenegro’s employment agency and the statistical office indicate that the number of unemployed people is rising. Kolasin’s economy is mainly based on tourism, especially during the winter, but this is far from providing its citizens a good quality of life. The majority of the citizens in Kolasin are not computer literate, which poses a major problem. The 2011 census revealed that 4,157 (59 percent) of residents were not computer literate; 26 percent were computer literate, and 14 percent are partially computer literate. Service Delivery Challenges A lack of medical personnel and outdated and inadequate medical and dental equipment greatly contribute to the poor quality of health care. The municipality does not have many daycare facilities for children. Only one kindergarten—Sestre Radovic—offers parents the option of leaving children for the entire day. Only one-third of the urban settlement has access to the sewerage system that only covers 12 percent of the residential area. The majority of the population is not connected to the sewerage network, and are thus forced to use unsanitary septic tanks that are only emptied once a year. Existing locations for the disposal of wastewater and sewerage sludge are located near Breza, which is densely populated and located on the right bank of the river Tara, posing a serious risk of contamination. In rural areas, access to the Internet and communication technologies is limited with a very low level of infrastructure for telephone companies to offer better service. 16 A particular problem at the municipal and national level is the disposal of waste in places not meant for that purpose, creating “wild dumps.” Solid waste is usually disposed of in torrential watercourses, and during the raining seasons, waste ends up in the riverbeds of Tara and Moraca. Roads in the city center are not well constructed, many should be reconstructed. In addition, the municipality of Kolasin has a dispersed settlement structure, with its villages quite a distance from the city center. Many local roads are in a poor condition. In the suburbs, there are many ruptures due to the poor quality of the asphalt mixture. One of the greatest threats to rural roads is flooding during the rainy seasons, especially in winter. These floods wash away embankments and related pathways, forcing the municipality to invest significant funds in their restructuring and rehabilitation. Existing Social Accountability Practices The municipality of Kolasin uses ICT tools to communicate with the public and potential investors and has developed an official website for that purpose12. The municipality is at level 2 of the standards of the European Union13. Among the municipality’s good practices is that it makes available the contact information of key municipal employees, including mobile phone numbers. making them more easily and personally available to citizens. Figure 2.6. Index Results, Kolasin Figure 2.7. Citizen Engagement Pulse Scores, Kolasin In the “Service for Citizens” section, citizens can access a form to submit inquiries and report problems to the municipality but few have yet done so. The municipality’s website does not allow for blogs or any other form of e-communication where citizens can submit requests and questions or express their opinions about the work of the municipality. The municipality does not have an official Facebook or Twitter account. Therefore, there are only a few individual cases of citizens commenting on the work of the municipality. 12 See www.kolasin.me. 13 Level 2: In addition to information, the city/local government website contains standardized forms that must be completed for citizens to obtain services. Citizens can download the forms from the website and fill them out at home, thereby reducing their time spent at the municipal center. 17 Kumanovo General City Profile Indicators: Vulnerable groups: Population: 105,484 • Children and youth Area: 509.4 square kilometers • Women Most prominent minority groups: • People with disabilities Macedonians (60.43%); Albanians • Ethnic minorities (25.87%); Serbs (8.59%); Roma • Roma people (4.03%) • Unemployed Unemployment rate: 8.7% Map 2.5. Municipality of Kumanovo Local Governance Challenges There are no legal regulations ensuring representation or guaranteed seats by marginalized groups on Kumanovo’s local council. According to municipal officials, representation of the interests of marginalized and vulnerable citizens is exclusively declarative. There is no real, concrete action carried out in a systematic way. Citizens in general, and vulnerable and marginalized groups in particular, show little interest in being actively engaged or in demanding better services from the municipality. Key variables that could hinder the use of and access to the municipality’s website are illiteracy—general and IT; low levels of education; a high poverty level, especially among vulnerable groups; the fact that the website’s design is not user-friendly. “At the local government level, the municipality is facing large problems because de facto, the sectors of the municipality are located (physically) in buildings on four different locations, which largely reflects (and affects) the quality of the ICT services. In 2001–02, the municipality opened a center for information of the citizens (Citizens Info-desk), while in 2008 they implemented the one-stop-shop project. From 2003, in the Municipality of Kumanovo there is an Info-point of the European delegation in Macedonia. However, none of these projects has shown sustainability.” – Representative of the NGO Kumanovo Service Delivery Challenges More than 10 percent of the population of Kumanovo lives in substandard settlements14. Access to health information favors urban over rural populations. The Roma are particularly marginalized in terms of access to health services and information. In addition, not all women have equal access to these services, with large differences in urban and rural 14 See World Bank (2006), Issues Related to Urban and Municipal Development: Guide for Policies, No. 37278-MK, World Bank, Washington, DC. http://www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/IW3P/IB/2007/08/08/000310607_20070808152042/Rendered/PDF/ 372780MACEDONI1Policy0Note01PUBLIC1.pdf, pp. 41 [20.02.2016] 18 areas and particularly within socially vulnerable groups (e.g., Roma, women with low educational levels, and illiterate women). There is still unequal access to water services by people living in urban and rural areas as well. Roma populations living in the suburban areas are also affected. The World Bank report assessed access to water, sewage, and communal garbage as poorest in Kumanovo15. Only 23.1 percent of the inhabitants living in the rural areas have access to sanitation and wastewater treatment. Existing Social Accountability Practices The municipality of Kumanovo’s website is accessible from different platforms. Although it declares trilingual information accessibility (in Macedonian, Albanian, and English), only the Macedonian option is functional. The website allows for the following services: e-tax, “send a request for a meeting with the mayor” (not accessible), download forms and templates for building permits (e-forms), useful links (e.g., Association of Units of Local Self-Governments, or ZELS, e-building permits) as well as links to Figure 2.8. Index Results, Kumanovo the municipality’s strategic documents (e.g.,   budgets, strategies, and action plans) sorted by sectors (finance, culture, sports, social protection, local economic development, international cooperation and European Union integration, education, urban planning), none of which is accessible (functional) or current. The municipality also uses Facebook and YouTube as channels of communication with citizens. Links are available on the website. Recently, the Municipal Sector for Local Economic Development launched the new website—“Visit Kumanovo”—aimed at communicating to the wider public and to local and foreign visitors useful information about the different types of available municipal services available. 