After Minister Colak, the Director of the Anti Corruption Agency in Bosnia and Herzegovina Mr. Sead Lisak, expressed his gratitude for the study and the work of ReSPA especially getting the joint vision to establish standardized system oni issues related to income and asset declarations. He also informed the audience about the role and responsibilities, duties, obligations and competencies of the agency he leads.

The Director of ReSPA Mr. Suad Music was next and during his speech he offered his special thanks to Minister Colak and Mr. Lisak for their con5inuous support and for making possible the event. Among others he said " I am pleased to know that our joint work has raised attention in the region".  He said that ReSPA is facilitating the networking events with the intention of promoting regional exchange of experience and practices, learning from the EU but also from each-other. At the same time he also raised the issue of  improvement of good governance in the Western Balkans and how this study contributes towards this goal.

During her speech the representative of Transparency International of BiH identified some of the cases in the region.

National experts presented the findings of their respective countries.

More than 50 participants participated at the event. Accredited ambassadors in Bosnia and Herzegovina, representatives of European Delegation in BiH,  international organizations, civil society, government institutions, and media were among those present.

This event was covered by TV stations, radio and newspapers of BiH.

About the Study

The Corruption of the public officials is a continuous problem in the Western Balkans, as highlighted by many international reports.  Developing effective disclosure systems and integrating them into wider anti-corruption programmes are critical elements in that process, where income and asset declaration systems in particular play an important role. At the same time there are no studies that indicate how public officials hide unexplained income, what methods of verifications have been in place, how the issue of transparency and privacy is being dealt with?

This study (and the concept of income and asset declaration) is very important for all ReSPA’s beneficiaries –(Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo*) and enables them to continuously find new ways to improve their public administration systems, by creating and using useful mechanisms to verify information declared by public officials, by applying new skills and techniques to reach civil servants and, last but not least, by conducting forceful communication campaigns to foster transparency and ethics as well as integrity in the work of public administration.

In a detailed country by country presentation, for every aspect, the study highlights good practices abut also challenges and problems.

ReSPA in this report is offering a comparative overview, fostering the exchange of knowledge, experience and lessons learned within the region. The findings of the study once published, will shed more light towards the identification and recognition of the standards of transparency of public institutions in the region.

For direct download go to ReSPA Website: http://respaweb.eu/11/library#respa-publications-and-research-18