“Of all public institutions, Parliaments enjoy particular legitimacy, as they are directly elected and represent the people”, said Philippe Guex, the Ambassador of Switzerland. “Our country is highly committed to promoting democratic institutions through its development cooperation, given its longstanding experience in decentralised governance and democracy. We hope that the Assembly of Vojvodina, through an innovative approach, is taking the lead in making stronger bonds with its citizens and actively involving them in decision-making.”
The Ambassador shared his view end February in the conference "E-Parliament: Digitization in the service of strengthening local democracy". The conference announced the launch of the e-parliament system in the Assembly of Vojvodina. The conference was also attended by the Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, the President of the Assembly of Vojvodina Istvan Pastor, the Provincial Prime Minister Igor Mirovic and the UNDP Resident Representative Francine Pickup.
“The results do not depend on finances, but on our will and motivation to transform our country into an efficient system for our citizens, and to make it competitive on the global market”, the Prime Minister said, after congratulating the Provincial Assembly on its new digital eParliament system. She praised both, the initiative of the Provincial Government and the successful partnership with the Swiss Government and UNDP.
The e-parliament platform will increase the transparency and accountability of the Assembly of Vojvodina, as all decisions of the Assembly will be available to the public and media shortly after the sessions. It will also result in significant savings, as documents are available electronically for Members of Parliament and do not need to be printed anymore. The e-parliament platform for the parliament of Vojvodina is customized for use in all six official languages in the Province.
“To be able to do their important work, parliaments must keep up with the development of technology and communication, and use new digital tools”, said Francine Pickup UNDP Resident Representative in Serbia. “Digitalization is an important driver for the achievement of all the Sustainable Development Goals. With the support of the Swiss Government, UNDP brings new technologies to parliaments that make the work of the assemblies more efficient and transparent and help establish a two-way communication with citizens.”
The e-parliament platform is provided through the “Strengthening the Oversight Role and Transparency of the Parliament” project, supported by the Government of Switzerland with EUR 4.5 million and implemented by UNDP. The project focuses overall on political dialogue, transparency and gender equality.
