Public councils at a regional/ municipality level

This is a local structure which is based on the principle of coalition building for the realization of anti-corruption activities. The anti-corruption council was presented in two versions - 1. District level and 2. Municipality/city level.
In order to promote a dialogue between the citizenry and the public officials, the councils include representatives of the municipality/district governments, the judiciary, the police, specialists in different areas, and civic associations for the fight against corruption.
Examples of such district anti-corruption councils are the ones established in the towns of Smolyan, Nedelino, Banite, Chepelare and Varna. The anti-corruption councils consist of representatives of all institutions relevant to the problem of corruption at the district level, as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations, independent experts and local journalists. The councils have already adopted Anti-Corruption Action Plans through which they intend to implement long-term initiatives in this area.

Such groups have been created by the Association of Young Lawyers in the towns of Pleven and Liaskovets. They consist of lawyers, journalists and representatives of non-governmental organizations. These mediation groups offer assistance to citizens who have been unreasonably denied administrative services by the local authorities. Another aspect of their work is to monitor the activity of local authorities in order to curb corruption.

The objective of this initiative is to promote an anti-corruption regime in the performance of public services within the limits of a particular territory. More specifically, in the framework of the Clean Future awareness campaign, the "Anti-Corruption Society" Association developed a project entitled, "The Student Town - A Corruption-Free Area." This project is targeted at curbing corrupt practices within the limits of the so-called Student Town (campus area where most of the students of Sofia based universities reside) in Sofia, and as a short-term initiative, envisages promoting greater transparency in the allocation of places in student dormitories.

An anti-corruption telephone hotline was opened in many Bulgarian towns, as part of the "Clean Future" campaign (Smolyan, Plovdiv, Pleven, Vratsa, Varna, etc.) The following objectives necessitate the collection of evidence of corruption: 1) Need for information on the scope and dynamics of corruption in a given municipality and the mechanisms of widespread corruption; 2) Creating an atmosphere of mutual trust between the local anti-corruption organization and citizens; 3) Providing free-of-charge consultations to citizens affected by corruption; 4) Transferring the corruption signals to the relevant public authorities.

Announcing a post office box for corruption related complaints

This is usually done as complementary to the telephone hotline. Post office addresses to collect signals of corruption have been announced by most of the local partners of Coalition 2000.

In 1999 and 2000, 47 meetings took place within the framework of the Clean Future campaign of Coalition 2000 with the objective of promoting public awareness of the anti-corruption initiative, and of assessing the anti-corruption measures in various municipalities.

19 information days were held by Coalition 2000 partners in Sozopol, Lovetch, Triavna, etc. Their purpose was to provide information and consultations to the local public especially in the context of the Coalition 2000 Action Plan and the results of corruption monitoring and the anti-corruption effects.

13 townhall meetings were organized by Coalition 2000 local partners. NGO representatives and citizens were able to meet with local elites and to present to them their grievances related to corrupt practices. Proposals to improve transparency in local government and measures to enhance public control over local administration were considered.

The matrix was developed by Coalition 2000 experts for the purpose of measuring transparency in the activity of local authorities concerning municipal budgets. The matrix analyses seven main areas of municipal finance dividing expenses into two categories: fixed and flexible, and aimed to identify potential weak positions which could be prone to corruption.

Anti-corruption awareness brochures have been distributed by local non-governmental organizations as part of the Clean Future campaign. Here are some of the titles: "Recommendation for Fighting Corruption" (Black Sea Law Community - Bourgas); "Environmental Science against Corruption" (Vratsa); a bulletin "Corruption and Civic Culture" (Town and Culture Foundation - Varna); a bulletin "Monitoring of Municipal Privatization" (Public Barometer Association - Sliven). The book "A Circle against Corruption" summarized the four national round-tables organized about the corruption in football in Kiustendil, Varna, Plovdiv, Pleven (Good Hope Foundation - Sofia). The results of the surveys of public officials from the administration of Veliko Turnovo Municipality, the Customs Bureau in Gorna Oriahovitsa, the Prosecutor's Office and the Court in Veliko Turnovo carried out in October 2000 were compiled and published in the book "Corruption through the Eyes of the Institutions" (Local Agenda 21 Association - Veliko Turnovo).

This type of handbooks were developed as a response to the need of citizens of a particular municipality. It includes a summary of the regulations guiding the work of local administration, such as procedures for granting permits, etc. Such handbooks were already published in Pleven, Liaskovets, Pazardjik, and other cities.

Concerts by Bulgarian popular singers against corruption were organized in Sofia and Razgrad.

Coalition 2000 presented its television clips developed within the framework of the Clean Future campaign. Emphasis was placed on the importance of using televised messages as part of the anti-corruption awareness campaign. Over 200 specialized articles were published in the local press for the period of two years. In all towns the local media reflected with specialized interviews the events, organized by Coalition 2000 local partners.

Groups of experts from state owned and private companies, and representatives of government agencies, such as the Customs Agency and the Tax Service, were set up in Vratsa and Haskovo within the framework of the anti-corruption project of the Foundation for Entrepreneurship Development, a Coalition 2000 partner.

Anti-corruption discussions with the participation of students from high schools in the towns of Nedelino, Banite, Chepelare in the Smolyan district, as well as the sessions of the Club of the Young Philosophers in Varna, were followed up by proposals for introducing anti-corruption education to the courses on civil society and government at the high school level.

On the basis of the educational manual "Anti-Corruption", prepared by an expert group and published by Coalition 2000, a series of lectures was introduced at the Universities in Sofia, Shoumen, Varna, as well as at special seminars for mayors and municipality councils members at Pazardjik and Plovdiv districts.

Regular meetings of the local media with representatives of the municipality aiming at establishing dialog and trust in the anti-corruption efforts as well as at transparency in the municipality anti-corruption measures. Within the framework of the anti-corruption project of the Union of Bulgarian Journalists several round tables "Together Against Corruption" were organized in the towns of Svishtov, Silistra, Varna.

The Civic Observer is elected in some Bulgarian municipalities by local non-governmental organizations.The competencies of the Civic Observer involve monitoring of: public procurement, licensing, leasing, repair and construction of municipal sites. The institutionalization of the Civic Observer requires the voluntary cooperation of the local authorities on the basis of the existing legislation regulating civil rights and participation in local self-government. Coalition 2000 recommends the signing of a cooperation memorandum with the municipality. The Civic Observer submits regular reports about his activity, and informs the public and the media of the findings of the observation.According to these lines Civic Observers are functioning at the municipalities of Shoumen, Varna, Smolyan.

The local ombudsman, or public mediator, is an independent institution which safeguards the legitimate rights of the citizens against unlawful acts of the public administration. It was introduced at the municipalities of Koprivshtitsa, Sapareva Banya, Sevlievo and Mladost-Sofia within the ombudsman project of the Center for Social Practices, one of the founders of Coalition 2000.

It allows building up a database on the local anti-corruption initiatives. The web-site includes the reports of the civic observers, the local ombudsman, and the coordinators of the local projects, information about municipal practices, joint initiatives on local and regional level, specific cases of corruption in the region, etc.

www.online.bg/coalition2000