ROADMAP TO SUSTAINABLE LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN KOSOVO. Consolidated Action Programme

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1 ROADMAP TO SUSTAINABLE LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN KOSOVO Consolidated Action Programme Pristina, 26 May

2 Contents SECTION I: Programme Overview 3 An integrated Kosovo programme for sustainable local governance 3 (a) Kosovo s commitment to decentralization and local self government 3 (b) The roadmap to sustainable local governance 4 The consolidated Action Program 5 (a) Objective 5 (b) Key programme areas 5 Implementation Arrangements 6 SECTION II: Detailed programme profiles 8 2

3 SECTION I PROGRAMME OVERVIEW An integrated programme for sustainable local governance in Kosovo (a) Kosovo s commitment to decentralization and local self governance Over the last six years, Kosovo has become increasingly committed to a strongly decentralized framework of governance and service delivery, culminating in the recent Law on Local Self Government which transfers to municipalities sole or shared responsibility over a very broad range of service sectors including not only the more common local services such as street paving, potable water, and sanitation but also many sectors that are normally considered among the more difficult services to decentralize including health care, education, and social services. The big question and challenge facing Kosovo now, after legislating this bold decentralization framework, is: are the local and national institutions ready to assume this new mandate? The broad consensus is that, no, they are not ready, and that only an aggressive, comprehensive technical assistance and institution building effort will begin to fill the gap between mandated responsibilities on paper and effective local delivery on the ground. The current Action Programme proposal is an attempt to move in this direction. To better understand the nature of the challenge currently facing the Government, it is important to remember that Kosovo s decentralization process is grounded in a very unusual set of geopolitical circumstances. Unlike most other countries, in Kosovo decentralization did not arise as a grassroots demand for empowerment from a majority of local communities. It was proposed, top down, by the international community as a vehicle for reengaging the minority ethnic Serbian communities into the political process. 1 This strategic geopolitical purpose took on increasing importance as Kosovo moved into discussions on a Status Settlement, culminating in the Ahtisaari Proposal 2 in early 2007 which, with the latter purpose in mind, proposed an aggressive local empowerment agenda aimed more at placating international geopolitical demands than at ensuring effective and sustainable local service delivery on the ground. This shortcoming has been further exacerbated by an important stipulation in the Ahtisaari Proposal indicating that within 120 days of resolution of Kosovo s status, not only must a constitution be drafted and adopted, but also four critical laws on local governance must be drafted and approved the Laws on Local Self Government, Local Boundaries, Local Elections and Local Finance. The problem is that the clear urgency and priority attached to the preparation of these laws has absorbed much of the time and technical capacity available in Government particularly the Ministry of Local 1 Specifically, in 2002, when former SRSG suggested for the first time the strategic importance of decentralization as a vehicle for reintegration of Serbian communities. 2 The Comprehensive Proposal for the Kosovo Status Settlement, presented to the UN Security Council on 26 March Available at 3

4 Government Administration (MLGA) and Ministry of Finance and Economy (MFE), leaving relatively unattended the follow up requirements for Government action after the 120 Transition Period requirements that, in fact, are equally critical as the initial legislation to ensure feasibility of the new decentralized framework for service delivery. (b) The Roadmap exercise looking beyond the 120 day Transition Period Conscious of these shortcomings, in the summer of 2007 concerns began to emerge among many national and international actors that systematic attention also needed to be given to the medium and long term needs of the decentralization process after the 120 day Transition Period. In August, under coordination of the Office of the Prime Minister, an integrated Kosovo led programming initiative, the Roadmap to Decentralization, was agreed upon. Its purpose was to prepare a national programme for the implementation of the new decentralization framework put into motion by the Ahtisaari Proposal, aiming to create more effective and sustainable systems of local governance and service delivery in the country. With coordination from the Office of the Prime Minister, the Roadmap exercise was organized around an extensively participatory and consultative process involving not only the Ministries of Local Government and Administration, and Economy and Finance, but also many of the sectoral line ministries, the Kosovo Association of Municipalities, and most of the international donor agencies who work actively in the sector. 3 Organized around a central Steering Committee, and several thematic working groups, this partnership of stakeholders worked continuously from September December, preparing issue papers and preliminary recommendations for government action in a total of 20 thematic areas. The results of this joint exercise were consolidated into a Preliminary Programming Matrix for the Roadmap which was presented for discussion at a Stakeholder Workshop held in Gjakova on December 6 7, aimed at assessing progress in the Roadmap and making recommendations on the following wrap up phase of work for the exercise. The large number of national and international participants at the Gjakova Workshop 4 underscored the widespread, multi institutional interest that exists regarding the decentralization process in Kosovo. There was consensus at the meeting, among all the stakeholders, that the programming exercise had been successful and that it was necessary to move ahead with its final consolidation; along these lines, the workshop produced a detailed set of recommendations for the concluding phase of work. This was reinforced by a memo sent by the former Prime Minister, after the workshop, 3 More specifically, the following line ministries participated actively: Ministry of Health, Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning; Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, and Ministry of Internal Affairs. Internationally, the Roadmap exercise counted on the active technical participation of: USAID (EMI), UNDP, EAR, SDC, DFID, IMF, VNG and the World Bank. 4 Eight government ministries and nine international donor agencies were represented at the meeting. 4

