This Wednesday, the Lisbon City Council (CML) unanimously approved the Transparency and Corruption Prevention Strategy, which will be in force until 2026, as part of the municipality’s commitment to act in the interests of “a more honest, transparent and trustworthy organization.”
“The proposal for a Transparency and Corruption Prevention Strategy arose as a result of a broad internal participatory process that included workers, leaders and elected officials, as well as an external process that included input from citizens and organizations from the political, academic, social and business sectors,” the document says. the document was signed by the Advisor for Transparency and Prevention of Corruption, Joana Almeida (independent elected by the Novos Tempos coalition – PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM/Aliança).
Once the council makes the proposal viable, it must be submitted to the Lisbon Municipal Assembly for approval in a closed meeting.
The document was subject to a public consultation period of 30 working days, which ran from December 22, 2023 to February 5, 2024, during which 26 proposals were received, “of which 17 were accepted and included in the proposal.”
“Review of the inputs received led to the reformulation of the measure “Development of procedural guidelines” and the inclusion of a new measure “Implementation of tools to support the strengthening of mechanisms to prevent the risks of corruption and related violations”, says the transparency adviser. and preventing corruption.
Through the proposed Transparency and Corruption Prevention Strategy, “CML intends to lead by example in its commitment to act consistently and persistently to create a more honest, transparent and trustworthy organization.”
The document is based on three axes – people, organizations and the city – and on three pillars of intervention – prevention and control, participation and accountability – and is organized around nine goals, including promoting a culture of ethics and integrity, increasing transparency and participatory governance, introducing mechanisms of meritocracy and create a culture of continuous improvement through planning, control and risk management.
Other goals, according to the proposal, are to develop internal communication and knowledge management, facilitate access to information and reuse of data, provide fast and transparent services, clear and uniform communication and accountability to citizens, and enhance ethics in relationships. with public and private organizations.
“Measures were linked to each strategic objective, and organic units responsible for its development and implementation were identified” to strengthen a culture of ethics, transparency, commitment and accountability, helping to strengthen citizen confidence in the institution, the chamber said. .
According to the proposal, the Transparency and Anti-Corruption Strategy will span three years, from 2023 to 2026.
The Transparency and Prevention Strategy began to be developed in May 2022 with the creation of a working group led by the Office of Councilor Joana Almeida to respond to the legal obligations relating to the General Regime for Prevention and Corruption (RGPC). In this context, the Department of Transparency and Prevention of Corruption was created in April 2023.
The executive body of the Lisbon Chamber consists of 17 members, seven of whom are elected from the Novos Tempos coalition (PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM/Alliance), who are the only members with specific responsibilities and govern without an absolute majority – three from the PS, two from the PCP, three from Cidadaãos Por Lisboa (elected by the PS/Livre coalition), one from Livre and one from BE.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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