Transparency in the Area of Youth Policy (HR0016)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: Croatia Action Plan 2012-2013
Action Plan Cycle: 2014
Status: Inactive
Institutions
Lead Institution: Ministry of Labour and the Pension System; Ministry of Social Policy and Youth
Support Institution(s): NA
Policy Areas
E-GovernmentIRM Review
IRM Report: Croatia End-of-Term Report 2014-2016, Croatia IRM Progress Report 2014-2015
Starred: No
Early Results: Marginal
Design i
Verifiable: Yes
Relevant to OGP Values: Access to Information Technology
Implementation i
Description
Improve the content of the website of the initiative Guarantee for Youth Implementation indicators: review of contracted projects and funds granted and spent for the implementation of initiatives conducted, Annual implementation report published, statistical overview of site hits, section containing information on the work and conclusions of the expert bodies responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Guarantee for Youth created and regularly updated (Intersectoral working group for monitoring the implementation of the Guarantee for Youth; Intersectoral supervisory board for monitoring the Guarantee for Youth), information on the scope, manner of work and division of authority between the abovestated two bodies, published to the set deadline, number of published conclusions/session meetings in relation to the number of sessions held. Improve the transparency of the work of the Council for Youth of the Government of the Republic of Croatia Implementation indicators: announcements and minutes from the sessions of the Youth Council of the Government of the Republic of Croatia regularly posted on the official website of the MSPY, number of published announcements and session minutes in relation to the number of held sessions of the Youth Council of the Government of the Republic of Croatia. Improve the transparency of the work of the Youth Council Implementation indicators: instructions drafted for local and regional self-government units to develop separate columns on their official websites that will contain all the relevant information in the work of the Youth Council, list of established Youth Councils published and regularly updated on the official MSPY website Lead institutions: Ministry of Labour and the Pension System; Ministry of Social Policy and Youth Supporting institutions: None specified Start date: Not specified, End date: 31 October 2014
IRM End of Term Status Summary
7. Transparency in the Area of Youth Policy
Commitment Text:
7.1. Improve the content of the website of the initiative Guarantee for Youth
Implementation indicators:
- review of contracted projects and funds granted and spent for the implementation of initiatives conducted
- Annual implementation report published
- statistical overview of site hits
- section containing information on the work and conclusions of the expert bodies responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Guarantee for Youth created and regularly updated (Intersectoral working group for monitoring the implementation of the Guarantee for Youth; Intersectoral supervisory board for monitoring the Guarantee for Youth)
- information on the scope, manner of work and division of authority between the abovestated two bodies, published to the set deadline
- number of published conclusions/session meetings in relation to the number of sessions held
Lead institutions: Ministry of Labour and the Pension System
Supporting institutions: None specified
Start date: Not specified End date: October 2014
7.2. Improve the transparency of the work of the Council for Youth of the Government of the Republic of Croatia
Implementation indicators:
- announcements and minutes from the sessions of the Youth Council of the Government of the Republic of Croatia regularly posted on the official website of the MSPY
- number of published announcements and session minutes in relation to the number of held sessions of the Youth Council of the Government of the Republic of Croatia
Lead institutions: Ministry of Social Policy and Youth
Supporting institutions: None specified
Start date: Not specified End date: continuous
7.3. Improve the transparency of the work of the Youth Council
Implementation indicators:
- instructions drafted for local and regional self-government units to develop separate columns on their official websites that will contain all the relevant information in the work of the Youth Council
- list of established Youth Councils published and regularly updated on the official MSPY website
Lead institutions: Ministry of Social Policy and Youth
Supporting institutions: None specified
Start date: Not specified End date: 2014 and continuous
Commitment Aim:
Croatia has a decade-and-a-half-long tradition of youth policy-related interventions. It is one of the first policy areas where access to information and civic participation were encouraged and fostered. The aim of the commitment was to increase transparency in youth policy, by providing information on the Youth Guarantee program (milestone 7.1) and by increasing the transparency of work of the Council for Youth (milestone 7.2) and youth councils at local and regional levels (milestone 7.3).