5 congratulating the Roadmap partners for the preliminary achievements of the exercise and pledging his support to encourage continuation of the effort with the new Government. On the basis of this mandate, since December, a core central team proceeded with the final stage of work in the Roadmap exercise, aimed at producing a final proposal and document for joint Government/Donor action, the Consolidated Action Programme. Presented here in a draft version for final consultation with all the stakeholders including, most especially, the municipal governments the Consolidated Programme was formulated on the basis of the Programming Matrix and thematic Issue Papers prepared previously by the Roadmap partners, updated to reflect conclusions and feedback from the Gjakova workshop. In addition, the important progress made during this interim period in finalizing the Law on Local Self Government and Law on Local Finance has helped significantly in clarifying the needs and priorities that government will face in the coming two to three year period making the new decentralised framework of governance effective and functional. These needs figure prominently in the final mix of recommendations proposed for the Programme, including in particular, the need (i) to operationalise the new governance structure with clearer, more functional definitions of new administrative responsibilities and accompanying procedures; (ii) to put in place a more effective central support system for the training and capacity building of municipal government staff (as well as that of central government ministries); (iii) to put in place a framework mechanism, at the national level, to support and speed up the process of creation of new municipalities mandated by the Ahtisaari Proposal; and (iv) strengthen coordination mechanisms for international assistance of municipal development, ensuring a more equitable, effective, and complimentary distribution of aid among all municipal governments. The Consolidated Programme (a) Objective The main objective of this proposal is to support implementation of the newly mandated framework for local service delivery in Kosovo, by way of a set of pilot programme interventions aimed at overcoming the principal bottlenecks standing in the way of effective and sustainable governance at the local level. (b) Key programme areas The Consolidated Progamme consists of 12 individual programme proposals aimed at comprehensively addressing the most critical issues and bottlenecks currently faced at the local and national level as a result of the decentralisation process. These proposals, listed below, have been organised under four broad intervention groups (i) local 5

6 governance and administration; (ii) local service delivery; (iii) intergovernmental and municipal finance; and (iv) central local cooperation derived from the four action groups or components initially targeted by the Roadmap exercise. 1. Local governance and administration a new culture of management 1. Addressing Staffing Issues at the Municipal Level 2. Effective management through transparency and accountability 3. Strengthening Social Cohesion and Public Participation at the Local Level 4. Supporting the Process of Setting Up New Municipalities 2. Delivery of local services satisfying the end user 5. Supporting Mechanisms for Efficient Service Delivery 6. Sector Specific Service Delivery Support 7. Public Private Partnerships for Local Economic Development 3. Intergovernmental and municipal finances generating resources while building fiduciary confidence. 8. Strengthening Municipal Finance Systems Local revenue and expenditure systems Participatory planning and budgeting Local capital investment systems 4. Cooperative central local relations building effective support and coordination systems 9. Addressing Inter governmental Dispute Resolution 10. Strengthened Local Government Association and Inter governmental Communication 11. Central Government Support to Municipal Development 12. Systematizing Capacity Building Systems: Local Government Development and Resource Centre A detailed profile description and rationale for each of the individual programme proposals is presented in Section 2 of this document. Implementation arrangements. Implementation of the consolidated Programme will be the responsibility of MLGA working through a small and flexible Project Management Unit (PMU). Based on the experience of the Roadmap exercise, the PMU should be composed of a core team of five specialists and experts (including a Unit Coordinator). 6