15 Ibid. 19 Sabac General City Profile Indicators: Vulnerable groups: Population: 115,884 • Single female-headed Area: 795 square kilometers households Most prominent minority groups: • Roma Serbs (95.47%), Roma (1.64%) • Refugees Unemployment rate: 65.28% • Elderly • Rural agricultural households • Internally displaced persons • People with disabilities Map 2.7. Municipality of Sabac Local Governance Challenges A major weakness in the current business and economic environment of Sabac is the large number of unemployed citizens and insufficient capacity in the manufacturing industry, including uncertified production with poor sales records as well as a lack of resources and institutional support. The unemployment rate in the territory of the city of Sabac is 2.32 percent higher than the national average; the unemployment rate among women is 4.13 percent above the national average. The unemployment rate among women in the territory is 7.37 percent higher than that of men. Service Delivery Challenges In comparison with other cities in Serbia, the city of Sabac has the lowest average number of students enrolled in elementary school in relation to the number of facilities. Suburban settlements currently experience extremely poor power supply due to the rapid enlargement of refugee settlements over the past decade, including: Macva villages—good quality and satisfactory supply; Posavo-tamnava villages—extremely poor supply and lack of capacity; and Pocerina villages—extremely poor supply and lack of capacity. Despite the many activities undertaken in the previous period in terms its management, the wastewater problem in the area is quite distinctive. Except in the area of the Sabac, the general urban plan has about 150 kilometers of sewage network built, but there are no systems in place for the collection, disposal, or treatment of used water. 20 Figure 2.11. Index Results, Sabac Figure 2.12. Citizen Engagement Pulse Scores, Sabac Existing Social Accountability Practices The city of Sabac launched a new website in February 2016. Because of its newness, some of its contents and documents still need to be activated. The modern look of the site, offered in both Serbian and English, provides more detailed insight into particular areas than the previous one. It is very user friendly, however some of the information is still not available in English. Several services are available on the new website to make online orders for certain documents that can be delivered to a home address. Other services allow citizens to check the status of an issue or to report a problem. E-government services include: forms from the register of births, deaths, and marriages; requirements and forms; a check on the status of an object; insights into the voters’ list; access to information of public importance; the protector of patients’ rights; and the ombudsman. The city has no official Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts. The city administration’s premises are equipped with wireless Internet. In 2008, the city of Sabac established the Youth Office to serve as the local service of Sabac’s youth. The main objective of the office is to create conditions in the local community to improve the quality of life of young people and promote their active participation in contemporary societal trends. During the six years since its foundation, the ofice has had more than 13,000 users and has created a base of 400 volunteers. It has a website16 as well as Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr accounts. Sabac conducts participatory budgeting along with nine other local governments in Serbia. The city is also one of 22 local governments in Serbia that has signed a declaration to improve gender equality at the local level, thus committing to allocate funds in next year’s budget for special programs to economically empower women and reduce gender inequalities. In October 2015, the mayor of Sabac established the Council for Gender Equality of the City of Sabac, which prepared a local action plan for achieving gender equality in the territory for 2016–20. The city has allocated RSD 1,500,000 of its budget for the realization of activities from this document. The city of Sabac has recently been recognized as a business-friendly municipality in South-East Europe. 16 See www.kancelarijazamladeŠabac.org.rs. 21 Tuzla General City Profile Indicators: Vulnerable groups: Population: 477,278 • Children and youth Area: 30,235 square kilometers • Elderly citizens Most prominent minority groups: • Women Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats • Ethnic minorities (especially Roma) Unemployment rate: Jews and • Unemployed and low-income Roma workers • Refugees and internally displaced persons Map 2.8. Canton of Tuzla Local Governance Challenges The Report on the Implementation of the Action Plan for Implementation of the Development Strategy and the Social Inclusion Strategy of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2014–16 of the Tuzla Canton indicates quite a slow process. For many activities, funds have not been allocated in the public budget, which demonstrates little devotion to the actual implementation of planned social policies by cantonal agencies. One of the main issues in terms of social justice is a more efficient distribution of social welfare, which now is mostly based on the right of belonging to a specific social group (e.g., war veterans and civilian victims of war) instead of on need. Aside from making documents available, the presentation of the budget in its current form is difficult for citizens to understand and analyze. Although various tools exist in terms of using ICT in local governance, it is not clear how and to what extent these tools are used by citizens. News and information are regularly updated and shared with citizens via the Internet as well as through traditional and new media. Information on implemented outreach programs is not available; further research needs to be conducted. Another issue related to the use of ICT is the application of offline and online strategies for addressing social accountability. Service Delivery Challenges The city administration has made various endeavors to modernize Tuzla and to provide good public services. These efforts have produced some results, but the city administration is still lacking in resources and capital investments to implement larger development and infrastructure projects. There are two pressing issues that need to be addressed in Tuzla relating to housing: (1) collective and alternative housing, and (2) the effect of the 2014 floods on housing. Internally displaced persons and other vulnerable groups, such as civilian victims of war and torture victims, are plentiful in Tuzla, and those living in private housing are often doing so without the necessary legal permits. Even though the budgetary allocations have increased significantly for their housing and some steps have been 22 taken to improve it, the Roma remain the most vulnerable and disadvantaged minority in Tuzla. The population outside of the urban area (Tuzla city’s center districts) is in need of greater incentives to participate in the education system to attain greater levels of schooling and to prevent school abandonment as a development prerequisite, especially in rural areas. Unfortunately, infant mortality rates are 5.89 deaths per 1,000 births, a very high level for an urban area compared with the European Union average, which is 3.7 infant deaths per 1,000 births. It is also slightly higher than the national average of 5.72. The provision of water and sanitation facilities looks fairly adequate in the urban areas of Tuzla, but it is not as sufficient in the other local communities of the canton, mostly rural, with planned improvements yet to be implemented. Regarding access to drinking and wastewater networks, there are still large unmet needs and concerns. The general conditions of the roads in the canton are poor and lag far behind European standards. Outside the city, with the exception of the main roads, local community roads lack investment and are therefore in poor condition. Telecommunication infrastructure is better developed within central city districts compared with out-of-city areas. Tuzla is an industrial city, and pollution and other environmental problems remain challenges17. Tuzla is considered Bosnia and Herzegovina’s most polluted city. The citizens of Tuzla are generally unsatisfied with the state and availability of public green spaces. Existing Social Accountability Practicest In recent years, city of Tuzla adopted various offline and online social accountability tools including the inclusion of minorities through a reserved city council seat and a minority council; legislation such as the Law on Principles of Local Self Government; citizen’s assemblies and their recent mobilization in light of the turmoil; a city web portal and the publishing of the budget, guidelines for information access, and links to public registries; various web portals; and mayor’s expert groups. The use of technology in designing these tools has only been instigated recently. Tuzla has one of the most progressive civic movements in the country, from academic groups to grassroots organizations such as labor organizations and consumer associations. Numerous civic and social accountability initiatives have been implemented in the city, and various social accountability tools and ICT solutions were developed after 2014 floods, protests, and plenums. There have been many civic initiatives implemented in Tuzla in the area of social accountability.18 Grassroots civic initiatives can be grouped into the following categories: (1) social movements around political accountability and improvement of governance in Tuzla canton; (2) workers movement supported by the broader public and various 17 SFor informative research on environmental degradation and social issues in Tuzla, see V.C. Broto (2013), “Employment, Environmental Pollution and Working Class Life in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina.” Journal of Political Ecology, 20(1) 1–13. 