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Meeting of the Forum members, December 16, 2025
Video recording of the Forum meeting, December 16, 2025
Presentation OG Forum.pdfPresentation prepared and shared with members of the Forum
Internal Working meeting, December 15, 2025
Participants: Flurim (Ministry lead), Sakibe (COE), and Veronica (Lead Consultant)
The planning call focused on reviewing early inputs into the co-creation process of the OGP National Action Plan (NAP) 2026-2028, clarifying the role of the National Forum on Open Government, and aligning on concrete next steps related to surveys, outreach, the January co-creation workshop, and communication arrangements.
Veronica presented the preliminary results from the co-creation surveys. At the time of the meeting (Monday, December 15), a total of 15 responses had been received. Most inputs came from Albanian-speaking public sector and civil society respondents, while participation from Serbian-speaking stakeholders remained very limited. Meeting participants agreed that additional outreach was necessary to ensure broader engagement, particularly from underrepresented groups, before the surveys are closed. The original deadline was December 20th.
To address this, the following actions were agreed:
Outreach through National Forum members starting 16 December;
A reminder issued by the Ministry via social media;
Keep the same deadline of 20 December;
Targeted outreach support from Veronica, Rinor, Denis, and other team members via their own channels and networks;
Direct follow-up by Veronica with participants from the 2023 Data Governance Academy;
Preparation of clearer and more engaging messages to encourage participation.
Role of the National Forum on Open Government
The discussion reaffirmed that the National Forum should function as an active governance and coordination mechanism, rather than a formal or symbolic body. Its role spans the entire NAP cycle:
Before approval: support in outreach, sharing surveys, promoting the initiative and the processes around NAPs co-creation, support in shaping priorities, discussing challenges, clustering ideas, others;
During co-creation: deliberating on proposals, refining commitments, and ensuring alignment with OGP standards along with national priorities and relevant reform agenda. Support during the co-creation workshop, etc.
After approval: supporting dialogue, follow-up, monitoring, evaluating progress, communicating about the results or there were progress is missing, and ensuring accountability during implementation.
This shared understanding will guide how the Forum is convened and how members are engaged in the coming months.
Co-creation workshop and donor engagement
It was proposed to look at the following key dates for the January co-creation process and associated events:
22 January: Full-day co-creation workshop (09:00–16:00)
23 January: Donor-focused workshop (09:30–11:00)
It was agreed that a dedicated meeting with donors will be organized following the co-creation workshop to present the results and emerging examples of commitments from the future NAP.
Communication and community-building
The meeting also addressed the need for clearer and more structured communication around open government processes. Two complementary mailing mechanisms will be established:
A Google Group for National Forum members to support operational coordination
A longer-term Google Group for the broader Open Government community (for example, everyone who will attend the Co-creation workshop and other OG Kosovo related events).
In parallel, it was discussed that it is incremental to start using more accessible formats to communicate about open government, including the idea of a podcast on Open Government to raise awareness and sustain engagement beyond formal meetings. That in itself might be a good example of the commitment from NAP.
Immediate tasks and responsibilities
Several short-term tasks were highlighted as critical for the smooth functioning of the Forum and upcoming activities. By 20 December, members of the Forum are expected to:
Submit short profiles and photos
Complete the co-creation survey themselves
Expectations for Forum members and next phases will be presented in a dedicated meeting on December 16, 2025.
October 29, 2025
A working meeting took place between members of the COE and members of the established WG, convenved by the Ministry of Local Government Administration (MLGA).
Context: In 2023, Kosovo became a member of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and adopted the National Action Plan 2023–2025. The main focus of the action plan is based on four pillars: digital governance, open data, citizen participation in decision-making, and anti-corruption.
Currently, the Minsitry is in the process of drafting the new action plan which began with this first meeting on Oct 29, and will be finalized by the end of 2025.
The working group meeting reflected on a number of aspects among which the experience of 2023-2025 Action Plan and ways in which to avoid the same approach with the new plan. There was a strong consensus on keeping a limited the number of commitments, focusing on realistic implementation, and ensuring the plan reflects Kosovo's ownership. Participants identified some thematic areas including data, procurement, digitalization (both institutional and local levels), participatory budgeting, capacity building, while emphasizing the importance of addressing internal government coordination challenges and leveraging existing initiatives.
More specifically: Internal coordination issues between institutions must be considered when designing commitments to avoid implementation bottlenecks. The OGP plan is a whole-of-government responsibility, not just MLGA's burden—this needs to be clearly communicated across all ministries. Previous plan suffered from poor feedback loops; commitment design must include built-in reporting mechanisms. Strong consensus that the new plan should be less ambitious in number (3-5 core commitments), focusing on depth rather than breadth.
participants also shared that it might be important to map the already existent donor support and initiatives:
World Bank (20 million EUR opportunity): Focus on digital IDs, digital data, data management, and security—strong potential for OGP alignment
USAID involvement: Previously supported participatory budgeting; opportunity to capitalize on and scale successful practices
Education digitalization funding: Already allocated in National Plan; can be leveraged through OGP framework
Successful practices which might be considered for scaling as part of the new plan:
Participatory budgeting: Proven success that should be documented, capitalized, and expanded.
Key considerations related to CSOs engagement
INGO vs. Local CSO Dynamics: Resource constraints on local CSOs due to INGO presence must be acknowledged in engagement strategy
Specialized CSO expertise: Organizations like OD Kosovo bring valuable thematic expertise and should be strategically engaged
CSO Experience as asset: Civil society has practical lessons learned that should inform commitment design (not just consultation, but co-creation)
Local-Central linkage: Co-creation processes should involve local government representatives to align strategic priorities and connect local with central-level commitments.
In moving forward, it is important to start from Stakeholder Mapping & Engagement:
Conduct comprehensive stakeholder mapping to identify potential partners for each thematic area which will be prioritized and considered for the new Plan.
Engage specialized CSOs based on thematic expertise
Include local government representatives in co-creation workshops
Online platform:
Establish dedicated online space for all OGP processes (timeline, documents, feedback, updates)
Ensure transparency and accessibility throughout co-creation
Survey approach:
Surveys can be shared more easily among stakeholders, with some WG members, Diana, for ex. can easily share surveys among relevant stakeholders for their input.
Immediate action items
Finalize thematic areas through follow-up consultation (survey + workshops)
Map stakeholders for each thematic area (government, CSO, donors, local government)
Establish online collaboration platform for transparency and documentation
Draft commitment concepts based on validated themes (November workshops)
Map strategic opportunities which might be aligned with the new plan (for ex the 20mln World Bank project)
Kosovo_OGP_initialdiscussions.pptxPresentation used to guide the first meeting of the WG and notes taken
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