7 Partnership for sustainable local governance and donor coordination. Seeking to continue the very successful process of stakeholder participation created under the Roadmap exercise, the PMU will report to a joint national international Programme Steering Committee (PSC), collectively chaired by MLGA, MFE and OPM. This is particularly important for this Programme, in light of the strong multi sectoral, crosscutting nature of any effort aimed at local government strengthening. The PSC will be supported by the current Donor Coordination cell in MLGA as well as the Donor Coordination Centre in OPM, in order to ensure effective dovetailing of donor support to municipal development. Also borrowing on the experience of the Roadmap, stakeholder participation will also be encouraged at the more working level, by creating thematic or sectoral working groups to support the PMU in the implementation of each of the specific programmes within the Consolidated Programme framework. Other implementation arrangements. As proposed in the profiles presented in the following Section, implementation arrangements for individual programmes vary a great deal. In most cases, given the varying institutional capacities that exist in Kosovo, the programmes have been structured as pilot/showcase operations, limited to representative samples of 3 5 pilot municipalities, with the understanding that, if successful, they could be replicated for larger, scale up interventions covering the rest of the municipalities. Depending on the institutional capacity that exists for each programme area, coordination responsibility for the programme will sometimes be assigned to a central government ministry, while in other cases it is assigned directly to the municipal governments with the support of an international donor institution. In either case, the beneficiary municipalities are expected to take play a strong role, both in the formulation and implementation stages. 7

8 SECTION 2: PROGRAMME PROFILES CONTENTS Programme Profile no. 1: Addressing Staffing Issues at the Municipal Level... 9 Programme Profile no. 2: Effective municipal management through transparency and accountability Programme Profile no. 3: Strengthening Social Cohesion and Public Participation at the Local Level Programme Profile no. 4: Supporting the Process of Setting up New Municipalities Programme Profile no. 5: Supporting Mechanisms for Efficient Service Delivery Programme Profile no. 6: Sector specific support for local service delivery Programme Profile no. 7: Public Private Partnerships in support of Local Economic Development Programme Profile no. 8: Strengthening municipal finance systems following up on the Law on Local Government Finance Programme Profile no. 9: Strengthened Local Government Association and Intergovernmental Communication Systems Programme Profile no. 10: Addressing Inter governmental Dispute Resolution Programme Profile no. 11: Central Government Support to Municipal Development.. 43 Programme Profile no. 12: Local Government Development and Resource Centre

9 Programme Profile no. 1: Addressing Staffing Issues at the Municipal Level Objective The overall objective of this programme is to address issues of misaligned staffing at the municipal level. While the programme brings attention to a number of critical issues, recommended activities focus specifically on the need for a functional review like approach to ensuring that municipal civil servants are proportionately addressing professional and administrative requirements of municipal functions. Other critical issues highlighted in the programme are addressed in other Programme Profiles noted below. Institutional Responsibility Over the long run, the Ministry of Local Government Administration (MLGA) should assume a lead national role, in partnership with the Association of Kosovo Municipalities (AKM). In the short run, however, international donor agencies will likely have to take a lead role in the execution of the programme, in partnership with MLGA and AKM. Recommended Budget: TBD Perhaps one of the most serious challenges that Kosovo will face as it decentralises service delivery is the under developed administrative and managerial capacity of most local governments today much of it structurally entrenched issues of overstaffing and a poor division of labour among civil servants. Without a significant, big push effort to engage municipal administrations at all levels in a systematic modernisation and realignment effort, the effective implementation of the new decentralisation mandates will be seriously mired down. Specifically, the municipalities face three major cross cutting administrative challenges: Municipal staffing. Kosovo s municipal governments are saddled with a daunting challenge in the area of staffing: large numbers of poorly trained, underpaid civil servants with a weak sense of team purpose. This is largely the result of the role of employer of last result that most municipalities took on in the immediate post conflict period. Acting as an informal social net for the locally unemployed, municipalities have, over the years, bloated their staffs with poorly paid, poorly trained and poorly motivated employees. Correcting or undoing this situation will not be simple, requiring multi pronged initiatives including efforts to improve income and job opportunities in the local economy (see Programme on Local Economic Development) a serious political/managerial commitment on the part of local leaders, and an effective partnership between municipal management and staff. 9

10 The number of Administrative staff in each municipality was also a source of concern for most mayors. While a the majority of Mayors complained that they did not have enough staff to fully implement their agendas a significant minority complained that they employed too many staff and that many of them had little or no work to do. The mayors of Decan and Peja, for instance, both claim that they would actually achieve more with considerably smaller staffs than are currently employed by their municipalities. Furthermore, only a tiny minority of mayors were confident of the technical skills and competencies of their staff. While significant numbers of municipal staff throughout the country have received relevant trainings from a whole host of national and international agencies the prevailing sentiment among mayors is that personal competency levels among staff remain extremely low. Computer skills were listed by many mayors and deputy mayors as the most obvious need for most municipal staff. In many of the smaller and more rural municipalities the legacy of communism has yet to be eliminated from the administrative culture. Furthermore, many administrative staff seem to have been hired, at least in part, due to the role they played in the war. The Mayor of Mitrovica believes that a University level course on public administration might rectify some of these issues for the next generation of municipal civil servants. A recurring theme throughout the consultations was the lack of financial incentives for attracting the highly qualified and competent personnel required to efficiently administer the municipality. Salary top ups from international donors were frequently suggested as a remedy for this particular problem. While such a solution would not be sustainable, an alternative approach is to under take acrossthe board cuts in staff which are simplistic although politically very conflictive. Another, more constructive approach, is to build on the experience of other Easter European countries that have dealt with similar staffing challenges by relying on functional review exercises that aim at systematically identifying and redifining critical functional needs and organisational divisions in a municipality, realigning staff on the basis of their skills profiles relative to redefined functional units of the municipality, coupled with significant staff training efforts aimed at upgrading the skill set of existing staff. Such an initiative should also be complemented by a technical assistance package aimed at creating a sustainable, merit based system of personnel management. Management culture. Municipal managers are burdened by an outdated, bureaucratic management culture that is ill equipped to systematically identify critical local problems, propose do able solutions, and convert proposals (even political manifestos) into effective results and deliverables. Management modernisation activities below aim to comprehensively build critical skills and collectively shift the mindset of municipal managers and staff towards a proactive culture of management. This issue is reflected within Component 1 of the Programme Profile Local Government Development and Resource Centre. 10

