Foreign Policy Initiative BH
  • English
  • B/H/S
  • Canvas English
    • PROJECTS
    • NEWS
    • PUBLICATIONS
    • ABOUT US
      • OUR TEAM
      • FPI BH RESEARCH INTERNSHIP
      • DONORS
      • PARTNERS
      • FINANCIAL REPORTS
    • BLOG
    • CONTACT US
    • DIPLOMACY TALKS PODCAST
Foreign Policy Initiative BH
  • PROJECTS
  • NEWS
  • PUBLICATIONS
  • ABOUT US
    • FPI BH RESEARCH INTERNSHIP
    • DONORS
    • PARTNERS
    • FINANCIAL REPORTS
  • FPI BH BLOG
  • DIPLOMACY TALKS PODCAST – FPI BH
  • CONTACT US
  • English
  • B/H/S

Opening governments in times of lockdown

Posted By: admin
Date: June 9, 2020
Categories: News
Comments: 0

Lessons learned for citizens-oriented administrations from the COVID-19 crisis in the Western Balkans

The ongoing coronavirus crisis has spurred a myriad of measures from governments in the Western Balkans to better inform their citizens and provide services in emergency circumstances. Yet, responses to the pandemic and the institution of unprecedented lockdown measures have introduced various challenges to already fragile standards of transparency, accountability and rule of law, as well as have exposed shortcomings in the functioning of public administrations, in the Western Balkans.

The crisis is increasingly being used as an excuse to backslide on previously achieved progress. The way emergency measures were adopted and enforced, and how citizens were informed, require close scrutiny, so as to ensure that the practices developed during this crisis do not become the “new normal”.

This policy brief, developed as part of the regional WeBER initiative, examines the approaches of public administrations in the Western Balkans to the COVID-19 crisis. It looks at the quality of communication and implementation of the measures taken by the governments of the Western Balkans to respond to the pandemic. It argues that simple and streamlined communication and transparency in the implementation of such measures are equally, if not more, important in times of emergencies and crises, when citizens are more vulnerable in their relationship with the government than in normal times. Based on an overview of positive and negative practices exhibited in the region, this brief offers a set of recommendations for governments to consider as soon as possible, in order to ensure maximum learning from this experience. There is a two-fold benefit to considering these recommendations. Firstly, they may prove valuable in the event of a second wave of pandemic (as is projected by epidemiologists), which might require the re-imposition of some measures in the coming months. Secondly, certain precautionary measures are likely to remain in place even after lockdowns and restrictions across the region are ended, with the implementation of these recommendations potentially of benefit to citizens in the near future as well.

Download the policy brief here.

Analysis “Energy Geopolitics in the Balkans – Geopolitics and European integration of the Western Balkans”
03 Jun, 2020
Opening governments in times of lockdown
09 Jun, 2020

Related Articles

V4 support WB6 for the common regional market

Study visits

NORTH MACEDONIA’S SOFT DIPLOMACY

Search

Recent Posts

  • V4 support WB6 for the common regional market
  • Regional economic cooperation in V4 and WB6: sharing experience and knowledge in the context of Common Regional Market and post-COVID recovery
  • Study visits
  • NORTH MACEDONIA’S SOFT DIPLOMACY
  • CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Copyright ©2021 Foreign Policy Initiative, developed by Centralne Operacije All Rights Reserved
Wednesday, 21, Sep
V4 support WB6 for the common regional market
Wednesday, 24, Aug
Regional economic cooperation in V4 and WB6: sharing experience and knowledge in the context of Common Regional Market and post-COVID recovery
Friday, 15, Apr
Study visits
Wednesday, 29, Dec
NORTH MACEDONIA’S SOFT DIPLOMACY
Thursday, 23, Dec
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Wednesday, 22, Dec
Small Grant Facility within Regional WeBER 2.0 Pproject: Meetings with Grantee Organizations from Bosnia i Herzegovina

Welcome back,