Status
Midterm: Substantial
7.1. Improve the content of the website of the initiative Guarantee for Youth (limited)
The Youth Guarantee is a new approach to tackling youth unemployment that ensures that all young people under the age of 25—whether registered with employment services or not—get a good-quality, concrete job offer within four months of them leaving formal education or becoming unemployed.[Note 35: See more at http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1079.] Since this is a new initiative with significant funding, especially in countries with high youth unemployment such as Croatia, the action plan envisaged activities aimed to ensure transparency of the initiative. In order to oversee the initiative, the government established an interdepartmental working group (IWG) in February 2014. The implementation of this milestone was limited and behind schedule in the midterm report because only two out of five envisaged results were met. In July 2014, the Council for the implementation of the Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan was established; the Youth Guarantee initiative website[Note 36: Available at http://www.gzm.hr.] was started in November 2014; and the Annual Implementation Plan Report for 2014 was adopted and published in July 2015.
7.2. Improve the transparency of the work of the Council for Youth of the Government of the Republic of Croatia (complete)
This milestone was completed by the midterm evaluation point.
7.3. Improve the transparency of the work of the Youth Council (substantial)
The Ministry of Social Policy and Youth contacted all counties on 27 October 2014, requesting aggregated data for each county (including information on local government units) on established youth councils. The collected data was published on the official website.[Note 37: Available at http://www.mspm.hr/djelokrug_aktivnosti/mladi/godisnji_izvjestaj_osnovanih_savjeta_mladih_pri_lokalnim_i_regionalnim_podrucnim_samoupravama.] However, the published data tables turned out to be mostly empty, except for a few exceptions. The ministry subsequently started recollecting the data and planned to publish an annual report, and it also sent recommendations to cities, municipalities, and counties to create a separate section on their official website with relevant information concerning youth councils, in accordance with Article 23 of the Act on Youth Councils. There is, however, no information available on the number of local and regional self-government units (576 of them) that publish such information on their official websites.
End of term: Substantial
According to the draft self-assessment and research by the IRM researcher, milestone 7.1 remains limited in implementation. The Youth Guarantee website now contains information on contracted projects and funds,[Note 38: Available at http://www.gzm.hr/sto-je-garancija-za-mlade/kako-ce-se-financirati/.] the implementation plan, and the annual report on the scope and methods of the council’s work.[Note 39: Available at http://www.gzm.hr/sto-je-garancija-za-mlade/ plan-implementation/.] An email was set up for queries (gzm@mrms.hr), and a reported 46,021 people accessed the website, visiting 181,605 pages for an average of 2 minutes and 40 seconds, since the website was established in November 2014. However, there is still no information on the results of implemented activities, minutes from the IWG or council sessions, scope of other activities, or any news published since late 2015.
Milestone 7.3 is reported as complete in the self-assessment draft. According to sources from the Ministry of Social Policy and Youth, data on youth councils now available on the ministry’s website have been published in the form of a report in early July 2016[Note 40: Available at http://www.mspm.hr/istaknute-teme/mladi-1683/savjeti-mladih/izvjesca-o-savjetima-mladih/2240.] and will be suplemented with a new annual report on the number of established (and active) youth councils in Croatia, for 2015, as well as a list of active county, city, and municipal youth councils in 2015. The documents have been prepared and contain information on youth councils in 149 local and regional units, including links to local and regional websites with information about their work. The ministry plans to continually collect and publish this information.
Did it open government?
Access to information: Marginal
Making information about the work of the Youth Council publicly accessible is a significant step forward since data on youth participation in decision-making processes was not readily available before. The same can be said of youth councils and advisory bodies that include youth representatives at the regional and local levels: Their activities are even less well known, and in some cases the youth councils themselves have difficulty understanding what they should do.
Youth issues in the form of youth policy were included in the OGP action plan for the first time. Out of the three milestones, one is related to a specific European Union-related policy (Youth Guarantee), and two are related to collecting and publishing information on youth councils at the national, regional, and local levels.
The impact of the implemented activities could have moderate effects in setting standards and making relevant information available to the public. However, the language of the commitment is very narrow in scope. The government committed to improving transparency on the Youth Guarantee Initiative website and transparency in the work of the Government Council and local and regional youth councils. However, transparency might be an important prerequisite for effective implementation of the programme, but as noted by GONG,[Note 41: The interview was conducted on 22 September 2015. For more information, see the IRM midterm report.] the actual uptake is quite limited. Namely, all three milestones have a moderate potential impact. Milestone 7.1, which had limited completion, and milestones 7.2 and 7.3, which were fully completed, thus had a marginal influence regarding information disclosed to the public and improving the quality of that information.
Carried forward?
The next action has not been drafted or released by the government in accordance with the OGP schedule. The IRM researcher suggests that the Ministry of Labour and the Pension System pick up activities regarding the Youth Guarantee website and publish all relevant information on activities that took place since 2015, as well as the programme’s future plans.
