Congress organised workshops on open local government, political integrity and public ethics end of September for Chairpersons of Local Assemblies and municipal officers of Kosovo*. Participants learned about innovative approaches to citizens engagement and shared experiences in addressing challenges on questions of transparency and ethics. They also exchanged experiences with representatives from Albanian municipalities and Congress member Anne Colgan (Ireland, L, ILDG), County Councillor of Dun Loaghaire-Rathdown.

“Open government and good governance are at the core of the role of elected councillors,” underlined Anne Colgan, who encouraged elected councillors to involve citizens to ensure that local government deliver and are accountable to citizens for the quality of delivery.

Islam Husaj, Head of the Collegium of Chairpersons of the Municipal Assemblies stressed the importance of exchanging experience with members of the Congress and other municipalities to develop a better understanding of European standards and the application of the principles and tools of open local government in practice.

Executive Director of the Association of Kosovo Municipalities Sazan Ibrahimi pointed out that such initiatives contribute to strengthening public trust and establishing a culture of transparency, citizen participation and ethical governance at the local level.

The workshops were organised in partnership with the Association of Kosovo Municipalities in the framework of the project “Promoting local democracy in Kosovo*”, implemented by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities within the framework of the Council of Europe co‑operation with Kosovo*. The project aims to improve local self-government and the quality of local democracy by fostering multilevel dialogue and strengthening the capacities of local authorities on political integrity, public ethics and open government principles.