End of Commitment Report – Improve Public Finance Management processes in Ozurgeti Municipality through inclusive and active participation

Name of Evaluator

Dea Tsartsidze

Email

dea_tsartsidze@yahoo.com

Member

Ozurgeti, Georgia

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...

Action plan – Ozurgeti, Georgia, 2021 – 2021

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...

Improve Public Finance Management processes in Ozurgeti Municipality through inclusive and active participation.

Action

In order to improve PFM processes through inclusive and active civic participation Ozurgeti Municipality will: Hold a series of public meetings involving different stakeholders to discuss FY2022-2025 Budget Priorities of Ozurgeti Municipality; Develop initial drafts of FY2022-2025 Priority Document; FY2022-2025 Medium Term Action Plan and FY2022 program budget (together with: Program budget annex; Capital budget annex; Budget annex of municipal organizations). Hold a series of public meetings involving different non-governmental stakeholders to discuss drafts of FY2022-2025 Priority Document; FY2022-2025 Medium Term Action Plan and FY2022 program budget. Finalize and approve: FY2022-2025 Priority Document; FY2022-2025 Medium Term Action Plan and FY2022 program budget (together with: Program budget annex; Capital budget annex; Budget annex of municipal organizations). Develop a Citizens’ Guide for the local budget for FY2022 and make it available to the public. Develop annual FY2021 budget execution report and present it to the public.

Problem

A strong PFM system is an essential element of the institutional framework for a well-functioning state. Effective PFM systems generate long-lasting benefits and significantly contribute to the establishment of inclusive institutions, greater genderOGP participating governments are bringing gender perspectives to popular policy areas, ensuring diversity in participatory processes, and specifically targeting gender gaps in policies to address gov... More equality, and balanced growth. Countries with strong, transparent, and accountable PFM systems are better positioned to deliver services more fairly and effectively. According to the 2018-2021 PFM reform strategy, the main goal of the Government of Georgia is to ensure the rational use of public finances. In order to achieve this goal, it is important to strengthen PFM systems that ensure fiscal discipline, efficiency, and effective allocations of public resources in Georgia.  As evident from many reviews and evaluations, including the one using PEFA indicators, public financial management systems in Georgia are strong and have been further improved as PFM Reform Action Plan has been implemented. Despite the above-mentioned progress, the effectiveness of public finance management systems at the local level still remains an acute challenge in Georgia. In order to analyze the performance of the PFM system, Ozurgeti Municipality with USAID GGI’s support went through the PFM assessment using PEFA indicators in 2020. PFM assessment using PEFA indicators revealed areas where further improvements are required with a specific focus on midterm planning and budget, reporting, control and accountability, and transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More.

1.1 What was the overall level of progress in the commitment implementation at the time of this assessment?

Complete

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

The commitment was fully completed by the end of the assessment period. A priority document was developed for the budget years of 2022-2025 and public meetings with the participation of stakeholders and interested parties were held. At the same time, the medium-term action plan for the priority document was prepared along with the program budget document and citizen handbook that was approved by Municipal Sakrebulo and shared on the municipality’s official website.

The commitment was implemented with the support and technical assistance of USAID GGI. The aforementioned documents were prepared based on the close cooperation between independent experts and public servants. Along with a launch of a new budget cycle, they held several joint meetings that aimed at updating and improving existing budget documentation, as well as the establishment of budgetary praxis.

1.2 Describe the main external or internal factors that impacted implementation of this commitment and how they were addressed (or not).

Action plan implementation coincided with the local self-government electionsImproving transparency in elections and maintaining the independence of electoral commissions is vital for promoting trust in the electoral system, preventing electoral fraud, and upholding the democr... More in October 2021. However, the stakeholders declared that this event did not have any impact on the implementation of the commitment milestones. It is notable that each activity defined in the milestones was in a way restricted by regulations introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, the independent expert launched training programs for representatives of local self-governance remotely. Moreover, the process of elaboration on the priority document and medium-term action plan was also carried out remotely. Participation of the target audience was limited, and so was the effectiveness of the working process. Thus, due to COVID-19 regulations, citizen engagement in the co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive... was limited.

1.3 Was the commitment implemented as originally planned?

Most of the commitment milestones were implemented as planned.

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

With the purpose to increase citizen awareness and fostering results of the commitment, the municipality prepared a visual budget, within the AP implementation timeframes. Based on stakeholder evaluation, a visual budget only adds to the opportunity and enables citizens to acquire information about the municipal budget in an easy to comprehend way. The visual budget is uploaded on the municipality’s official web page.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• ოზურგეთის-მუნიციპალიტეტის-ბიუჯეტი

2.1.1. – Did the government disclose more information; improve the quality of the information (new or existing); improve the value of the information; improve the channels to disclose or request information or improve accessibility to information?

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

The introduction of specific tools for managing public finances resulted in budget-related information and processes being more accessible and widely available to local citizens in Ozurgeti municipality. Specifically, the priority document for the period of 2020-2025 and the medium-term action plan became publicly available to citizens (the budget handbook and visual budget were uploaded on the website as well as several consultation meetings were organized). In addition, the budget handbook and the visual budget were prepared under this commitment.

2.1.2. – Did the government create new opportunities to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation inform or influence decisions; improve existing channels or spaces to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation/ inform or influence decisions; create or improve capabilities in the government or the public aimed to improve how the government seeks feedback from citizens/enables participation/ or allows for the public to inform or influence decisions?

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

The introduction of specific tools for managing public finances enabled Ozurgeti municipality to foster active and inclusive citizen participationAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, citizen participation occurs when “governments seek to mobilize citizens to engage in public debate, provide input, and make contributions that lead to m... More in the local decision-making process. In addition, several public consultations were organized within the framework of the commitment, where the priority document, medium-term action plan, and the program budget for 2022 were shared for public discussion.

2.1.3 Did the government create or improve channels, opportunities or capabilities to hold officials answerable to their actions?

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

The introduction of specific tools for public finance management enabled Ozurgeti municipality to strengthen its 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. During the implementation stage, several public consultations were organized where priority documents, medium-term action plan, the program budget 2022 as well as Citizen Handbook were shared for discussion. These actions supported the development of budget documents to the needs of local citizens. It also contributed to increasing public awareness that, as a consequence, increases accountability within the municipality.

2.1.4 Other Results

Not Applicable

Degree of result:

– Select –

2.2 Did the commitment address the public policy problem that it intended to address as described in the action plan?

Yes

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

According to the Action Plan, the improvement of citizen participation in the process of public finance management process remains a challenge in the municipality. As a response, with support of USAID GGI, PFM assessment was conducted and PEFA performance indicators were applied. As a result of incorporating PFM, each of the commitment milestones serves for strengthening citizen participation as well as improving the areas identified during the evaluation.

3. Provide at least one lesson or reflection relating to the implementation of this commitment. It can be the identification of key barriers to implementation, an unexpected help/hindrance, recommendations for future commitments, or if the commitment should be taken forward to the next action plan.

Challenges raised during the commitment implementation process related to increasing awareness and competence of public servants. Addressing these challenges firstly allows for higher participation of public servants in budget preparation of their respective units and secondly, in the long-term, enables municipalities to improve various budget components independently.
It is of utmost importance that the practices of budget planning discussions are continued in order to achieve long-term outcomes and ensure an engagement spirit throughout the entire process.