11 Understanding the responsibilities of local government. The capacity of municipal administrations is critically hamstrung by the ambiguities and imprecision that exists regarding the precise definition of competencies and responsibilities of municipal governments. Although, critical progress has been made by the Law on Local Self Government and the forthcoming Law on Local Government Finance in the definition of the broad categories of municipal competencies, major work still lies ahead in clarifying, with functional and administrative precision, the specific, detailed assignment of competencies between municipal and national entities. Until the latter is undertaken systematically, sector by sector, and functional area by functional area, municipal as well as central government entities will continue to operate in the dark, leading to confusion, paralysis of initiative, and lack of accountability in both levels of government. Many mayors expressed dismay at the fact that there does not appear to be a harmonising strategy for the two laws. The contradictory nature of the two laws has led to a sort of legislative paralysis in several municipalities. Many also complained that different ministries appear to have interpreted both the new Law and the Regulation differently. To address this problem, accompanying Programme Profiles it is proposed to have a systematic technical assistance effort aimed at clarifying detailed competencies between levels of government, through a series of technical dialogue and negotiation processes organised sector by sector between local and central government entities (see Programme Profile Addressing Inter governmental Dispute Resolution ). Components Component 1: Addressing Municipal Staffing Issues Functional review and staff/organisation re alignment Output 1: Design and implementation of a Kosovo specific detailed methodology for local functional review and organisational/staff realignment; Output 2: Formulation and implementation of a technical/professional training programme of municipal staff at all levels (politically elected leaders; upper and middle management; line staff) aimed at strengthening staff skills in critical functional areas of municipalities (This is also foreseen in the Programme Profile on Local Government Development and Resource Centre budgetary requirements are reflected there); Output 3: Promotion of a sustainable, merit based, secure and transparent personnel management system through: a) establishment of procedures for appointment, promotion and disciplinary measures, b) analysis of existing possibilities for maintenance and upgrading of professional qualifications, and c) exploration of possible role for the municipal association in capacity building effort; Output 4: Monitoring of results of previous activities 11

12 Programme Profile no. 2: Effective municipal management through transparency and accountability Objective The overall objective of this programme is to mainstream practices for increased transparency and accountability into municipal management processes. In particular, the programme focuses on using transparency and accountability as management tools, to capacity build municipal leaders to undertake self assessments of the levels of transparency and accountability in municipal processes, with particular focus on procurement, financial management and urban planning, with the end goal of eventual ISO certification of municipalities in Kosovo. This programme aims to pilot these processes in 5 municipalities, with foreseen scale up for implementation Kosovo wide after the first phase. Institutional Responsibilities Executing agencies: 5 municipalities, supported by central coordination mechanism funded by international donor Partner support: Partnership of government and civil society stakeholder organizations Recommended budget: TBD Accountability and transparency are indispensable pillars of democratic governance that compel the state, private sector and civil society to focus on results, seek clear objectives, develop effective strategies, and monitor and report on performance. Through public accountability and transparency, governments, together with civil society and the private sector, can achieve congruence between public policy, its implementation and the efficient allocation of resources. Transparency International has ranked Kosovo as being the fourth most corrupt country in the world. At the local government level, even though specific documentation is often lacking, the current perception among local citizens is that corruption is also commonplace, particularly in three critical areas: contract procurement, permitting and taxation, and the hiring and promotion of civil servants. Kosovo s ability to fight public mismanagement and corruption will be a crucial test for its post status aspiration to join the European Union. This will be rendered particularly challenging by the decentralisation process put in motion by the Ahtisaari Proposal: the significant increase in power and autonomy of local governments, if not accompanied by commensurate increases in transparency and accountability, will bring with it an even greater risk of mismanagement and corruption at the local level. Municipal procurement systems. Currently the internal control systems in Kosovo s municipal administrations are under developed. Monitoring and control mechanisms are inefficient and do not provide guidelines for functional administration. This has been clearly documented in the case of local procurement systems. According to recent reports from the Office of the Auditor General, corruption and mismanagement in municipal procurement systems is widespread. In many cases contracting does not adhere to established procurement rules and procedures, thus opening the door to practices of nepotism where contracts are awarded on the basis of 12