In addition, the IRM researcher recommends the following activities, regarding milestones 7.2 and 7.3, be discussed for inclusion in the next action plan:
- Create an application to be used for collecting and publishing all the relevant data about local and regional councils (their statutes and rules of procedure, who their members are, their contact data, agendas for council meetings, minutes of meetings, activities, projects, events of youth councils, etc.), which local and regional bodies would update regularly; and
- Discuss the benefits of conducting a public campaign aimed at increasing youth’s interest and use of information on youth councils on every administrative level. This could be a good educational tool in order to increase youth civic participation.
Commitments
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Implementing Right to Information
HR0026, 2018, Capacity Building
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Fiscal Transparency
HR0027, 2018, E-Government
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Political Finance Transparency
HR0028, 2018, Capacity Building
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Commercial Regulations of Companies Owning Local Governments
HR0029, 2018, Anti-Corruption Institutions
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Transparency in NGO Project Finance
HR0030, 2018, Capacity Building
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Protection of Persons Reporting Corruption
HR0031, 2018, Anti-Corruption Institutions
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Parliamentary Transparency
HR0032, 2018, E-Government
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Media Regulations Framework
HR0033, 2018, Civic Space
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Data Opening
HR0034, 2018, E-Government
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Raising Awareness About Open Data
HR0035, 2018, Capacity Building
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Central State Portal
HR0036, 2018, E-Government
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Public Consultations
HR0037, 2018, Capacity Building
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Implementation of Anti-Corruption Policies by NGOs
HR0038, 2018, Anti-Corruption Institutions
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Local and Regional Open Government
HR0039, 2018, E-Government
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OGP Sustainability
HR0040, 2018, Capacity Building
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Right to Access Information Legislative Framework
HR0010, 2014, Legislation & Regulation
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Improving the Implementation of the Right of Access to Information Act
HR0011, 2014, Capacity Building
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Proactive Release of Information and Opening Data
HR0012, 2014, Capacity Building
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Fiscal Transparency
HR0013, 2014, Capacity Building
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Improvements of Transparency and Efficiency in Public Administration Work
HR0014, 2014, Capacity Building
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Improvement of Transparency of Election and Referendum Campaigns
HR0015, 2014, E-Government
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Transparency in the Area of Youth Policy
HR0016, 2014, E-Government
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Media Transparency
HR0017, 2014, Civic Space
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Improving Transparency of Information on Members of Parliament and Their Work
HR0018, 2014, Asset Disclosure
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Improving Transparency of Data on Assets of Officials
HR0019, 2014, Asset Disclosure
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Improving the Consultation Process with the Interested Public in Legislative Procedures
HR0020, 2014, Capacity Building
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Ensuring the Sustainability of Values and Content of the OGP Initiative
HR0021, 2014, Capacity Building
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Participation in Drafting the New Anti-Corruption Strategy
HR0022, 2014, Anti-Corruption Institutions
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Regulation of Lobbying
HR0023, 2014, Capacity Building
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Improving Efficiency of the Ministry of Interior's Complaints Commission
HR0024, 2014, Justice
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Promoting Civil Participation in the Work of Civil Society Organizations
HR0025, 2014, Civic Space
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Improving the Content and Transparency of Budgetary Documents: Publish and Update the State Budget Proposal
HR0001, 2012, Fiscal Transparency
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Improving Transparency of Business Activity of the Companies of Special State Interest
HR0002, 2012, Private Sector
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Making the Contents of All Budgetary Documents Understandable and Accessible to Citizens
HR0003, 2012, Fiscal Transparency
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Improving Accessibility of Local Budget Contents to the Citizens and the Public: Give Recommendations to Local Units to Publish Budget Documents
HR0004, 2012, Fiscal Transparency
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Improving the Legislative Framework for Exercising the Right of Access to Information: Amend the Act on the Right of Access to Information
HR0005, 2012, Legislation & Regulation
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Improving Access to Information on Expending Public Resources and Contents of Relevant Registers: Implementation of Acts on Political Activity and Campaign Financing
HR0006, 2012, Civic Space
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Ensuring Transparent Work of Public Authority Bodies in the Service of Exercising Citizen Rights: Enhancement of Web Portal with Info on Exercising Rights
HR0007, 2012, E-Government
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Setting up a System of Participatory Drafting and Monitoring of State and Local Budget Implementation: Public Discussions on Budget Allocation
HR0008, 2012, Participation in Budget Processes
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Improving the Practice of Consulting the Interested Public in Procedures of Adopting New Laws: Amend Procedural Rules
HR0009, 2012, E-Government