Welcome to the web-site of the “Support to the Decentralisation Process”
An EU funded project, managed by the European Agency for Reconstruction
The “Support to the Decentralization Process” is another attempt of the European Union to support the decentralization in the country. The main goal of this activity managed by the European Agency for Reconstruction is to support the Government in the full implementation of the decentralization process, as well as the authorities on central and local level through modernization of the public administration, by bringing it closer to the EU standards.
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SUDEP FINAL CONFERENCE AGENDA
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BULLETIN No 5, May 2009
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The first Municipal Service Centre formally opened in Valandovo
On 18 May 2009 H.E. Erwan Fouéré, EU Special Representative and Head of EC Delegation formally opened the Municipal Service Centre in Valandovo. |
Valandovo is the first of the 36 municipalities where Municipal Service Centres will be established with EU support. This activity is part of the EU assistance for the full implementation of the decentralisation process and modernisation of the public administration in the country.The Municipal Service Centre will introduce a new, “one stop shop” concept of work with the citizens. It will introduce harmonised procedures and movement of documents instead of people. It will in large degree simplify the acquiring of all services and information in the area of local taxes, communal issues, urbanism, environment, etc.
The space for the Municipal Service Centre in Valandovo was provided by the municipality, while the refurbishment, furniture, IT equipment and software was provided with the EU assistance. Seven employees of the municipality of Valandovo received extensive training in Building relationship and confidence with citizens as well as in Providing effective services for the citizens.
This activity is implemented by the project Support to the Decentralisation Process.
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Тraining in Principles of Project Cycle Management and Logical Framework Approach
During May and June the project component working in the area of Local Development is delivering trainings for our partner municipalities in “Principles of Project Cycle Management and the Logical Framework Approach”.
The goal of these trainings is to upgrade the capacity of municipal administration for implementation of the local development strategies. The principles of the Project Cycle Management and the Logical Framework Approach are official methodologies for preparation, implementation and monitoring of projects on the level of the European Union. The good knowledge of these principles significantly eases the preparation of projects for using the funds from the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance.
Participants of these trainings are municipal employees from various sectors and departments of the municipal administration: local economic development, finance and taxes, urbanism, communal services, etc. This combination also creates specific synergy among the members of the different municipal teams, which is indispensible in preparation and implementation of the projects.
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Golden Plaque” for the Municipal Service Center |
On 6 November 2008, on a ceremony for the Municipal Day of the Municipality of Radovish, the Municipal Board adopted a decision for awarding the highest municipal prize “Golden Plaque” to the Project Support to the Decentralization Process. The prize is awarded for supporting the establishment of the Municipal Service Centers, strengthening of the municipal administration capacity for delivery of administration services for the citizens and supporting the local development planning process. The award was handed to the project’s Team Leader, Mr. Arto Luhtala, by the Mayor of Radovish Municipality, Mr. Robert Velkov.
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We learn from the Danish experiences and practices
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From 23 to 27 September 2008, the project Support to the Decentralization Process, financed by the European Union, realized a study tour in Denmark on the topic: “Local Self-government System in Denmark – Aspects of the Service Delivery to the Citizens and Local Development”. 34 participants from the partner municipalities participated on this Study Tour, as well as the Ministry of Local Self-government and ZELS.
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Round tables for rural development, education and development of small / medium size enterprises
During 2008, the project Support to the Decentralization Process organized three round tables for the rural development, education and small and medium size enterprises, as part of the local development planning process. The participants of the round tables were representatives from the Ministry of Local Self-government, ZELS, municipal experts from the relevant fields and independent experts. The purpose of these meetings was to upgrade the trainings and the provided advises connected to the Strategic Planning Process and the Methodology for Local Development, especially in the sector planning, which was carried out in the project period November 2007 – December 2008.
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Language, gender, human rights, invalidity, living environment
Every society in the development process goes through issues of common interest that should not be neglected. Those are the issues for the treatment of ethnic communities in the municipalities, gender equity, invalidity, living environment, human rights, etc. The project Support to the Decentralization Process successfully cross cuts these issues within its three main fields of interest: Municipal Service Centers (MSC), planning the local development and strengthening the capacities of MLSG and ZELS in providing legal support to the municipalities.
In the planning and development of MSC, a special attention should be given to the use of ethnic minority languages. Our recommendations to the municipalities, provided on the trainings and in the Handbook which is under preparation, are: all the documents that are going to be presented in the Centers, as well as the brochures should be published in the ethnic minority languages (according to the law). We additionally recommend that the municipality appoints an insider employee who will act as interpreter during the spoken communication. The project, on its trainings, tends to include representatives from the smaller ethnic communities, whose representatives constitute approximately 19% of the total number of participants. Part of our training materials was prepared in Albanian language, as well are the web page and the Project Newsletter.
The gender equity is a human right that enables every woman and man to lead a dignified and free life. The project’s recommendations towards this issue are implemented in the three components through the municipal handbooks, methodology for planning the municipal development, as well as through the special chapters in the research of the citizens’ satisfaction from the municipal services and the local development indicators. Additionally, more than 45% of the participants on our trainings were women.
