LEADERS OF THE OPENNESS INDEX RATING

The results of the first rating of the Openness Index for government bodies and management authorities have been announced.

The Strategy for Actions of the development of Uzbekistan along five priority directions in 2017-2021 noted the need to secure the openness of the activities of the bodies of state authorities and administration, the introduction of modern forms of providing legal and physical persons with the information on their legal rights and freedoms. In this document they were outlined as priority directions of the reforms in the system of public administration.

An important in this regard is the Law "On the openness of the activities of the bodies of state authorities and management" on May 5, 2014. Along with the legal guarantee for the use of socially significant information, it defines the forms and methods for ensuring the openness of the activities of public authorities, and precise mechanisms for the exchange of information between the state bodies and society.

In accordance with the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers on the realization of a set of measures aimed at implementing the provisions of this law, the Public Council for coordination of activities and monitoring for the openness of the activities of the bodies of state authorities and management was established.

Based on the methods developed by the Council, the work began to monitor the openness of the activities of public authorities and management. Lately, the presentation of the Openness Index rating of the activities of the bodies of state authorities and management was conducted as of January 1, 2017 in Tashkent.

In the drafting of the rating, the existence of a normative and legal framework aimed at securing the openness of government agencies was taken into account. According to its results which covered 47 bodies of state authorities and administration, the first place was taken by the State Tax Committee of the republic which collected 97.5 points. The city administration of Tashkent and the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan (96.33 points) shared the second place with the same indicators. The third place went to the Ministry of Justice (93.67 points). The State Committee for Architecture and Construction, hokimiyats of Surkhandarya, Ferghana, Andijan and Navoi regions showed the low results.

The rating indicators show that some state bodies do not pay attention to the openness, sometimes legal demands of citizens are not observed and their rights to receive the information are violated.

“Measures taken to monitor the Openness Index are considered as a unique mechanism aimed at increasing the effectiveness of civil society institutions’ participation in the public administration system", said a member of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis Rasul Kusherbayev.

“The results of monitoring can serve as a significant factor in strengthening the public relations at bodies of state authorities and administration, in the development of a strategy for effective corporate information policy”.

The work on monitoring and evaluation of the openness of the activities of the bodies of public authorities and management will be conducted on a regular basis. The results will be announced twice a year - as of the first of January and the first of July.

(As part of the social order of the Oliy Majlis Public Fund for Supporting the NGOs and Other Civil Society Institutions).

www.jahonnews.uz