Albania Action Plan Review 2023-2025

This product consists of an IRM review of Albania’s 2023-2025 action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen.... The action plan comprises 24 commitments, which the IRM has filtered into 22. This review emphasizes its analysis on the strength of the action plan to contribute to implementation and results. For the commitment-by-commitment data, see Annex 1. For details regarding the methodology and indicators used by the IRM for this Action Plan Review, see Section III.

Overview of the 2023-2025 Action Plan

Albania’s sixth action plan has broadened the range of policy areas and public institutions engaged in the OGP process. The establishment of the Multi-Stakeholder Committee addresses a long-standing IRM recommendation to institutionalize cooperation between the public administration and civil society in the OGP process. As many commitments are awareness-raising activities, institutions could add value by collaborating with civil society and incorporating measurements of their results during implementation.

Albania’s 2023-2025 action plan has 24 commitments. The IRM highlighted one promising commitment.[1] CommitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... 12 would increase the scope of publicly available information published in a fiscal risk statement and improve budget monitoring using key performance indicators (KPIs). The inclusionOGP participating governments are working to create governments that truly serve all people. Commitments in this area may address persons with disabilities, women and girls, lesbian, gay, bisexual, tr... More of gendered dimensions in the planning and execution of budgets is also a positive change.

Many commitments continue from Albania’s previous action plans. For example, Commitment 1 will establish a network of civil society organizations (CSOs) that could monitor the integrity plans that line ministries began producing during the 2020-2022 action plan. Commitments 2-4 aim to enhance data submission and data accuracy on the beneficial ownershipDisclosing beneficial owners — those who ultimately control or profit from a business — is essential for combating corruption, stemming illicit financial flows, and fighting tax evasion. Technical... More register, launched during the 2020-2022 plan. Commitment 6 continues the publication of datasets to the open dataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici... portal, while Commitments 7-9 continue to enhance public services on the e-Albania portal. Commitment 15 involves the continuous publication of concessions and public-private partnership (PPP) contracts, uptake of the online complaints system, promotion of open contractingA transparent procurement process, known as open contracting, increases competition, improves public service delivery, and ensures governments better value for their money. Technical specifications: C... More standards, and integration of risk assessment tools. Its introduction of a red flag index has potential for results as a corruption prevention tool. The action plan also includes new policy areas such as Commitments 17-22, which aim to improve inclusivity in the delivery of healthcare, social services, and educationAccountability within the public education system is key to improving outcomes and attainment, and accountability is nearly impossible without transparent policies and opportunities for participation .... Commitment 23 focuses on improving the conduct of regulatory impact assessments and public consultations, and Commitment 24 aims to adopt e-legislation for the Parliament.

The development of the action plan saw more active collaboration with CSOs compared to previous plans. The Government of Albania established the Multilateral Committee, which acted as a dedicated multi-stakeholder forum for developing and monitoring the action plan. Several surveys and meetings with civil society were held. Feedback was given to CSOs on why certain proposals could not be included,[2] and some CSOs’ suggestions were included in the action plan.[3] On the other hand, some MSF members indicated that either they did not take part in co-creation meetings because they felt that their opinions would not be considered or they were not aware that they could have proposed commitments during the co-creation process.[4] Public institutions that successfully involved civil society in commitment development and implementation could share their experiences with other institutions, to more broadly strengthen the OGP process in Albania.

Many commitments largely focus on raising awareness around various policy areas. The IRM recommends adding value to such activities by clearly offering opportunities to put learning into action and considering ways to measure their results during implementation. This could include identifying specific policy processes for citizen engagement or offering new public reporting mechanisms that enhance public accountabilityAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, public accountability occurs when ”rules, regulations, and mechanisms in place call upon government actors to justify their actions, act upon criticisms ... More. Moreover, several commitments lacked a clear open government lens or had a weak open government lens. This was particularly evident for commitments led by new ministries. For future action plans, the IRM recommends providing additional information for new institutions to ease their involvement in the OGP process.

Promising Commitments in Albania’s 2023-2025 Action Plan

The following review looks at the one commitment that the IRM identified as having the potential to realize the most promising results. Promising commitments address a policy area that is important to stakeholders or the national context. They must be verifiable, have a relevant open government lens, and have modest or substantial potential for results. This review also provides an analysis of challenges, opportunities, and recommendations to contribute to the learning and implementation process of this action plan.

[1] Albanian CSOs were generally not responsive to IRM invitations to contribute to this Action Plan Review. This made it difficult for the IRM to assess the potential for results for some commitments.

[2] Rovena Pregja (MoJ), interview by the IRM, 24 July 2023.

[3] Drita Rina (Save the Children), interview by the IRM, 1 September 2023; Mirela Arqimandriti (GADC), interview by the IRM, 28 August 2023.

[4] Ermelinda Mahmutaj (EDEN-Al), interview by the IRM, 8 August 2023.