Commitment: Strengthening transparency and good governance in Khoni Municipality
Commitment Description: Georgia is distinguished by the involvement of all three branches of government in the open government process, as well as the active participation of local self-governments. 9 out of 13 municipal bodies involved in the implementation of the OGP Georgia Action Plan (2018-2019) are committed to elaborate the transparency and integrity strategies which will facilitate establishing the guiding standards of integrity and transparency.

The transparent use of budget funds is the top priority for municipalities. In this regard, one of the significant challenges faced by some municipalities is lack of strategic documents designed for analyzing the challenges/threats occurring in the process of transparency and good governance, identifying ways of addressing them, and defining the actions to be carried out for strengthening the existing standards of transparent and good governance. Therefore, the introduction of transparency and integrity standards will significantly improve the quality of democratic governance in these municipalities. Outcome: The Transparency and Building Integrity Strategy (2019-2022), the respective Action Plan (2019-2020) and the monitoring framework have been developed and approved by the Municipality Assembly
Timeline: Start date - October 2018, End date - September 2019
OGP Thematic Areas: Transparency, Accountability, Engagement
Reporting Period: 2019, Annual
Lead Agency: Khoni Municipality City Hall
The transparency and Integrity Building Strategy and Action Plan documents for Khoni Municipality have been developed in close cooperation with the UNDP project Fostering Decentralization and Good Governance at the Local Level. The process of developing the Strategy and Action Plan included the following stages:

• Evaluation of municipal services and elaboration of situational analysis document
• Approval and validation of identified strategic priorities
• Elaboration of drafts documents of Strategy and Action Plan as well as monitoring and evaluation of framework document
• Public hearings and approval of strategic documents.

The transparency and Integrity Building Strategies of each municipality consist of four components:

1. Goals, objectives, principles, and elaboration process of strategic documents
2. Strategy priorities
3. Monitoring mechanism
4. Action Plan for implementing the Strategy.

The Transparency and Integrity Building Strategies are primarily designed to create a unified policy of transparency and integrity, enhance public confidence through increasing the transparency and accountability of municipal governments, ensure strengthening and involvement of civil society and establish transparent and accountable governance.

The objectives of the Transparency and Integrity Building Strategy are as follows:

• Strengthen the principles of integrity, openness, accountability, and transparency of municipal services
• Ensure participation of the civil sector in the process of enhancing transparency and integrity
• Increase public awareness on transparency and integrity enhancement.

To elaborate an effective evidence-based policy on transparency and integrity, the following priority areas were identified based on the Municipal Services Evaluation Survey conducted in the municipality:

1. Ensuring transparency of municipal services and access to public information
2. Human resource management and development
3. Elaboration and development of social policy