News

We have successfully completed the campaign "November - month of public service discussions". Together with partner organizations, we conducted public service research at central and local levels. The purpose of these discussions is to provide an overview of all identified problems before decision makers and public institutions, findings, but also recommendations from researchers to improve service delivery in many selected areas of society. The recommendations provide a basis for initial steps to improve some of the analyzed services, and before that to open a public discussion for modernization of services for citizens. The Assembly has an obligation to supervise the work of public institutions from a functional, financial and in terms of implementation of the planned reforms, hence the delivery of services to users, and the basis for oversight hearings can be data and information from civil society organizations. Such synergy is not only a modern way of broad involvement of citizens in policy making and monitoring, but also a jointly strengthened influence for the implementation of reforms for the benefit of citizens.

Citizens have numerous problems in communicating and receiving services from institutions on a daily basis. Although they are generally satisfied with the delivery of services by public sector institutions, still in a deeper conversation and in a more detailed analysis, the problems are present everywhere, both centrally and locally, and relate to different aspects of the services:

- Information about the services that are incomplete and delay the receipt of the service,

- The quality of the service which is reflected in the quality of the documents, the professional conduct of the employees and the observance of the prescribed procedure,

- Non-transparency in the work,

- Human factor, error,

- Unequal treatment of service users on different grounds,

- Absurd flaws in the system and

- Absence of hearing for the needs of the citizens.

Summary recommendations for improving public services:

- Improving the availability of information about the services, but also their harmonization in all possible places where they are available.

- Publishing all services on the only website provided as a source of information on services for citizens - the portal www.uslugi.gov.mk and their digital delivery.

- Strengthening the capacities of the employees who work on direct delivery of services to the citizens, primarily through continuous trainings.

- Greater digitalization of procedures in the public sector will inevitably increase the quality of services because it will exclude part of the possibility of human error. Digitalization will equally lead to greater speed and efficiency in work

- Involvement of citizens in the design of services that they use themselves

- Opening wide debates in the public on the problems with public services, which would involve the users and the competent institutions to jointly find appropriate solutions, primarily in the interest and benefit of the citizens.

The campaign was organized within the program: "Improved service delivery for citizens citizens by active engagement of the Assembly", supported by the European Union and the Civica Mobilitas program, which aims to stimulate public debate to improve the quality of public services that are most often used by citizens.

Public service research reports conducted by civil society organizations can be found at the following link: https://bit.ly/3qqLJxS