Questions/Answers
Question 1
Please briefly describe the initiative, what issue or challenge it aims to address and specify its objectives. (300 words maximum)
In mid-November last year, the Capital Governerate launched the "MyCapital" smartphone application and the newly renovated website during a press conference held in the Governorate's building in Qudaibiya. In the presence of His Excellency Mr. Amin Al-Sharqawi, the United Nations Resident Coordinator and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Resident Representative in Bahrain, and His Excellency Dr. Zakareya Al-Khaja, Acting Vice Chief Executive of eTransformation for the Information & eGovernment Authority.
This step comes in line with the Governorate's plan to update and develop the channels of communication with the people, after providing the two platforms with distinctive technologies in the field of digital publishing, which helps the Governorate to maintain the capacity of building bridges of communication with the people and shorten the distances and speed of reaching citizens and residents of the Governorate. This is based on the values of the Governorate's work, which are cooperation, quality, professionalism, transparency, accountability, where the Governorate is clearly applying these values in all the means of communication it uses, in terms of serving citizens and residents and the advancement of their services.
The aim of the "MyCapital" application is to enhance the process of communication with the public by digitizing the process of communication with the people of the Governorate. The application allows those who are within the geographical perimeters of the capital to take pictures of the item that the proposal or complaint is about, attach the details, and then send it to the concerned individuals in the Governorate. Users can easily follow the progress of their proposal or complaint, and whether the request has been processed or is still under review
Question 2
Please explain how the initiative is linked to the selected category. (100 words maximum)
The Capital Governorate is described as a coordinating body, more precisely; it is considered a link between government agencies on one side, and citizens and residents on the other. Therefore, the Governorate is considered the best intermediary to build relations with and between the segments of society in order to understand their needs and provide services that meet their aspirations.
In light of the open media space that allowed everyone to express their opinions in a transparent and objective manner without prejudice or neglegt, the province has allowed all users within the application to follow up all the complaints and proposals submitted by the people and visitors of the Governorate.
Question 3
a. Please specify which SDGs and target(s) the initiative supports and describe concretely how the initiative has contributed to their implementation. (200 words maximum)
Aligning the (MyCapital) app with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG):
The Capital Governorate has sought to align the (MyCapital) application with the 2030 SDGs, most notably SDG11: Sustainable Cities and Civil Societies, which aims to conserve cities in a way that continues to create jobs and prosperity. The (MyCapital) application contributes to the monitoring the requests and observations of citizens, residents and visitors to develop public facilities, and send them easily and conveniently to those concerned in the Governorate in order to follow up their implementation with the relevant service agencies, in order to achieve the intended urban development.
b. Please describe what makes the initiative sustainable in social, economic and environmental terms. (100 words maximum)
As a result, the Capital Governorate has incorporated the most active representatives, with regards to the app, in the Volunteer Work Award for the category of users of the (MyCapital) application within the Capital Governorate Volunteer Document launched by the Governorate in 2018 in cooperation with the United Nations Office in Bahrain, in addition to six international agencies and organizations under the umbrella of the United Nations. (the United Nations Development Program, the United Nations Environment Program, the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations Volunteers Program). This gives the document an international recognition, in addition to the support of strategic partners: The Labor Fund (Tamkeen) and the Ahli United Bank. This initiative is in line with the 17 goals agreed at the United Nations in accordance with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by 193 countries at a historic UN summit in 2015.
Organizing the role of volunteers in the (MyCapital) application goes in line with an international document that specifies the average hours where they monitor the problems and demands of the people in their villages and regions. This is part of an innovative document that unifies volunteering fields, especially in the field of development. This goes hand in hand with the aspirations of the Governorate to raise the perception of individuals and integrate them in the development of society due to its direct and positive effect on the development of social responsibility, which is a gateway through which the community can seek to improve the lives of its members and others by volunteering in various activities and events throughout the year, thus contributing to enhancing community partnerships in the capital Governorate in order to achieve multiple objectives behind this initiative, the most important of which are: the development of the spirit of cooperation and integration with various forces, Assuring the development of the spirit of giving in individuals, and to achieve change-oriented development.
Question 4
a. Please explain how the initiative has addressed a significant shortfall in governance, public administration or public service within the context of a given country or region. (200 words maximum)
Capital Governorate used his mobile app to enhance the communication with its people,and it will help to find the area of improvements in the public serviced provided to the people.
MyCapital App will help the Governorate to maintain the capacity of building bridges of communication with the people and shorten the distances and speed of reaching citizens and residents of the Governorate. This is based on the values of the Governorate's work, which are cooperation, quality, professionalism, transparency, accountability, where the Governorate is clearly applying these values in all the means of communication it uses, in terms of serving citizens and residents and the advancement of their services.
b. Please describe how your initiative addresses gender inequality in the country context. (100 words maximum)
MyCapital App is open for public ,all genders could easily download it, and use its features.
c. Please describe who the target group(s) were, and explain how the initiative improved outcomes for these target groups. (200 words maximum)
MyCapital App is targeting all the citizens and resistant allowing people to contribute in developing their city.
