Kosova Democratic Institute (KDI) and NGO AKTIV, today published the Transparency Index for the 38 municipalities of the Republic of Kosovo for 2019.

Municipalities are evaluated on a total of 48 indicators, which are based on local legislation and best practices of transparency and public accountability.

The most transparent municipality for 2019 is Rahovec with a total of 85 points out of 96, while the least transparent municipality is North Mitrovica with 39 points.

The ten municipalities with the most satisfactory level of transparency are: Rahovec (85 points), South Mitrovica and Pristina (83 points), Drenas, Vitia and Malisheva (80 points), Suhareka, Gjakova, Peja and Vushtrri (78 points).

The five municipalities with the lowest level of transparency are: Deçan (50 points), Zubin Potok (46 points), Fushe Kosova (45 points), Junik (44 points) and North Mitrovica (39 points).

At the opening of the event, KDI Executive Director Ismet Kryeziu said that in addition to measuring transparency in 38 municipalities as in previous years, KDI has actively worked in 11 municipalities organizing and mediating more than 240 meetings with community and representatives of municipal authorities to find solutions to local problems and priorities.

Caleb Waugh from NGO Aktiv emphasized the importance of highlighting the role of non-governmental organizations in monitoring institutions and exerting positive pressure to ensure transparency and good governance.

The British ambassador to Kosovo, Nicholas Abbott, said that “Transparency is an essential value of democracy. A leader with integrity should tell his citizens how their taxes are being spent and whether the promises made in the election campaign are being kept. ”

Whereas, the Minister of Local Government Administration, Emilia Redzepi, stated that “Apart from principle, transparency is a constitutional and legal obligation of the authorities, both at local and central level. I will focus on the issue of law enforcement on languages, and the use of public property, ”she said.

Beyond the overall measurement of transparency, municipalities have also been praised for performance in specific categories, such as organizing budget hearings or for visible efforts to improve the level of transparency from previous years. In this regard the following prizes were also awarded:

· “The most transparent municipality for 2019”, Rahovec

· “Municipal Assembly with the largest number of budget meetings organized in 2019”, that of Malisheva.

· “Executive with the largest number of budget meetings organized for 2019”, Suhareka.

· “Municipality with the biggest improvement in transparency level for 2019”, that of Gracanica.

Download full report here.

The project “Increasing the Accountability of Local Government Institutions” is being implemented with funding from the UK Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the British Embassy in Pristina.