18 See, for example of projects implemented in Tuzla, Center for Civil Society Promotion (2012), Annual Financial Reports of Civil Society Organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina—2011. 23 activists demanding economic rights, requesting the addressing of economic crimes and corruption, and attempting to revive some companies; (3) legal aid and social inclusion; and (4) environmental projects addressing pollution and potential natural disasters. Tuzla’s city administration recently upgraded their web portal, which includes various tools for making public services more easily available to citizens. News and information is regularly updated and shared with citizens online and through traditional and new media. Figure 2.13. Index Results for Tuzla Figure 2.14. Citizen Engagement Pulse Scores, Tuzla The city government to uses e-governance by providing online audiovisual content on its official19 portal as well by announcing a separate “e-Uprava” tab, which indicates the intention for further content build-up in this area. In addition to a common presentation of local government structures, the budget planning documents are shared in digital form. The most popular social media platforms (aside from global social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn) are information media.20 The use of ICT has recently led to the information platform “Lotos,”21 which aims at greater inclusion of people with disabilities. Tuzla is also implementing a two-phase project—Tuzla Wireless City—funded by the Norwegian government and aimed at providing free Wi-Fi access throughout the city. The first phase established a free Wi-Fi network in the city center; the second phase is under preparation. 19 See www.gradtuzla.ba. 20 Tuzlarije, TIP.ba—Internet Vijesnik, Tuzlanski.ba—Informativni Web Medij, and Tuzla Live!—Sportski portal: www.bhstring.net; www. tip.ba; www.tuzlanski.ba; www.tuzlalive.ba. 21 See http://ic-lotos.org.ba. 24 Methodology B eginning with the inception phase, which set the context for the assess¬ment and refined the objectives of the study, the Co-PLAN Institute for Habitat Development in Tirana and the Institute for International Urban Development team built on the methodological framework of phase I, including the citizen engagement component (from a supply and demand perspective and considering the willingness and capacity of all actors involved), by developing a research design to further inquire about the current state and how it could be improved. The research design can be viewed as a pilot or as an example or exercise of how these different actors can be included in the engagement process. It uses a mixed methodology or multiple approaches to identify and validate data and address findings. The following is a summary of the activity outcomes: 1. An x-ray of the cities to understand/map the current context; 2. Validation of the findings through engagement of key local actors (focus group discussions and in-depth interviews); 3. Joint development of possible solutions (scenarios) by all key stakeholders (participatory scenario development workshop); and 4. Action plans prepared and endorsed by the municipalities. The consortium closely cooperated with six regional organizations to ensure in-depth, qualitative audits in each of the countries: Coalition for Sustainable Development in Macedonia, Archis Intervention Prishtina in Kosovo, Association for Research and Social Innovation ADT in Bosnia and Herzegovina, MANS in Montenegro, NALED in Serbia), and GONG in Croatia. The research team developed a template to guide the drafting of an analytical city profile by the respective city teams. Drawing on existing resources and data, the city profile provided an integrated snapshot of each city, including an overview of key issues and development challenges relating to governance, social and economic development, the environment, and spatial Figure 3.1. Social Sustainability and Citizen Engagement Process development. This also served as an important step 25 toward the identification and selection of each city’s vulnerable groups and key issues to address in the focus group discussions and interviews during the next phase. While the methodology applied across all five cities was the same, the findings reflect distinct local features, owing to the extensive local knowledge and networks of the city teams. From an early stage of the project, local city teams involved various interest groups in the city. Municipalities were involved from the initial research phase, when awareness-raising workshops were conducted and various interest groups, vulnerable communities, and civil society representatives engaged in focus group discussions and the participatory scenario development workshops. Focus group discussions were organized with members of the identified vulnerable groups, and in-depth interviews were conducted with stakeholders such as representatives of national, regional, and local government; nongovern- mental organizations (NGOs); and the business sector. Given the lack of data at both the municipal and community level, this activity gave the city teams an opportunity to listen to the perspective of residents and those involved in delivering services. These discussions and interviews revealed the current service provision levels and social accountability levels in the cities with respect to vulnerable groups and provided an assessment of the use and availability of information and communication technology (ICT). The assessment process created a neutral platform where communities, NGOs, and municipal officials could come together in a participatory development workshop to propose scenarios and solutions to commonly agreed-on issues and discuss city-specific analyses and proposed projects. The assessment process offers an adaptable methodology for municipalities to analyze different aspects of social accountability and develop programs to address key issues that arise from it. Awareness-raising workshops were held nationally, and given their focus on Urban Partnership Program (UPP) II components, served to officially and fully launch the UPP II package and establish coordination among components. The workshops were conducted in seven Western Balkan countries to increase awareness and disseminate information about the Social Sustainability and Citizen Engagement (SSCE) initiative, its potential application, and the benefits it offered cities as well as to begin the selection process for municipalities interested in the program. The workshops hosted municipalities that were active in UPP II components other than SSCE, such as the municipal finance self-assessment, the Urban Audit, and integrity building. Each local SSCE city team supported the coordination and facilitation of the event. The study teams provided content and concept-oriented contributions to the workshops that synthesized different outcomes of UPP I and presented succinct lessons from other regional best practices. The Photo 3.1. Awareness-raising workshop event served to: • Inform municipalities and citizen stakeholder groups of the SSCE initiative; • Provide an overall picture of the various components under UPP II and the linkages between them, and • Launch the official call for municipalities to express their interest in the program. 26 Bringing the stakeholders together allowed the team to gauge interest and gain feedback on the interrelationships of UPP II’s four components. An open call was then disseminated on the website, social media, and e-newsletters, among other outlets. The selection process was based on a municipality’s expression of interest, motivation, and feasibility. After a thorough examination, nine agreements in the form of memoranda of understanding were signed between the municipalities of Elbasan, Gjilan, Karlovac, Kolasin, Kumanovo, Pančevo, Sabac, Ulcinj, and Tuzla with the respective local city teams. The final product in each city was the City Synthesis Report, which contains relevant information gathered through desk research and particularly, an investigation of the municipality’s current willingness and capacity to engage with citizens in different sectors, the civil society’s willingness and capacity to engage, and especially the willingness, capacity, and nature of the marginalization of vulnerable groups. The City Synthesis Reports of all participating cities are available on the UPP website (http://www.seecities.eu/). The template for the methodology was designed to be flexible enough to be tailored to the individual issues of each city but consistent enough to allow for comparisons across the nine social sustainability and citizen engagement audits. It includes a citywide demographic, socioeconomic, and political profile. It also details the identification of marginalized groups, the legal and institutional framework, and potential points of engagement thorough ICT for select service sectors. The report based on a research template applied by the all city teams to ensure topic coverage sufficiently comprehensive to give a complete snapshot of the challenges faced by marginalized groups in each city, yet in-depth enough to allow for insightful analysis leading to realistic recommendations—and within a short timeframe. The desk research includes: • An examination of the legal framework and political structures of each of the cities, which is necessary to understand the division of power and competences between the central and local governments; • Identification of flows in legislation and its implementation; • Identification of vulnerable groups and their vulnerabilities in concrete terms; • Identification of existing mechanisms and entry points for citizen engagement to determine their effectiveness as well as the factors that impact or influence that effectiveness; and • Level of current service provision across various sectors, from waste management to education facilities. 