Question 5
a. Please describe how the initiative was implemented including key developments and steps, monitoring and evaluation activities, and the chronology. (300 words)
The promotional efforts of the Governorate led to downloading the application by around 2161 people on their smart phones since its launch in 2017 till this day. In 2018, the Governorate received around 368 complaints and requests, while the total number of complaints and requests from January to the end of October 2019 reached approximately 516 complaints and requests including written and illustrated reports on security, social and service issues, which is an increase of about 40% when compared to last year. This percentage is expected to increase with the end of the current year. The rising trend witnessed in 2019 is clear from the above when compared to the previous year, where it reflects the growing roles played by the Capital Governorate through the increasing quality of complaints and requests due to the success of the province in promoting its competences and tasks assigned to it through the different media outlets. This information took root with the receivers that formed a positive image of the Governorate being a link between the people and the executive bodies represented by the ministries and government institutions
In 2019, and thanks to the coordination and cooperation with the relative authorities, the Governorate was able to resolve 276 complaints and requests, which is 53% of the total reports received through the application, currently 223 complaints are still being resolved, while the remaining 17 cases are either duplicated or are from outside the Capital Governorate. When compared to 2018, the number of resolved complaints was 247, while the complaints being resolved was 116, with 5 cancelled complaints.
Compared with the previous year, the growing role played by the Capital Governorate is embodied in the high rate of implementation and interaction of the concerned authorities with the complaints and requests received by the Governorate, which is due to the ability of the Governorate to vigorously follow up and solve the problems and requests of the people with the required capacity
b. Please clearly explain the obstacles encountered and how they were overcome. (100 words)
the main obstacles was how to promote using and downloadThe Capital Governorate has developed a promotional plan for the "MyCapital" application with the aim of introducing the people of the Governorate to the services provided by the application and its mechanism, using various means of communication available, where it prepared a short introductory film , which was broadcast on Bahrain TV, as well as introductory brochures published in the Governorate's accounts across the social media, in addition to using local newspapers to promote the application in order to reach the largest possible number of citizens and residents in the Governorate.
Question 6
a. Please explain in what ways the initiative is innovative in the context of your country or region. (100 words maximum)
Governorate's local community, and the role it contributes in delivering the complaints and requests of the people to the concerned authorities in accordance with the highest standards of transparency and objectivity
• People can register the proposal or complaint through the application, which would require registering their data so that the Governorate would communicate with all users of the application.
• Before completing the registration mechanism, the system will notify the registered person, via the application, with a text message containing a secret code to complete the attached application and to confirm the user of the system.
b. Please describe, if relevant, how the initiative drew inspiration from successful initiative in other regions, countries and localities. (100 words maximum)
Capital Governorate is very keen to adapt initialization of digital services and using latest technologies such as mobile applications taking in consideration global best practices from different global and local cities.
Question 7
a. Has the initiative been transferred and/or adapted to other contexts (e.g. other cities, countries or regions) to your organization’s knowledge? If yes, please explain where and how. (200 words maximum)
No
b. If not yet transferred/adapted to other contexts, please describe the potential for transferability. (200 words maximum)
its adaptablein any city that promote communicating with people in accountable and transparent system.
Question 8
a. What specific resources (i.e. financial, human or others) were used to implement the initiative? (100 words maximum)
Financial, Human, and technical services.
b. Please explain what makes the initiative sustainable over time, in financial and institutional terms. (100 words maximum)
this application is designed to increase the efficiency of communication and he people, using technology is one of the most important factor of sustainability and smart solutions,
Question 9
a. Was the initiative formally evaluated either internally or externally?
Yes
b. Please describe how it was evaluated and by whom? (100 words maximum)
evaluating was done internally by using data analysis and system reports.
c. Please describe the indicators and tools used. (100 words maximum)
number of users , and numbers of complains or suggestions.
d. What were the main findings of the evaluation (e.g. adequacy of resources mobilized for the initiative, quality of implementation and challenges faced, main outcomes, sustainability of the initiative, impacts) and how this information is being used to inform the initiative’s implementation. (200 words maximum)
Downloading the application by around 2161 people on their smart phones since its launch in 2017 till this day. In 2018, the Governorate received around 368 complaints and requests, while the total number of complaints and requests from January to the end of October 2019 reached approximately 516 complaints and requests including written and illustrated reports on security, social and service issues, which is an increase of about 40% when compared to last year. This percentage is expected to increase with the end of the current year. The rising trend witnessed in 2019 is clear from the above when compared to the previous year, where it reflects the growing roles played by the Capital Governorate through the increasing quality of complaints and requests due to the success of the province in promoting its competences and tasks assigned to it through the different media outlets. This information took root with the receivers that formed a positive image of the Governorate being a link between the people and the executive bodies represented by the ministries and government institutions.
Question 10
Please describe how the initiative strives to work in an integrated manner within its institutional landscape – for example, how does the initiative work horizontally and/or vertically across different levels of government? (200 words maximum)
The Capital Governorate is described as a coordinating body, more precisely; it is considered a link between government agencies on one side, and citizens and residents on the other. Therefore, the Governorate is considered the best intermediary to build relations with and between the segments of society in order to understand their needs and provide services that meet their aspirations.
In consecration of the culture of open doors pursued by the wise leadership that was keen on the commitment of all state officials to it, and out of the principle of enhancing communication with all segments of society, the Capital Governorate has established effective channels of communication between it and the public in order to listen and learn about the needs of citizens and work to meet their requirements.
Question 11
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development puts emphasis on collaboration, engagement, partnerships, and inclusion. Please describe which stakeholders were engaged in designing, implementing and evaluating the initiative and how this engagement took place. (200 words maximum)
UN Bahrain, E government, Service Ministries , NGOs.
Question 12
Please describe the key lessons learned, and how your organization plans to improve the initiative. (200 words maximum)
Mobile technologies are reshaping people's civic engagement in a number of ways. Smartphones have now opened up so many avenues for people to report issues and share ideas to improve their cities. They've also enabled local authorities to improve services for their constituents. These apps make it easy to both file requests and track their progress. When a problem submitted by a user has been fixed, they usually receive a notification. Such feedback mechanisms promote engagement because users can see that their input has been taken into account and that they play a significant role in improving their cities.