13 friendship or family ties. Similarly, media outlets and civil society have often reported accusations of bribery of procurement officers. Transparency as a management tool. Little has been done to educate municipal managers and staff on the significant benefits that can accrue from the adoption of transparent and accountable management practices. In the first place, by achieving internationally accepted practices in this area, municipalities can much more easily receive ISO certification, in turn opening the door for the same municipality to become eligible for direct international lending once sub national borrowing authority is established. Irrespective of the latter, transparency and accountability systems constitute an important management information tool for Mayors, providing useful feedback on the effectiveness of a municipality s service delivery and financial administration systems. Moreover, the streamlining and standardisation of municipal operations that result from transparency initiatives lead to significant efficiency gains in the management and delivery of public services. The mayor of Kaqanik believes that his greatest challenge and the feat he most wishes to accomplish will be the changing of the management culture in his municipality. The administrative culture of the communist era has not yet been fully eradicated in many of Kosovo s municipalities. Citizens throughout Kosovo remain ill informed on the role of municipal civil servants and even on the role of the municipal administration itself. Furthermore, many mayors related how the procedures and processes involved in everyday municipal administration are almost entirely incomprehensible to the average citizen. There is a significant will among mayors to dramatically increase transparency and accountability at the municipal level. The Mayor of Kacqanik, along with several others, suggested that a good place to start promoting a culture of transparency was in the municipal work place itself. He advocated tearing down actual walls in the municipal building so that citizens could literally see municipal staff at work. In Suhareke, the brand new Centre for Citizen and Business Services was designed specifically with physical transparency in mind. Components Component 1: Transparency and accountability assessment of municipal operations Output 1: Develop diagnostic tools for assessing integrity levels within a municipal department. Determine the areas where lack of transparency and accountability exist the most, as well as areas where corruption is believed to occur the most through interviews with mayors and department directors/heads of department. Areas that should be assessed more thoroughly are: o urban planning (construction permits), o financial management (tax collections), o communal activities (permits for taxis, businesses etc.), o public procurement within these categories; Output 2: Review the public procurement procedures, how they are to be promulgated within public sector procurement departments as well as to the business community, the training requirements for ensuring their introduction and implementation as well as the monitoring processes for ensuring compliance of those responsible for ensuring 13

14 an effective procurement process. Experts in local government with the help of AKM and the Kosovo Anti Corruption Agency should conduct this exercise. Component 2: Incorporating transparency and accountability tools, aiming at ISO certification Output 1: Standardising municipal administrative procedures in the three high risk municipal administration areas: urban planning, communal activities and financial management by: o Mapping and streamlining municipal administrative procedures at local level, o Develop a manual for local stakeholders on front and back office processes, showing, by way of simple tables and diagrams, the procedure, timeframe and cost of each operation, o Develop and disseminate written procedures and rules for procurement; Output 2: Prepare an information and resource tool kit for local government and civil society, which can be used as a guide of how to fight against corruption and improve the level of good governance at the local level; Output 3: Develop a Code of Ethics for political appointees at the local level, supported by the AKM and a select group of interested mayors. Component 3: Municipal index of responsibility, transparency and accountability in the areas of public procurement, urban planning and financial management Output 1: Create a methodology to eliminate weak spots on transparency and accountability focusing on the most vulnerable areas identified during the assessment stage. To be used in future as a self evaluation mechanism by local authorities. The methodology should specify: o critical points of corruption identified in the first stage, o anti corruption mechanism, o indicators and quantification of the indicators; Output 2: Conduct a comprehensive baseline and periodic assessment for measuring the Index at the local level; Output 3: Assist municipalities in establishing a register of all official documents, database of the requests submitted, and support them in accomplishing their obligation to appoint a designated archivist, also to facilitate process of establishment of the Commissions for drafting the list of sensitive documents; Output 4: Establish mechanisms to monitor implementation of the Law on Access to Official Documents. Component 4: Network of local watch dog NGOs focusing on transparency and accountability of municipal operations 14