27 Mapping the current context and vulnerability Map 3.1. Vulnerability Mapping: Gjilan (left) and Elbasan (right) Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews constituted the second stage of the project. Building on the findings of the City Analytical Report, local city teams gained insight into the types of marginalization; quality and scope of public service delivery; main interest groups; dynamics between local authorities, intermediaries, and citizens/community members, including the private sector; accountability and transparency levels and practices at the governance level; and whether the environment is sufficiently enabling to allow for the engagement of citizens in decision making. Figure 3.2. Types of Vulnerable Groups Participating in Focus Group Discussions The second stage made it possible not only to validate data accumulated during the desk research, but to also compliment the findings with data, with a particular focus on groups experiencing some level or type of marginal- ization. Local NGO representatives engaged in social accountability-related urban politics were also identified and participated in a specific focus group. The approach toward vulnerable groups was systematic through intermediaries such as local and community-based organizations, agencies, and informal groupings, but local city teams also used alternative means, such as directly approaching marginalized groups when possible. 28 Photos 3.2–3.8. A total of 480 people participated in regionally-held focus group discussions Both individuals and representatives were targeted, depending on the practicality of the approach in each of the cities. In addition to vulnerable groups, the project aimed to target the city population as a whole. Different stakeholders were identified and taken into consideration for each faces of the project. Wherever possible associatios 29 stakeholders were identified representing a larger part of the population, such as business associations or youth organizations. Per standard protocol, the average size of a focus group was 8–10 participants, which made for a total of 480 focus group discussion and in-depth interview participants. As part of the focus group discussion process, time was allocated whenever possible for the piloting of the Revised Index. This was proved a valuable source of data to assess the supply and demand of information and participation in all participating municipalities as well as their state of feedback/monitoring mechanisms. The participatory scenario development workshop is an engagement methodology that provides a platform for diverse stakeholders to consider alternative futures given long-term and complex challenges. It has been most frequently leveraged in climate change adaptation planning, including the World Bank’s Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change project, and in countries as diverse as Canada, Hungary, Mozambique, and Bangladesh. Photo 3.9. Regionally-held participatory scenario development workshops The SSCE component of UPP I demonstrated its usefulness for social accountability and inclusive urban development in South-East Europe as well, culminating in the completion of action plans of cohort I cities. The objective of the participatory scenario development workshops for UPP II was to: • Present initial findings from focus groups and in-depth interviews to a broad range of stakeholders, including municipal authorities, civil society representatives, intermediaries—such as academic and applied research institutions, and representatives of marginalized communities and community-based organizations; • Map out solutions to reinforce socially sustainable city developments and integrity in public services based on a common understanding of key issues, challenges, and opportunities; and • Increase social accountability, demand for good governance, and civic participation. 30 Photos 3.10–3.11. Regionally-held participatory scenario development workshops The participatory scenario development workshops were thematically differentiated depending on the key identified issues and stakeholders for each municipality. This allowed for a broad range of participation by representatives of government, NGOs, the community, and businesses to consider practical municipal policy mechanisms and ICT tools and to build on their previous experiences, which allowed them to delve more deeply into the identified issues and have them validated during focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. Earlier phases of the SSCE analysis had identified existing problems in the cities, so the workshop methodology focused on elaborating agreeable and realistic scenarios to amplify citizen voices, enhance the capacity of administrations to respond to needs, and strengthen communication channels in the citizen-government relationship. Photo 3.12. City action plans emerged from the participatory scenario development process Each participatory scenario development workshop generated a draft action plan that allowed the municipality and citizen stakeholders to identify entry points to pursue the developed proposals. 31 After completing the data collection and feedback from interviews and group discussions, local city teams supported the municipalities in integrating the findings from the participatory scenario development workshops into action plans that describe the inclusion and engagement challenges in their cities; propose solutions to address them; and outline timeframes, resources (human and financial), and the roles and respon- sibilities of different stakeholders. The study team translated experiences and examples from cohort I cities to inspire and support cohort II city teams in developing actionable plans to achieve their goals for more socially sustainable and inclusive governance. The objective of the SSCE Index is to assist mu- nicipalities, civic groups, and NGOs develop a set of indicators to gauge progress toward increasing social accountability and citizen engagement, particularly among marginalized communities Figure 3.3. Social Accountability Concept and vulnerable groups. The Index originally emerged from the social sustainability audit of UPP I (2012–13), which functioned as a tool used by city teams to assess the supply and demand of information and participation in a given municipality as well as the state of feedback/monitoring mechanisms. This index was revised in content and application to demonstrate greater conceptual linkages with the other three UPP II initiatives and alignment with the World Bank’s Citizen Engagement Framework. The consortium built on the index developed during UPP I and tried to preserve whatever content was relevant to the conceptual organization of the new index. While the Social Sustainability Index assesses the supply and demand side factors of transparency and participation as well as the feedback mechanisms that create a continuous process, the SSCE Index assesses the supply and demand sides of the willingness and capacity of citizen engagement, feedback mechanisms to create a continuous process, and the use of ICT to broaden the reach of citizen engagement initiatives and streamline their processes. The SSCE Index is structured as six questions addressing five pillars of citizen engagement being investigated throughout this project cycle, based on the three concepts of (1) willingness (demand and supply); capacity (demand and supply); and the feedback/monitoring that serves as the connective tissue. The same six questions are organized across the five pillars to give an additional reading of the thematic strengths and weaknesses of social accountability and citizen engagement initiatives in each municipality. 