94108 April 17, 2012 Innovation Promotes Good Governance in Albania Ana Gjokutaj, Sr Communications Officer in the World Bank Office in Albania, offers this story. Photo Gallery As Albania prepares to celebrate 100 years of independence in 2012 with an eye towards becoming a member of the European Union; it must make crucial improvements in a sensitive area: good governance. For better governance, citizens need more access to information; budgets and local taxes need to be transparent. Women and youth need equal opportunities in business, and agriculture policies need to be developed openly. Related Links To address these, the government is drafting and implementing new policies for central and local government, The World Bank in Albania with support from the World Bank Project for Good Opening Remarks of Kseniya Lvovsky, Governance in Albania. The World Bank is further supporting World Bank Country Manager the government's agenda through support for civil society The British Council in Albania projects. The British Council is overseeing their Development Marketplace Winners implementation. Regional Development Agency "With the aim of strengthening the Albanian Media Institute direct role of Civil Society Organizations in policy making, we European Movement for Integration want to see this sector shift Mjaft Movement increasingly from service delivery to Transparency International Albania advocacy, working with politicians and public administrations to deliver Environmental Centre for Protection, Education and rehabilitation — for all Albanians, not just the chosen EPER Gender Alliance for Development Elisabeth Evans few," said Elisabeth Evans, Deputy Centre Ambassador of the United Kingdom. Foundation for Economic Freedom More than 140 civil society organizations (CSOs) responded Art Link to an open call for innovative, sustainable and replicable Improving Governance in Albania: ideas on how to improve governance. Ten projects targeting Accelerating Growth and European youth, women, and local and central governments were Integration selected and funded, for a total of $100,000. Ideas range from Civil Society Fund in Albania creating arts programs and documentaries to making tax stamps. What story does a small stamp in a shop window tell? According to the Regional Development Agency in Korca, stamps show the public who is doing business legally and who is not. They pressure illegal businesses to pay taxes. As a result of the project, says the agency's Aurel Grabocka, 450 unregistered business became legal, adding half a million USD to the state budget. These impressive results led the Minister of Finance to say the ministry will explore including a security stamp in tax procedures. European Movement Albania, EMA, is helping Vlora's citizens get what they Gledis Gjipali need from their civil servants. "We will assist the municipality to give fast response to citizens who ask for information and create a procedure that these results remain even after the project is over," says Gledis Gjipali, Executive Director of EMA. They will also assist the municipality to build capacity for better internal and external communications. Another CSO project is studying how fast the government answers public information requests from citizens and media, and whether any ministries or agencies try to prevent the government from releasing public information that may be damaging to them. Yet another is evaluating how efficiently and fairly agricultural subsidies are being spent in one region. "Some farmers that we have interviewed did not know how to profit from such funds. We prepared an information package to be distributed to them," says Aida Bani of the Environment Center for Protection, Education and Rehabilitation. Two CSOs asked how art makes citizens play an active role in governing cities and fighting corruption. One project takes real stories from youngsters to create Aida Bani a graphic novel that will be given to high school students to teach them to resist corruption. The other is producing a documentary with interviews from community representatives, local authorities, journalists and historians to show thousands of years of local governance in the ancient city of Durres. The film, which will be broadcast on national television, explains how citizens create and own city budgets by paying taxes. All ten projects will be implemented by early 2012 and are expected to result in more citizen participation in better governance, and to serve as examples in other parts of Albania. The World Bank continues to work towards good results of previous projects and studies, such as governance in the water sector, the education system and Protection of Immovable and Property Rights.