15 Output 1: Provide capacity building for civil society organizations on watch dog functions, including better coordination. This can be done by provision of grants for 2 3 local NGOs in each municipality to create a watch dog network with one NGO taking the leadership role. Requires an annual work plan for NGO selection, and annual report at the end of the year. Activities should include: o training of the media on investigative journalism, o public awareness raising on municipal transparency and accountability, o o ability to access information at local level, implementation of activities on the issues of transparency, accountability, ethics, anti corruption, good governance aiming to enhance civil control in the fight against corruption. 15

16 Programme Profile no. 3: Strengthening Social Cohesion and Public Participation at the Local Level Objective Strengthened social cohesion among municipal inhabitants by (i) advancing ethnic and minority integration and gender equality, and (ii) strengthening citizen participation mechanisms and the use of local volunteer organizations piloted in 5 municipalities. Institutional Responsibility Executing agencies: Ministry of Local Government Administration (MLGA); Ministry of Communities and Returns (MCR); Office of the Prime Minister Agency for Gender Equality (OPM AGE) Partners: Civil Society Recommended Budget: TBD A central premise of the Ahtisaari Proposal is that Kosovo s history of intense ethnic conflict can be overcome by empowering local communities and generating the building blocks of social cohesion from the bottom up, at the local level. In order for this to happen, a concerted effort must be made in three important areas: (i) strengthening of public participation mechanisms for all citizens in municipalities, including a proactive reliance on local volunteer organizations; (ii) targeted social and physical integration of marginalized ethnic community groups; and (iii) proactive efforts aimed at reaping the benefits of improved gender equality in local governance and administration. Currently, the majority of local government administrations in Kosovo have made relatively limited inroads in addressing problems of social/minority exclusion and restricted citizen participation in their communities. In many cases, this has been due more to a lack of capacity and technical and organisational know how among local administrators, than to a lack of political will. To address these shortcomings, a set of four complementary components is proposed below, dealing respectively with: social and physical integration of minority communities; gender equality; local volunteerism; and public participation. Moreover, the component on promotion of the rights of minority communities to participate in decision making is divided into three components (technical assistance to municipalities, facilitation of inter ethnic dialogue and increasing access to public services of minority communities). The aim of this component is to promote the rights of all communities living in Kosovo, as well facilitation of inter ethnic dialogue. The component on gender equality mainly consists of capacity building and effective coordination of the officials that plan and address gender issues. The aim of the component on volunteerism aims to increase cooperation with civil society and give the opportunity to the citizens to have some practical experience and to contribute in administration. Also, this would help the administration to select good capacities in their work. The component on public participation aims to improve the transparency of local governance towards citizens, as well to improve the participation of citizens in the governing of their own municipalities. 16

17 Many mayors, throughout the consultation process, expressed a resolve to increase citizen participation in municipal affairs. While the benefits to the public that come with citizen participation are obvious most of the Mayors understood that there were also benefits to be gained for the municipal administration. Most mayors, as politicians, are keenly aware that their mandates were granted by the citizens and that they thus only stand to gain from involving these same citizens in the governing process. The mayor of Istog, by way of example, encourages public debates on relevant social, economic and administrative issues while the mayor of Ferizaj meets weekly with groups of concerned citizens for up to five hours. Mayors throughout Kosovo have introduced similar schemes to promote social cohesion and public participation. Components Component 1: Social and physical integration of minority communities Output 1: Technical assistance to strengthen outreach and participatory planning mechanisms of municipalities with minority communities a) Organization of yearly public information campaigns by municipal government to promote the rights of its citizens to participate in decision making; b) Formulation of annual community integration action plans by the Municipal Community Offices, with direct participation by minority communities, to identify and plan activities regarding housing, employment and integration in public life; c) Increasing frequency of visits by the Community Offices through provision of necessary transport infrastructure to minority areas aimed at informing the latter of relevant municipal government initiatives, and receiving inputs and feedback from minority residents. Output 2: Output 3: Facilitation of inter ethnic dialogue and cooperation a) In cooperation with civil society organisations, undertake local multi ethnic activities for youth, such as camping, seminars and concerts, aimed at building a new culture of inter ethnic cooperation among the youth; b) Promotion of summer internships in the municipal administrations, aimed at mobilizing a mix of secondary school students from different ethnic backgrounds. Expanded access to local public services by minority communities a) Technical assistance to support Community Offices in the processing and presentation of minority community action plans with their respective Municipal Assemblies, aimed in particular at addressing critical shortfalls in infrastructure and other public services and utilities; b) Technical assistance to municipalities in order to raise capital investment funds with the Donor Coordination Cell of the MLGA, in order to finance minority community investment needs that cannot be covered through regular municipal budget funds. 17

