ArabiaGIS and Sakker el-Dekkaneh, in collaboration with the Union of Municipalities of Jezzine and MP Ghassan Moukheiber, organized a press conference at the Smallville Hotel, Badaro on September 18 to launch the first part of Baldati Madinati.  The campaign, which falls under Baladi Cap, aims to promote transparency, good governance, and open-access to information, as well as build communication networks between citizens and five municipalities within the Jezzine administrative district: Bkassine, Haitoura, Roum, Qaitouli, and Jezzine.

The project’s main outcome is a website, www.openwebcity.com, where each of the five municipalities can upload details of their budget, as well as accounting details of current and the past year’s projects.  Citizens can also create a personal profile on the website, allowing them to comment on posts, send in questions, and create petitions as a means of interacting with their municipalities.

ArabiaGIS and Sakker el-Dekkaneh were able to successfully implement the program with the five participating municipalities.  Both the citizens and municipalities showed positive interaction, discussing multiple issues concerning good governance and transparency such as the controversial topic of stonebreakers.  Mr. Khalil Harfouche, head of Jezzine Municipality, reiterated his commitment to Baldati Madinati while MP Ghassan Moukheiber discussed the issues of transparency and access to information with the press conference audience members.

The second phase of Baldati Madinati will take place in North Lebanon, with the aim of fostering transparency and good governance practices in the area.