Capacity Development in Europe & CIS

Responsibilities for dealing with corruption are shared by ministries, and state agencies and offices, as they relate to specific measures of the national programme to fight corruption and organized crime – making DACI’s coordination role between all of the offices of key importance.

 

Since Montenegro’s independence in 2006, Montenegro has joined the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Montenegro signed the EU Stabilisation and Association Agreement in October 2007 and officially applied for EU membership in December 2008. This backdrop requires the streamlining of anti-corruption policies, and enhancing of international commitments. To add to this, the European Commission has made it clear that Montenegro needs to confront the issue of corruption on its way to EU membership.

 

“The Directorate for Anti-corruption Initiative was established in 2001, with the mandate to, inter alia, conduct preventive and promotional activities and raise public awareness on corruption,” said Vesna Ratkovic, Director of the Directorate for Anti-corruption Initiative.

 

The organization’s range of competencies was broadened in 2007, says Ms. Ratkovic, when DACI was entrusted with conducting surveys and researching the root causes of corruption and the form it takes.

 

“As anti-corruption efforts gained momentum, DACI responded by significantly strengthening its administrative capacities,” said Ms. Ratkovic. “The capacity assessment was deemed necessary in light of the most recent developments. We are grateful for the assistance provided by the Bratislava Regional Centre. Similarly, we appreciate deeply the partnership that developed between DACI and UNDP in Montenegro, which facilitated a number of joint activities and events.”

 

During 2008, the UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre (BRC) Public Administration Reform an Anti-Corruption team and the Capacity Development Practice, in cooperation with UNDP Montenegro, carried out a series of activities in order to assess the capacities of DACI and propose necessary reforms at the level of the enabling environment, the organization and the individual as well as training for the agency.

 

“A strong partnership between UNDP Montenegro and DACI, reaffirmed through the implementation of our Anti-Corruption project, provided a basis for the engagement of BRC expertise and for conducting the assessment, which has been identified as one of the key priorities of our joint work” said Boris Ristovic, Anti-Corruption Project Manager, UNDP Montenegro. “Through the assessment, UNDP and DACI have been provided with a valuable overview of the national anti-corruption institutional infrastructure and legislative framework, along with the analysis of DACI’s potential and development models. This exercise strengthened our support to institutional reform and it surely indicates how the UNDP system should coordinate its capacities for the benefit of host countries.”

 

Earlier in 2008, representatives from DACI provided an overview of the main challenges that its office is facing in fulfilling its mandate, and agreed to apply UNDP’s capacity development methodology in order to identify capacity assets and gaps at the level of the enabling environment, the organization and the individual.

 

As part of the assessment in December, meetings were held with the Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, the Commission for Establishing the Existence of the Conflict of Interest, the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Criminal Police Department, the Ministry of Justice, the Human Resources Management Authority, the NGO Mans, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and UNDP Montenegro. This allowed the capacity assessment team to understand how DACI cooperates with other state agencies and the main challenges to be addressed for enhancing the capacities of DACI at the level of the enabling environment.

 

An introductory session on capacity development and assessment was provided to DACI staff. Focus group and individual interviews with DACI staff were conducted to check the reliability of results of a self assessment questionnaire, (developed with UNDP Montenegro and DACI and filled out earlier in the year) and to gather useful information on DACI’s mandate, concrete activities and capacities at the organizational and individual level.

 

Results were shared with DACI and UNDP Montenegro and a set of recommendations were provided for activities to address capacities at the level of the enabling environment, the organization and the individual, specifically in the areas of human resources management, information management, accountability and specialized technical training.

 

A series of capacity development responses are currently under development, in cooperation with DACI staff, the UNDP Montenegro Country Office, the UNDP Anti-Corruption team (Democratic Governance Practice) and the Capacity Development Practice.