13.10.2011
Dear Mayors, dear Participants and Colleagues,
I am very pleased to be here at this conference in honor of the European Local Democracy week. I am also pleased to see that there is such a large participation here from around the country. That Sweden is supporting the Joint Integrated Development Program with 45 million Swedish kronor over three years, says a lot about the importance also we attach to empowerment of local democracy and communities, decentralization, and of course to human rights and gender. In this endeavor we work closely with the Government of Moldova, the Chancellery of State, Parliament and of course representatives from local government.
Sweden has a long tradition of decentralized governance. We are convinced that this is an important reason why our society has developed into what it is today. It is at the local level that the most intensive contacts between the state and the citizen take place. Therefore, it is at the local level where most can be done to promote the values of human rights and equality, and also political participation.
The value that we attach to the principle of local self-governance is seen in how it is codified in the very first article of one of the key laws that form our constitution, the so-called Swedish Instrument of Government:
Art. 1.All public power in Sweden proceeds from the people.
Swedish democracy is founded on the free formation of opinion and on universal and equal suffrage. It is realised through a representative and parliamentary form of government and through local self-government.
Swedish democracy is founded on the free formation of opinion and on universal and equal suffrage. It is realised through a representative and parliamentary form of government and through local self-government.
A governing principle of the Swedish model is that local matters should be dealt with at the local level. The closer to the citizen decisions are made on how and what services should be delivered, the higher the likelihood that services meet the demand and the needs of the customer: the citizen of the community.
The governing body at the local level, the municipality, or kommun in Swedish, is the primary provider of services to the population. By law, municipalities are obliged to provide certain services, and some services municipalities have the right to decide themselves to provide. Compulsory services include education from kindergarten through high school, healthcare, social services, care for the elderly and the disabled, and water and waste management.
As the complexity of these services has increased over the years, so has the expectations and demands from the citizens on the quality of services provided. To improve the quality of service, Sweden has undergone a process through which the number of municipalities has been consolidated.
Sweden is a geographically vast country with a relatively modest population. Back in 1951, we had a population of 7 million - and almost 2500 municipalities. Today, we have a population of 9 ,4 million, and 290 municipalities. Due to the uneven distribution of the population, differing geographical sizes, number of businesses present, cultural differences, municipalities still come in sizes from very small to very large. However, the average population in a Swedish municipality today is around 20-30 thousand. With larger-sizemunicipalities, they can offer good schooling and primary healthcare - among other services - throughout the country.
While provision of high-quality services by the local authorities is a central priority, it cannot exist without empowered citizens who take part in decisions about what and how local authorities should provide services and take decisions that affect your life as an individual.
Most decisions which directly affect individuals are taken at local level, which is why transparency, participation and accountability are at least as crucial at local level as on national level. It is central to our values of democracy and rule-of-law that our citizens, who we serve, have a right to know what is decided and how it is decided.
Just like in the Swedish Parliament, the meetings of, the municipal councils, are public events where anyone may attend, to observe what is said and how decisions are made. In addition to the open-door policy during the plenary meetings, many municipalities ensure live transmission of the sittings through local radio, TV or through the internet.
Participation should not be only for those who are already empowered, but must be made possible for everyone, in particular for weaker groups that traditionally do not participate actively in public life. Genuine democracy can therefore only be achieved when those entrusted by the people with serving the public interest- actively look for ways to ensure that all parts of the population can take part in important decisions rather than just fulfill the letters of the law. The crucial concept is that the task of local authorities is to serve the people, not vice versa. This is why local authorities, beyond the formal decision-making process, should maintain a constant dialogue with its citizens to ensure that all those affected know in advance what decisions will be made, and have a chance to provide their opinion and mobilize others, if necessary.
There are countless examples of how community groups have mobilized against new stretches for roads that would affect environmentally sensitive areas, or plans to change the architecture of cities, or where to build a football field or a sports arena. This, in general, is seen not as a defeat for the political class, but as a victory for democracy. A local politician who would like to continue to be successful would be wise to ensure that such proposals are discussed in public before formal decisions are made.
Transparency is what contributes to accountability of local authorities before the population. Transparency in decision making is therefore an intrinsic part of democratic accountability.
We need to talk about democratic accountability as opposed to administrative accountability. Administrative accountability is the internal accountability between different levels of government and is in its essence a formal, bureaucratic accountability. Democratic accountability, on the other hand, is the direct responsibility towards the client and the master - the population. This is not only about the formal responsibility, but also about fulfilling the spirit of the agreement between the people and those that the people entrust with a task, a social contract if you will.
A few words on gender equality in local governance. Most Swedish local authorities have consistently worked on integrating a gender perspective in their daily business. For this they can apply for funding from the central level and the municipalities themselves decide on how to carry the work forward. They do this for the civil servants in the municipality, but foremost they do it for all their citizens. Most municipalities have decided on clear gender objectives in their every-day business. Kalmar kommun, on the East coast, has declared: "Kalmar kommun shall be a municipality where women and men, girls and boys, shall have the same rights, possibilities and duties." And the responsibility for integrating a gender approach rests with every part of the municipality.
In Piteå kommun, in the far North: the municipal chairman has declared: "I see sustainable equality as a way to become even better at what we do." Thus Piteå has focused on education and training of the local politicians and higher civil servants, they have developed gender statistics, and run a number of pilot projects to develop methods that best suits their municipality and their citizens, men and women alike. The work can be followed on the web-sites of the municipalities.
The Republic of Moldova recently took a very important step towards increasing transparency by joining the Open Government Data Initiative. The government´s E-governance Centre has, with support from the World Bank and others, facilitated that detailed reports on all public funds spent at any level in Moldova - from the central government to the smallest Primaria - can be seen by every citizen and every journalist. The data is of such detail that we see how much was spent on salaries in a village school or any other local institution. Providing such unprecedented level of transparency creates conditions for a more efficient democratic accountability by the population and by the media.
However, it is only when local authorities realize how they can benefit from promoting public accountability and explain the numbers to the population that we will see the real changes; when local authorities see that public accountability is not only a duty but is in its own interest as it will help create a partnership with more efficient services and increased trust in local authorities. Because such trust, and such true accountability, will contribute to a climate where the process of decentralization that started in Moldova many years ago, but never was finished, can draw nearer its completion.
Thank you.
