5. Civil Society against Corruption (PDF, 293 kb)

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106 ANTI-CORRUPTION REFORMS IN BULGARIA Open Government Initiative Project The Open Government Initiative (OGI) project is implemented in Bulgaria by DPK Consulting with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and covers activities related to institutional capacity building, prevention of corruption, enhancing the transparency and accountability, and reinforcing the rule of law, particularly in the areas of public sector auditing and public procurement. OGI supports the efforts of civil society to enlist broader public participation in the fight against corruption and encourages cooperation with state institutions, the media, and the private sector. Since the outset of the project, there have been three calls for proposals for anti-corruption projects with fourteen projects of civic organizations implemented in 2003 and 2004. 5.1.1. Public-Private Partnership Public-private partnerships were not the most obvious choice of going about anti-corruption reforms in 1997, and not only in Bulgaria. Bulgarian non-governmental organizations could be credited for managing to engage government in an area that was not only sensitive but also required considerable commitment of will and resources. Eight years later it could be safely said that cooperation between the civil sector and government is as a major prerequisite for successful anti-corruption reforms. At the same time, the interaction between state and civic organizations involves a number of inherent strains. Anti-corruption initiatives and efforts launched by NGOs in Bulgaria continued to face an essentially ambivalent attitude on the part of the state. Since corruption came on the agenda, governments have wavered between the aspiration to identify with the values of transparency and integrity, on the one hand, and the reluctance to publicly acknowledge corruption, particularly at its higher ranks, on the other. The inconsistent anti-corruption efforts and the discrepancy between political rhetoric and actual policies contributed to the alienation between government and the public. Among other things, this has enhanced the need for greater role of NGOs in anti-corruption. Attitudes in parliament towards corruption were equally marked by ambivalence as the parliamentary bodies, trusted with tackling it, could not incorporate anti-corruption priorities in the agenda setting of the legislature. This adversely affected the anti-corruption cooperation between governing majorities and non-governmental organizations. Another factor undermining public-private partnerships has been partisanship. Political parties and politicians frequently tried to present a better public image by associating with NGO anti-corruption efforts.
CIVIL SOCIETY AGAINST CORRUPTION 107 This has hampered both the effectiveness of NGOs and the credit they take for their effort. Public-private partnership at the local level also faced certain problems. Many pre-election commitments of the local authorities to participate in joint anti-corruption initiatives with the civic sector were not met at all or failed to lead to the creation of permanent mechanisms of publicprivate partnership or to any tangible anti-corruption results. Despite these challenges public-private partnerships have become the most effective mechanism through which anti-corruption reforms were implemented. These partnerships have come in numerous forms. NGO experts have played important role in the discussion and assessment of draft anticorruption legislation. A case in point is the elaboration by Coalition 2000 of the draft ombudsman law, its cooperation with the Customs Agency and the Ministry of Interior in identifying measures against smuggling and related corruption, as well as with the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and the Ministry of the Economy in developing extensive measures to restrict unregistered employment and reduce the regulatory burden of the state. Monitoring the integrity of public services of high corruption risk is another area where Coalition 2000 and a number of watchdog organizations have been active. NGOs have received and investigated reported cases of corruption and, in partnership with state institutions and the media, helped put in place the conditions for improved public accountability and transparency and for curbing corrupt practices at the various levels of government. A local level anti-corruption network was also established on the initiative of Coalition 2000 in partnership with non-governmental organizations to monitor corruption risk zones in the municipal administration. Civil society organizations outside the capital city Sofia are increasingly active. This is crucial as policies undertaken by the government need to be supplemented local level effort engaging citizens and thus ensuring that policies keep their relevance and government receives feedback. For example, since 1997 Coalition 2000 and other NGOs have initiated the establishment of local institutions of the ombudsman type (public mediators). Even before an adequate legal framework was put in place, similar institutions were set up in a number of municipalities (Sofia, Veliko Turnovo, Razgrad, Zavet, and others) and started operating upon the initiative of civil society in cooperation with the local authorities. It should also be noted that non-governmental organizations themselves continue to be vulnerable to corruption. Enhanced accountability is needed for two main reasons: the majority of NGO funding in Bulgaria comes from foreign public sources; there could be justified public mistrust of those non-governmental organizations which thrive on political protection and privileges.
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5. Civil Society against Corruption (PDF, 293 kb)

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