The invalidity is a delicate issue for every community. That is why we have provided a special attention to it. Whenever technically possible, the renovation of the Municipal Centers will include installation of access points for disabled people. The employees of the MSC, through the trainings, got acquainted with the most appropriate manners in which they can serve the disabled people. The handbook for MSC will contain a special chapter regarding this issue; read part of it (more).
The living environment and its protection are supported through the work of the MSC that will provide the services in this field. The employees received a special training in the field of living environment – legal provisions and type of services that the municipality is going to provide. The support that we are providing for the municipalities in the local development planning and the preparation of feasibility studies contains regular evaluation of the projects in regard to their influence over the living environment.
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Provision of effective services for the citizens and the legal entities – new round of trainings for the employees in the Municipal Service Centers. In the period May – June, around 160 employees from the Municipal Service Centers from the 36 partner municipalities will receive training in Provision of effective services for the citizens and legal entities. |
On the workshop, the technical aspects for provision of services in the centers will be covered, particularly in the following fields:
- General information connected from the work of the ULSG and the legal competencies
- Local taxes and fees
- Living environment
- Urbanism
- Communal works
On these trainings, the participants (employed in the front offices in the MSC) will acquire the basic knowledge of the technical aspect for each individual service and they will practice on concrete request examples received from the citizens and the legal entities; the ones that they are going to come across when the centers will become operational. The trainers that we have selected are: MA Jadranka Kungulovska, MA Tome Shekerdziev and Ivan Andreski from the section for General information connected from the work of the ULSG; MA Igor Andreev for Local taxes and fees; MA Konstatin Siderovski for Living environment, MA Dushiica Trpcevska – Angelkovic for Urbanism and Todor Kushevski for the services in the field of Communal works.
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As part of our support to the institutional strengthening of the Ministry for Local Self-government (MLSG) and ZELS, we organized two workshops in the period February and March: Development of communication and negotiation skills and Time management and Self-management. |
The workshops were organized for the employees of the MLSG and ZELS, aiming at improved professional skills of the employees in the field of interpersonal communication, negotiation, time management and self-management. The comments and the evaluations from the participants proved that the selection of the training topics was proper and that those skills are crucial for increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of their work, as well as they are an excellent addition to their already acquired professional skills.
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The use of GIS in the urban planning is activity with extraordinary importance providing great advantages for each municipality. Taking into consideration the complexity and the demanding resources, a constant strengthening of the municipal capacities for the use of the GIS in the urban planning is needed. The project Support to the decentralization process provided trainings in the Use of the GIS in the Urban Planning for all the municipalities in the country. The training was implemented in two phases: the first phase was proposed for the basis in the use of GIS and the one-day training covered the smaller municipalities which were just starting to use the GIS. The second phase will cover the bigger municipalities and those which are more advanced in the use of GIS. The training will last three days and the discussion topics will be: the situation of GIS in the country, availability of topographic and cadastre maps, as well as practical training in the use of the software Arcview in the urban planning.
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Various steps and methods for improving citizen information and advisory services in the municipalities
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Municipal Service Centres – Building relations with citizens. Major efforts and resources of the project Support to the Decentralization Process are directed towards strengthening the capacities of the Municipal Service Centres in тхе project municipalities. |
An important part of those activities are the trainings that over 170 future employees of Municipal Service Centres received in “Building Relationship and Confidence with Citizens”. This module consisted of six training days per participant in Communication Skills, Negotiation Skills, Motivation Skills and Cross-Sector Communication Skills. Through interactive teaching, with many practical examples and exercises, the participants improved their ability to interact with their clients – the citizens and with their colleagues in the municipal administration. Another important gain from these trainings is the regional networks of MSC employees that were created through the joint work and socializing. |
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At our workshop “Organising the Local Development Planning”, over 60 municipal experts in local development had a chance to exchange ideas with representatives from Ministry of Local Self-Government , ZELS, the General Secretariat of the Government, and the Bureau for Regional Development. |
The process of the local development planning was discussed in details as well as how the roles of central and local government interweave and link. The municipalities of Negotino, Struga, Strumica and Kumanovo shared their valuable experiences in strategic planning with other municipalities and the central government representatives. Engaging the central and local government representatives in joint discussion over strategic planning issues and creating a synergy for further interaction was the main benefit of this workshop. We have also presented our Draft Methodology for Local Development Planning and opened long-term discussion toward its improvement and finalization. |
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We organized a workshop on Local Development - the Roles of MLSG and ZELS on 13.11.2007. Our guests - participants were representatives from the General Secretariat of the Government, the Ministry for Local Self-government and the Association of the Units of Local Self-government. |
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Signing of Memorandum of Understanding
27 September 2007 |
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Component 1: Municipal Service Centres Workshop, Struga, Makpetrol. Defining national model for MSC services
3-4 October 2007 |
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