Government communication

As every action of the government affects citizens, businesses and organisations, governments in democracies have a duty to explain their actions and justify their policies and objectives to citizens.

Communication and explanation must be part of the day-to-day work of the government, from the planning to the final implementation of decisions, in order to make it clear who is affected by a decision and how. Transparency and a willingness to explain the state’s actions in a way that the public can understand is one of the hallmarks of good governance. In turn, informed citizens are stronger contributors in shaping national policies and development trends.

An important principle of government communication is that it must be apolitical. The government communication unit never promotes the interests of a political party or engages in political propaganda.

Government communication covers communication from the cabinet as well as from ministries and the state agencies subordinate to them.

In general, the objective of government communication is to:

• explain the government’s objectives, decisions and activities to the public;
• keep people informed about their rights and obligations and encourage behaviour which is in the public interest through social campaigns (e.g. road safety and healthy lifestyles);
• give them instructions on how to behave in an emergency;
• raise awareness of how the state works.

Our values

• We share information openly
• We talk about things honestly
• We are aware of the weight of our words
• We are understandable
• We are always impartial
• We justify our decisions
• We take all parties into consideration
• We cooperate
• We learn from our mistakes
• We support innovation