On 5 February, a forum was held, organized by the Association for Democratic Initiative, at which the findings from analyses of political parties were presented. These analyses were conducted within the framework of the project “Data-Driven Democracy: Monitoring Political Parties for a More Transparent Future.”
In conditions of limited transparency of political parties, lack of access to information on their financing, and insufficient intra-party accountability, a systematic analysis of publicly available data is necessary. The preparation of public policy documents enabled a more in-depth understanding of the key weaknesses in party transparency.
As part of the training, representatives of TI–Macedonia presented the Integrity Watch Platform – https://integritywatch.mk/. Integrity Watch Platform is developed by Transparency International – Macedonia within the project “Integrity Watch in the Western Balkans and Turkey: Civil society combating corruption with political integrity data” financially supported by the European Union and the regional project SMART Balkans – “Civil Society for Shared Society in the Western Balkans” funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway.
In front of the participants, the functionalities of the platform were presented, including its components and how data can be filtered, compared and used to detect corruption risks. Special sections of the platform were demonstrated, explaining what data is included in its three areas: financing of political parties, public procurement and exploitation of mineral resources and hydropower plants. The training provided an opportunity for discussion among participants, who shared insights based on their experiences on how the platform can be used, what data could be included in the future and how it can be shared and promoted to a larger number of users. This was an excellent opportunity to promote the platform at local level and to familiarize institutions, civil society organizations and media from this region of Macedonia with it.