32 Figure 3.4. SSCE Index Revised from UPP1 Index (2012–13) 33 Stories and Key Messages A fter concluding the thorough desktop research on the levels of social accountability and citizen engagement in nine municipalities in the Western Balkans, each of the local city teams conducted extensive fieldwork and consultations with community members and other stakeholders. Each of the teams carried out multiple focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. Focus group discussions were held with each of the vulnerable groups, with the aim of having representatives from both genders, depending on the nature of the vulnerability. Focus group participants were recruited through a public call advertised through mailing lists and social networks and in cooperation with local grassroots nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that work with the identified vulnerable communities. In-depth Interviews were carried out with at least two representatives of three of the following groups of stakeholders: local government, business, and NGOs. Map 4.1. Participants to focus group discussions and In-depth interviews 34 Existing Social Accountability Levels The focus group discussions and in-depth interviews provided a clearer insight into the daily problems and obstacles that citizens face—issues that span across gender and age. Several interesting findings helped the city teams identify the main accountability and engagement challenges of each municipality. Civil Society Organizations In terms of current levels of social sustainability, citizen engagement, and interaction through various communication channels, responses from the focus group participants were noticeably different depending on the target group’s particularities. For instance, members of the citizens’ advisory panel in the municipality of Elbasan argued that because of their frequent communication with municipal offices and authorities, they are able to get most of the information they seek on the municipality’s official website and at the municipal offices. Representatives from NGOs agreed that a substantial amount of accessible information exists on the municipal website, and they often refer to it. In Pančevo, NGOs consider the city’s public call system to be transparent because it clearly explains the procedures and criteria and because there is an open session available to all interested organizations to ask questions and get clarifications. In Sabac, NGOs actively participate in the preparation of strategic documents, however the published draft documents rarely include any of the comments or suggestions offered by individual citizens. In Karlovac, NGOs have better access to decision-making processes and public information than average citizens. When filing a complaint with the city, the people of Karlovac often turn to intermediaries— NGOs or councils—which take action on their behalf, usually toward the relevant city officials. There is a perception in Kumanovo, as well, that NGOs have better access to public information and municipal practices than ordinary citizens. “ There are improvements when it comes to the involvement of civil society organizations in the process of designing of strategies. We, as an NGO, were invited to participate in development of the strategy for education. - Response from an NGO during focus group discussions, Kumanovo “ Participants in focus group discussions for Ulcinj, Montenegro, said that over 90 percent of the organizations in the municipality are considerably inactive, although, according to the same group, the municipality is quite open to them. In Tuzla, the role of NGOs appears to be more active since the large-scale social protests and citizen plenums of 2014 regarding political accountability, the rule of law, and economic reforms. While the public engagement of civil society is higher than in many other cities in the country, it has not yet developed the capacity to act as an equal partner to public authorities. People with Disabilities Although progress has been made in all the cities, vulnerable groups seem to be the most disadvantaged in terms of getting efficient responses from local authorities regarding service provision, information, policy design, and other matters. For example, people with disabilities in Karlovac still point out insufficient physical accessibility to some city services, 35 such as parking spots, adjusted walkways, and ATM machines, as well as a lack of appropriate public transportation, which is predominantly compensated for with services provided by NGOs. “ After years of advocating, we have received two vehicles and a driver, financed jointly by the County and the City, and with our own contributions from donations being collected over the years. - People with disability” NGO representative, Karlovac “ In Gjilan, people with disabilities indicated that their supposed benefits for being in a vulnerable category are sometimes neglected. Urban development design standards need to be incorporated in public facilities for people with disabilities (e.g., sidewalks, ramps, public transportation, and stops/lines). These elements should be reflected in interactive maps on the municipal website as well. “ The Local Government does not provide adequate access to information for all citizens and in particular to persons with The city of Sabac cooperates well with organizations that bring people with disabilities together, and it allocates significant funds through annual open calls for the realization of their various programs. The busiest intersections in the city include traffic lights with sounds, and numerous important disabilities (“adequate” should institutions have special access paths for people with disabilities. be understood as special forms of communication with PWDs). “ The social protection system within the municipality of Elbasan consists of - NGO, Kosovo the cash payment systems for people with disabilities. The most commonly reported form of disability is restricted movement, with 3.7 percent cases at the municipal level. People with disabilities report facing difficulties in accessing education, housing, legal aid, employment, health care, and social services. “ The municipality helped me to get employed in the center for people with mental disabilities, because I was “ proactive and applied to their call for community work. - Response of a focus group discussion participant with a disability, Kumanovo In Tuzla, people with disabilities face physical barriers in accessing streets and public buildings across the city. The public Institute for Children with Development Disability is not wheelchair accessible. Even when certain access points for people with disabilities are constructed, the solutions that are adopted are not in line with existing needs. The timing of the stoplights is insufficient for crossing the streets. Elevators “ are missing in most public institutions. While elevators are present at the Streets usually don’t have any city hospital, patients are not permitted to use them. Even if a public bus has a door accessible for people in wheelchairs, they do not use it and therefore do not allow the person in the wheelchair to get on the bus. pads or ramps. - Focus group discussion “ participant in Tuzla There is a spa sanatorium is available for people with disabilities, but must apply to receive the treatment and the waiting times are often lengthy. In Kolasin and Ulcinj, there are significant issues with the transparency and accountability of the municipalities toward people with disabilities, including children. People with physical disabilities face great difficulty accessing services because most buildings lack ramps. 36 “ We have a difficult time obtaining information on Focus group discussion participants in Pančevo indicated our particular rights, as well as, particular programs a lack of counseling for people with disabilities. The city offered not only by the City Administration but and NGOs recognize that the most significant problem other institutions and NGOs. Information on the in this regard is the lack of records on people with rights of people with disabilities is often hidden disabilities. Unless a person with a disability or a family in a maze of complex legislative provisions. - Participant in a focus group discussion in “ member approaches the city, the public Center for Social Care or an NGOs, there is no way to reach them. Once a Pančevo disability diagnosis is established, parents of children with disabilities receive no guidance from health institutions on how to deal with the issue or who to contact for assistance and support. Youth In general, the youth from all of the municipalities are poorly engaged in local governance practices and are highly dissatisfied with the local administration. In Elbasan, youth who participated in the focus group discussions could not say if the information provided by the municipality was accessible, clear, reliable, and informative because they had never tried to access it. They acknowledged that they knew little about municipal activities, services, projects, and