18 Component 2: Technical Assistance to strengthen gender equality in municipal administrations Output 1: Output 2: Support to the Agency for Gender Equality to organise training seminars and/or onthe job technical assistance for municipal gender officers to: (i) disseminate and discuss implementation of the Law on Gender Equality; (ii) formulate local policy or project initiatives in support of gender equality, and (iii) review municipal legislation and norms to identify inconsistencies with the law on gender equality; Technical assistance to support cooperation between Municipal Gender Officers and relevant civil society organisations. Component 3: Formulation and implementation of a policy on local volunteerism Output 1: Undertake a study to diagnose prospects for increased volunteerism at the local level, and propose alternative forms of support promotion of the findings with central and local government; Output 2: Provide technical assistance to ensure adequate local dimension in proposed national legislation on volunteerism; Output 3: Awareness campaign to inform and encourage local citizens and NGO sectors of opportunities, rights and responsibilities of volunteers and volunteer organisations, as well as responsibilities of government and prospects for public private partnerships. Component 4: Strengthened public participation and outreach at the local level Output 1: Technical assistance to municipalities on cooperation with media, informing the public of municipal activities and performance; Output 2: Technical assistance to improve dissemination and organisation of public participation in municipal meetings and events; Output 3: Technical assistance to municipalities and civil society organisations, to encourage greater participation in planning and delivery of local services; Output 4: Technical assistance to develop systems and procedures to ensure regular and timely updates of municipal web pages (Please note web page maintenance also referenced in Programme Profile on transparency). 18

19 Programme Profile no. 4: Supporting the Process of Setting up New Municipalities Objective The overall objective of this programme is to highlight specific process related issues of setting up new municipalities, as foreseen in the Ahtisaari Proposal, and legislated in the new Law on Local Self Government and Law on Municipal Boundaries. Moving beyond specific legislative requirements, this programme focuses on addressing (i) increasing community acceptance of the creation of new municipalities, (ii) ensuring that the set up of the municipalities is coordinated by a central over sight body, (iii) set up is undertaken in a strategic and wellplanned manner, and (iv) funding gaps for critical components of set up (hardware, training, human resources etc.) are rapidly addressed. Institutional Responsibility Executing agency: Primary responsibility should lie with the MLGA, particularly in leading the process of creation of an implementation over sight body Co executing partners: Ministry of Finance and Economics (MFE), Ministry of Returns and Communities (MRC), and the Association of Kosovo Municipalities (AKM), together with international institutions with specific programmes to support this process (USAID, EAR). Recommended Budget: TBD Newly adopted legislation on the establishment of new municipalities (Law on Local Self Government and Law on Administrative Municipal Boundaries) instructs the government of Kosovo that the current municipality of Novo Berde/Novo Brdo shall be territorially extended, as well as the current municipality of Mitrovica, two new municipalities shall be established (Mitrovice/Mitrovica North and Mitrovice/Mitrovica South). Hence, new municipalities shall be established in: Gracanice/Gracanica, Ranillug, Partesh, and Kllokot. Also the existent pilot municipalities established in 2005 shall be certified as regular municipalities (Junik, Hani i Elezit and Mamusha). Establishment of these municipalities is a governance priority and thus it is high in the agenda of local and international institutions, including the donors in Kosovo. The process of establishment of new municipalities brings along many challenges and therefore requires general mobilisation of government institutions and greater commitment of relevant international stakeholders. It is important to stress that without successful establishment of the new municipalities the agenda of the path of the reform of local self government is at stake. It is highlighted by the Government of Kosovo and in particular by the international actors (EU, Contact Group countries, etc.) that success in establishment of new municipalities interlinks directly with success of transition process in Kosovo in general. 19

