United Nations conference in Barcelona to promote greater citizen participation and good governance

For three days Barcelona is to hold an international conference in collaboration with the United Nations, in which political experts and representatives of governments from all five continents will discuss participation, transparency and e-government. The meeting will culminate on Wednesday, when the Declaration of Barcelona on Good Governance Practices and Transparency will be presented.
The meeting will be attended by the Deputy General Secretary of the UN, Sha Zukang as well as the Catalan President, José Montilla, and the Minister for Home Affairs and Institutional Relations, Joan Saura. During the opening conference, Saura stated that the transparency of political parties should be increased. In order to achieve this, Saura said “we must carry out external audits and publish their results”. In order to restore trust among the citizens, Saura considers as essential “the drafting of a law regarding access to information that ensures the right of all citizens to access all information from public institutions”.

In 2003, the United Nations General Assembly designated the 23rd of June as Public Service Day in order to celebrate the importance of public service in the community, highlight its contribution to the development of society, and recognise the work of government workers.