Membership associations are an important societal group that can best represent the public interest, while holding elected officials accountable. Accountants, farmers, activists, and consumers are groups that have a voice and the ability to mobilize a large number of voters. Such groups are not lobbying enough for the interests of their members and the overall public wellbeing. Yet, they have the potential to contribute to the advancement of democracy in Kosovo, in making the Parliament more responsible to the competing interests that these groups represent.
How they are organized, how they influence decision-making and defend their agenda, and how they ensure that political decisions do not harm them, are some of the issues addressed in the report and that will be discussed at the roundtable. Their membership base, how are they mobilized, and how we can build common ground between them and political representatives will be discussed in two panels. In the first panel, MPs and various organizations will share their views on the topic, and the second panel will seek to identify mutual interests and opportunities for future cooperation.