expenditures. Most had never accessed the municipal website and had only occasionally visited the municipal Facebook page. Similarly, most had “ never filed a complaint about the municipality’s performance or requested any type of official information. Some had visited Whenever I need information, I go out for city hall or contacted a staff member if engaged in a project or a coffee with my friend in order to find out activity. However, even though the youth had never searched what is going on in the municipality. “ for or requested information, they distrust government - Young person in focus group discussion, officials and publicly displayed information. Most participants Ulcinj expressed their disbelief that their municipality could resolve citizens’ real problems or that it would listen to their opinions regarding important decisions, highlighting the low level of trust in public authorities and initiatives among citizens. In the municipality of Ulcinj, youth participating in focus group discussions said that party-based employment and government indifference toward youth are among their most significant problems. “ There is no transparent procedure about how the budget for youth is designed and who decides on the priorities. - Young participant in a focus group discussion “ In general, the social life of young people in Tuzla is poor due to their increasing poverty and marginalization. When youth do participate in decision-making processes, it is usually on a formal basis, with access granted to Kumanovo those with family connections. 37 “ Gjilan youth cite a lack of financial support and employment The information on the municipal site is strangling opportunities as reasons for their apathy toward with unnecessary information for political gain engagement with the municipality, which results in their (publicity stunts). low level of interest in accessing services and institutions. They are very capable of accessing information online, but - Young participant in a focus group discussion “ in Gjilan would like to see information presented to them that is filtered to cover only youth-related issues. In Karlovac, youth noted that the lack of transportation from rural areas to the city center limits their opportunities to engage in social activities. Roma Community In all nine of the assessed cities, Roma and Egyptians continue to face very difficult living conditions; a lack of social protection, education, and employment opportunities; daily discrimination; and various types of social exclusion. “ Roma and Egyptians face manifold problems in the municipality of Elbasan, related to housing, living conditions, registration, health care, education, and employment In Elbasan, focus group discussion participants highlighted the history of poor interactions and communication between the municipality and vulnerable groups such as the Roma and Egyptians. According to a Roma NGO “ - Roma Youth Movement NGO, In-depth representative, Roma and Egyptians are excluded from interview, Elbasan decision-making processes. Since most of the Roma and Egyptians have limited access to information and communication technology, they are not adequately notified about public meetings, and if they do participate, their opinions are rarely considered. Participants were asked about the experience of Roma people who are having problems receiving services. The general impression is that there is virtually nothing an individual can do to change municipal practices or inefficiencies. Most are unfamiliar with the mechanisms available to citizens to register complaints. Instead, they use informal communication channels and resolve their problems through intermediaries such as local NGOs. The Roma in Kumanovo are very marginalized in terms of access to health services and information. In Serbia, the Roma is the most vulnerable minority community. Focus group discussion participants in Sabac claim that the greatest problems faced by the Roma population faces are limited access to education and information, economic vulnerability, and “ There are no Roma people employed within the City Administration, engaged in any of the Municipal Councils, or engaged in any of the school parents’ the negative preconceptions of the general population. Neither an councils. “ accurate estimate of the number of Roma people nor a database - Focus group discussion participant of citizens exist. in Sabac There are no Roma people on the vulnerability scale in Kolasin, but several focus group discussion participants in Ulcinj say that Roma people there have major difficulties accessing services and service provision more generally. 38 The largest Roma populations in Bosnia and Herzegovina is in Tuzla. The Roma are among the most socially excluded and ethnic groups in the country, and they face a great deal of discrimination. Few Roma children are educated; only three Roma students are studying at the University of Tuzla. Aside from educational needs, the Roma population (especially women) have many health problems. Roma women are in need of organized preventive care and education, including family planning, nutrition, and vaccinations. “ Not a single Roma is held in prison or convicted of any crime or use of drugs in Tuzla. Moreover, Roma are victims of organized crimes, especially women and children (human trafficking, arranged marriages, domestic violence, prostitution, forced beggary). However, the society itself perceives Roma as criminals and not as victims. “ - A local association, Tuzla As the findings from the process illustrate, defining and pinpointing the term “vulnerability” is a challenge. Numerous types of vulnerabilities affect citizens’ access to services and their ability to engage in decision-making processes, and they can overlap, for example, if a person is an unemployed migrant with a disability. Variables such as gender and age further exacerbate vulnerabilities for a variety of reasons intrinsically connected to a citizen’s experience in one of these nine regional municipalities. Social Accountability and Citizen Engagement: Opportunities and Constraints All of the cities involved in the study had engaged in “ social accountability and citizen engagement practices How accountable and transparent do you as part of reforms, policies, or ad hoc projects in recent consider your city administration and its years. The level of citizen satisfaction with these efforts services, rating between “not at all”, “partially ranges from “not at all satisfied” to “very satisfied”. Most satisfied” and “very satisfied”? of the focus group discussion participants across the region reported a familiarity with some of the complaint Not at all! Before, the budgeting process was more mechanisms available to citizens having problems with open to the public, but in the last several years the services at the local level, but almost all claimed that it is quicker/easier to ask a friend (or a friend of a friend) practice of presentation and consultation with the public has dropped out. “ who works at the relevant office. - Focus group discussion participant, Kumanovo In the municipality of Kumanovo, participants revealed that information was not updated and that data was not easily navigable on the website. The municipal administrative officers involved in the in-depth interview process also acknowledged this weakness and recognized it as a necessary future intervention. “ Programs regarding electronic ways of sharing information need to be further developed. The website of the municipality is monotonous and boring. “ Youth participants of focus group discussions in Kolasin think that an online interactive profile of the municipality would enable them to receive more information about its activities. - Young focus group discussion participant, Kolasin 39 “ According to focus group discussion participants of Ulcinj, ...I did not know that the mayor meets citizens there are very dissatisfied with the level of transparency. citizens on Thursdays and reviews their Some claim that the municipality even hides some general complaints until now. “ information. However, NGO representatives in the focus group -Low-income focus group discussion claim that although the transparency level is not satisfactory, it participant in Kolasin has improved significantly. Focus group discussions participants in Elbasan agreed that the municipality should develop and improve its one-stop shop, which is already being implemented. NGOs and representatives from municipal departments agree on the need to increase human and infrastructure capacity. “ City council meetings are available via local electronic media (television). However, council agendas are not published on the municipal website prior to the meeting, so one can decide whether to watch the meeting or not. - Response of focus group discussion participant, Kumanovo “ All of the focus group discussion participants in Sabac perceive the lack of an open-door policy by the mayor and municipal council members to be