In December 2023, the Government adopted the Transparency Strategy of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, with an action plan 2023-2026, proposed by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Good Governance Policies. The strategy was prepared through a broad and comprehensive process, which included representatives from state institutions, the Association of Journalists of Macedonia, the civil society sector, as well as experts in the field, with the support and in cooperation with the Metamorphosis Foundation.
Metamorphosis Foundation continuously assesses the openness of institutions through the Openness Index and provides recommendations on how to improve good governance, and we have committed to monitoring the implementation of the corresponding action plan to see how much the institutions take into account the feedback we provide them.
The Action Plan for the Implementation of the Transparency Strategy covers a period of two years (December 2023 – December 2026), and consists of six chapters containing several strategic commitments, further divided into measures and activities. For each activity, a timeframe and a responsible body for implementation are specified, as well as success indicators. Metamorphosis monitors the implementation of the activities according to the success indicators provided in the action plan itself, so this can serve as a shadow report on its implementation.
This monitoring assesses the implementation of the action plan in two dimensions: (1) whether it is implemented on time and (2) whether it is implemented fully, in a random sample of 40 institutions: 20 ministries and 20 executive authorities and bodies. Four different questionnaires were prepared according to the type of institution and the activities that those institutions were supposed to implement in the first year (January 2024 – January 2025): (1) The General Secretariat as the central monitoring institution and implementing body, (2) Ministries and executive authorities and bodies, (3) The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Digitalization, which, in addition to the general obligations that apply to all institutions, are also responsible for implementing specialized activities, and (4) The Agency for Protection of the Right to Free Access to Public Information due to its responsibility for implementing specialized activities.