the main obstacle to their participation in decision making. Youth and women in Gjilan would prefer that the municipality’s official website be decentralized for each department to enable better structuring of information. Most focus group discussions participants in Karlovac did not know they could ask questions through a formal channel or about their rights. As required by law, the city’s website, provides contact details for the information office, links to municipal laws and regulations, and forms for submitting requests. There is space for a more user-friendly explanation of the rights of citizens under the law, including the entire procedure divided into steps and timeframes. The disclosure of public documents and period for consultation remains a constraint to greater accountability and engagement. “ City of Tuzla needs to stop using the Municipal Court in Tuzla as its own legal service. - Focus group discussion participant “ With respect to transparency in decision making, most of the focus group discussion participants in Pančevo want a mechanism put in place that would enable them to have more direct contact with decision makers. City departments are easily accessible and in Tuzla helpful, but decision makers are difficult to reach. The mayor practices an open-door policy—to a point—but the city council members do not. Representatives of two labor unions are present at the municipal council sessions on a regular basis, but citizens and NGO representatives are not. Focus group discussions in Tuzla showed that citizens strongly correlate social accountability with the effective provision of public services. Participants think that citizen engagement instruments and initiatives should aim to provide better services and include a component that transforms citizens’ recommendations and needs into public policy. In this way, the engagement of citizens in developing, monitoring, and evaluating public services is proposed across sectors. 40 Reflecting back on the Social Sustainability and Citizen Engagement (SSCE) initiative experience, several successes and challenges can be identified to enhance future iterations of the component and its synergy with other Urban Partnership Program (UPP) elements, mainly regarding how social sustainability and citizen engagement practices are viewed and applied across the region. The social sustainability audit during UPP I and the SSCE in UPP II are very much about the “how” of a process, and therefore fragmented interventions and actions will not necessarily anchor the practices in the institution. Based on the lessons of UPP I and II, and considering the legal requirements in countries such as Albania for local governments to apply tools equivalent to the urban audit, the municipal financial self-assessment, and the SSCE, the SSCE should become an integral part of the other components rather than serve as a stand-alone project. 41 Annex I. Action Plans 42 Elbasan Specific proposal: Prepare a working document (practical handbook/roadmap/guide) that contributes to the ability of municipal officials and staff to initiate, strengthen, and coordinate participatory practices. WHAT Preparation of a working document (practical handbook/roadmap/guide) that contributes to the ability of municipal officials and staff to initiate and strengthen, and coordinate participatory practices. The document will be binding at the local level and sill ensure a high participation rate of consultation groups and a coherent reflection and alignment of the legal requirements, internal regulations, and procedures of the municipality. WHY The municipality needs to initiate, strengthen and coordinate participatory practices. For the proposed action to work, it will be important to reflect the municipality’s priorities and have their ownership. HOW In partnership with civil society organizations, the municipality will draft the document in compliance with the legal and normative requirements, reflecting the needs and priorities of all interest groups in the city. Co-PLAN Institute for Habitat Development in Tirana will provide a final synthesis report of the Social Sustainability and Citizen Engagement (SSCE)/Urban Partnership Program (UPP) II project to the municipality, in which the current levels of accountability and citizen engagement are extensively analyzed. The municipality will be able to build on the findings and reevaluate resources and the feasibility of recommendations. As with the social sustainability assessment, the municipality should identify target groups and match the most suitable channels, methods, and messages of communication with a responsible person from each municipal department. Depending on the consultation processes and the evaluation of current resources, the municipality can shape the roadmap in collaboration with experienced NGOs. WHO Municipality of Elbasan, NGOs, information technology experts, and consultative groups, among others. TIMING By December 2016. INDICATORS Roadmap, which increases exposure and visibility; number of coordination meetings; number of actors involved; rate of accomplishment on a yearly basis; and number of communication channels used. HOW MUCH Expenses include expertise to prepare the roadmap; technical intervention for practical adjustment, maintenance, and regular updating of the website; and promotional efforts. Tentative estimate: US$5,000–10,000. 43 Gjilan Specific proposal: Transform the city’s website into an interactive forum for citizens. WHAT A new, functional, interactive municipal website, with a focus on enhancing the communication with and feedback options for citizens and with links to relevant web-sources and local institutions. Through this, the municipality will increase the number and efficiency of communication channels with the community, including all vulnerable groups, based on their particular needs. The website will contribute to make monitoring an inseparable part of municipal processes, especially regarding service provision and communication with the citizens or their intermediaries. WHY The official municipal website will be transformed into an interactive forum for citizens, which will serve as a source of timely, accurate, and relevant information as well as a medium for interaction among all stakeholders. HOW Information and communication technology (ICT) features will be added to the existing website, including an interactive calendar of activities that allows for browsing by theme, publicly accessible citizen feedback-related information, and options for online confirmation of participation in and evaluation of meetings and activities. Dedicated web pages will be established for municipal and public service providers that are visibly linked to the main municipal site (www.gjilani.im). The website will support survey platforms to collect citizen input and publish results. WHO Municipality, local government institutions, information technology experts, consultation groups, and NGOs. TIMING 1–2 years for set up and to become functional. INDICATORS Active website and content online; an online user survey that evaluates citizens’ response to the website, its efficiency, and its advantages. HOW MUCH Expenses include municipal website maintenance, technical adjustments, promotional costs, and regular updating of the site. Tentative estimate: €10,000. 44 Karlovac Specific proposal: Increase interactivity on the newly redesigned website to allow for more direct and active communication with citizens WHAT In 2016, the city of Karlovac redesigned its website to present information of interest to citizens by broad themes rather than the previously adopted approach of following the structure of the city’s departments. The redesigned structure was followed by new content. However, the site’s ability to permit direct interaction between citizens and the city administration remains limited. An upgrade of existing ICT tools is therefore desired and needed. It would be based on the positive example of the city of Rijeka—“Moja Rijeka”—or the more sophisticated example of the city of Zagreb—“Moj Zagreb.” Following the latter would enable the municipality to merge its complaint system with a geographic information system (GIS) and promote an interactive and visually appealing complaint system for any issues related to the municipality and its services. WHY To provide citizens with an easy-to-use and active complaint system to interact with the city about their problems related to the municipality and its services. HOW Upgrade the current GIS application with functionalities toward interactions with citizens—it is currently only being used as an internal management tool—and then strongly promoted it through the local media. WHO City of Karlovac, under the lead of the information officer, municipal department, and municipal public companies. TIMING 1–2 years INDICATORS Design of new functionalities for the ICT tool, number of media entries promoting the tools, number of complaints, and response time for complaints. HOW MUCH Expenses include human resources for preparation and service provision. Tentative estimate: €25-30,000. Possibilities for financing will have to be followed up (e.g. by the European Union funds – i.e. the European Social Fund (ESF). 45 Kolasin Specific proposal: Open new channels for communication with citizens. WHAT Draft a law that would oblige local communities to organize regular meetings and workshops with members of the local community, open a local radio station, improve the website, and utilize social networks. WHY To encourage citizens in trying to influence decisions of direct concern to them through their involvement in their local community. In this way, they would not have to directly address the municipality, but would instead engage through community representatives. Additionally, meetings and workshops will provide citizens with information they would not otherwise obtain. HOW The municipality is already working on possible solutions for overcoming current obstacles relating to citizen engagement. The municipality will engage in consultations with local community representatives and present them with these solutions. It will also try to include all the interested NGOs in this process and form a coalition to encourage citizens to take a more proactive approach to getting information about developments in their municipality. Such a law would give clear guidelines for local communities on how to inform citizens about local community meetings, potential discussion topics, and other issues. WHO The municipality of Kolasin, local communities, interested NGOs, and citizens. TIMING 1–2 years INDICATORS The law is drafted and adopted, number of local community meetings, number of NGOs involved, number of citizens involved, number of brochures distributed to citizens, number of other channels used, number of activities conducted jointly with citizens, among others. HOW MUCH Expenses include the establishment of a local radio station, printing and distributing brochures and other materials, and management of the website and social networks. Tentative estimate: €12,000–17,000. 46 Kumanovo Specific proposal: Establish a coordination body to encourage citizen participation and revive the local government’s citizen information office (Info-desk). WHAT Change the legal framework for the better functioning of the local government, including neighborhood self-governments; democratize local government institutions to improve their performance and efficiency in terms of solving the problems of citizens; improve interinstitu- tional cooperation; and increase transparency of institutions and neighborhood self-govern- ments and awareness of citizens on their rights and administrative procedures. WHY To promote upgraded and constructive cooperation and increase accountability and interactions between the local government and civil society and relevant institutions and to foster the sharing of information among institutions regarding what they are doing. HOW Support civil society organizations (CSOs) and neighborhood self-governments in changing the law, municipal statute, and demand clarifications regarding any legal ambiguities which are submitted to the municipality and the Association of Units of Local Self-Governments (ZELS); promote an initiative for evaluating the work (i.e., the quality of service provision) of institutions and introduce a career promotion system based on the administration’s assessment; establish a coordinating body and Info-desk to inform citizens; and update and provide timely information on the municipality and institutional websites; open an Info-desk with appointed personnel to provide feedback information; and organize forums and public debates to inform citizens with support from local TV, neighborhood self-governments and CSOs. These initiatives should all be part of the municipality’s regular and continuous practice. WHO CSOs and neighborhood self-governments, starting the project initiated by the municipality and CSOs with the involvement of volunteers. TIMING By the end of 2016, the municipality plans to establish a coordination body that will include representatives of all participating institutions and CSOs to prepare a working program for improving access to information and increasing cooperation among key stakeholders. INDICATORS Established coordination body and Info-desk and prepared working program. HOW MUCH Tentative estimates not yet defined. 47 Sabac Specific proposal: Support and activate local NGOs with low capacity by providing space for basic operations and for the implementation of various constructive and social inclusion activities. WHAT Permanent space will be provided for several NGOs that currently lack capacity for basic operations to share. Space will also be made available for a few hours per week for NGOs working with vulnerable groups so they can organize constructive activities that promote and facilitate social inclusion. WHY A number of NGOs working with vulnerable groups in the city have low capacity in terms of space for basic operations. Lacking adequate space, organizations are facing difficulties in providing services to their members and achieving any level of visibility. Likewise, there is a lack of space available for vulnerable groups to engage in various constructive activities organized by NGOs aimed at increasing their engagement, visibility and inclusion in society. HOW NGOs working with vulnerable citizens will prepare two official requests: one for the provision of a permanent space and another for the use of space for a few hours per work to organize constructive activities targeted at increasing the engagement, visibility, and social inclusion of vulnerable groups. Upon receiving the requests, the city administration will review available spaces to be used for both purposes. WHO NGOs working with vulnerable citizens and the city administration. TIMING By December 2016, the NGOs working with vulnerable citizens submit their requests for spaces to the city administration. Pending the availability of adequate spaces, the city administration allocates and rents the appropriate spaces by the end of June 2017. INDICATORS Requests for spaces are submitted to the city administration. Available spaces, in line with NGO requests, are identified by the city administration. Contracts are signed for the use of the space. NGOs are actively using the space for their operations and activities targeting vulnerable groups. HOW MUCH Depends on type of space, location, and other factors 48 Tuzla Specific proposal: Increase citizen engagement in the monitoring and evaluation of public companies. WHAT The city establishes a working group consisting of monitoring and evaluation experts from local government, civil society, and the media. The group should instigate processes for strengthening monitoring and evaluation mechanisms in the city, leading to greater social accountability. WHY Current monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, although regulated, are not fully operational in practice. The work of public institutions and companies (the provision of public services as well as the implementation of development projects) is not regularly monitored by citizens. In addition, complaint and citizen feedback mechanisms are not fully operational. HOW Develop an expert report on monitoring and evaluation and existing complaint mechanisms in Tuzla as well as policy proposals for strengthening each mechanism in the various sectors; develop guidebooks for monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for various sectors and mechanisms; print guidebook posters and post them in all public institutions and facilities and on the city website as well as those of public institutions; meet on a monthly basis to review complaints received and to prepare responses, initiatives, and actions; engage local neighborhoods (mjesne zajednice) and use traditional and social media for outreach and citizen engagement for all activities; establish contacts and engage relevant institutions and companies; develop and publish special monitoring and evaluation reports on the work of different public institutions and companies; organize special city council sessions on prepared reports and ensure wide stakeholder engagement. WHO City of Tuzla, NGOs, monitoring and evaluation experts, and the media. TIMING January–December 2017. INDICATORS Working groups established; number of meetings held; number of guidebooks published; number of published special reports; number of website users/ downloads of guidebook; increased number of complaints received after project implementation. HOW MUCH To ensure professional and active engagement of the working group members, some compensation should be provided. The city could donate the meeting space, but outside funding would be needed for the design and dissemination of guidebooks and posters. Tentative estimate: €8,500. 49 Regional Conference Socially Inclusive Cities 50