20 However, the creation of the new municipalities continues to be one of the most contentious aspects of the Ahtisaari Proposal. While the majority of Kosovo s municipalities will be unaffected, the final outcome of the establishment process remains of critical importance to those municipalities which will be affected. Many of the mayors of affected, or mother municipalities complained that it remains unclear whether UNMIK or EULEX will supervise the process. Some of these mayors even felt that they were being deliberately excluded from the process by UNMIK. Community Acceptance. The establishment of the newly created municipalities requires not only wide acceptance from their communities but it also seeks great participation in the establishment process. In most of these municipalities the majority of the population are from the Serbian community which is, in fact, hesitant to participate in the process. The cooperation of Serbian community is crucial to success. Therefore, the Kosovo Government and the international commitment must play a crucial role in encouraging the cooperation of the Serbian community. In Mitrovica there are a significant number of Albanian farmers whose lands will lie in the new municipal boundary. These farmers will find themselves a minority in someone else s municipality instead of a majority in their own municipality. This is a matter of huge significance to these farmers and their municipal leaders. In Gjilan, which faces the almost identical problem of ceding some of its territory to the newly expanded Novo Berde/Novo Brdo, the mayor is fearful of the potential reaction of Albanians who will find themselves on the wrong side of the new boundary. In fact, the new municipal border between Gjilan and Novo Berde/Novo Brdo will actually cut several farmers lands in two. Implementation (Municipalities with majority Serb and non Albanian populations). The contexts for the implementation of the new municipalities differ from one another in a number of political and economic circumstances. In municipalities where there are less political and ethnic tensions (Novo Berde/Novo Brdo, Mamusa, Ranillug, Junik) the implementation process should prove easier. However, in municipalities such as Gracanice/Gracanica and Mitrovice/Mitrovica difficulties are more likely to arise. However, in all new municipalities, critical infrastructure and training needs must be immediately addressed if commitments made within the Ahtisaari Proposal are to be met. USAID and EAR local government support programmes have built within them specific components focussing on these issues to ensure that such issues as premises, IT infrastructure, and basic organizational and management training support are provided. Several of the mmayors of mother municipalities also pointed out that while they may be struggling to cope with all of the competencies being handed to them in recent times, the new municipalities simply cannot hope to effectively handle the workload. In short, the mayors fear the new municipalities will be swamped. The mayor of Novo Berde/Novo Brdo has indicated (according to the Mayor of Gjilan) that his administration is struggling to cope with their responsibilities even within the territory already allotted to them. How can he hope to progress after his municipality is expanded? Cross Institutional Cooperation. The successful implementation of the establishment of new municipalities is linked with well coordinated management between the Kosovo Institutions 20

21 (MLGA, MEF, MCR, and AKM etc) and the various international donor agencies. Without a strategic joint implementation plan and clear division of responsibilities and, moreover, a responsible managerial and over seeing body, success might be compromised. Resource Mobilisation. The process of establishment of new municipalities requires large funds that have been only roughly outlined in the Kosovo Consolidated Budget. At this time there are some budgetary estimates. However, these predictions are not specific and therefore it is difficult to ask for pledges. A coordinated and unified commitment from all actors is crucial to the successful funding and implantation of the programme. Components Component 1: Increased acceptance and participation of the community needs undertaken during initial stages of municipality creation Output 1: An awareness campaign, focusing on participation and acceptance of the project by communities, with an emphasis on the benefits that the creation of the new municipality brings should be prepared and conducted before the actual implementation plan for the establishment of the new municipalities; Output 2: The Serbian community and other ethnicities in the respective municipalities should be continuously consulted by institutional and political leaders and respective ministries; Output 3: Identification and presentation of a social welfare project for the area that will tackle issues like employment and integration should be as implemented in the early stages of the programme; Output 4: An extensive seminar and training programme for the new civil servants should be conducted that would be attended jointly by all the ethnicities represented in the municipality; Output 5: Support for civil society, in particular local NGO s, will help acceptance of the communities. Component 2: Creation of a Strategic Joint Implementation Plan and Oversight Body Output 1: An over sight body consisting of representatives from Kosovo institutions, AKM and the international community created to ensure the careful coordination and implementation of the process to establish new municipalities. n/a Component 3: Development of a strategy for establishing new municipalities, with a specific focus on the municipalities that suffer from greater political and ethnic tensions. Output 1: Rapid development of a strategy/plan for setting up new municipalities, with testing of set up in Novo Berde/Novo Brdo, Mamusa, Ranillug, Junik (where there are less political and ethnic tensions) to present a successful precedent. Such a strategy/plan 21

22 Output 2: will also address issues that are not stipulated in the Law but which are relevant to the successful start up of new municipalities. Meetings between the above newly established municipalities and other planned new municipalities that are more reluctant to take part in the programme to present concrete examples of the benefits of the process. Component 4: Adoption of a strategic funding plan by the Kosovo Assembly, to supplement the funds foreseen in the Kosovo Consolidated Budget Output 1: Rapid assessment of funding needs, with increased allocations to municipalities that present bigger challenge to implementation; Output 2: Engage international donor organisation to make dialogue with communities. n/a funding assessments have been undertaken, consolidation of the recommendations can be done by MFE together with its international partners. 22

23 Programme Profile no. 5: Supporting Mechanisms for Efficient Service Delivery Objective The overall objective of this programme is to provide the necessary capacities to municipalities to improve the quality and cost effectiveness of sectoral services delivered to the public. These capacities focus on setting standards based on public consultation, measuring progress and implementing follow up recommendations, streamlining administrative services to improve the efficiency by which these services are provided, and implementing cost effective mechanisms for back office functions to lower the human resources costs of service delivery in order to redirect critical funds to capital investment and community development programmes, piloted in five municipalities. Institutional Responsibility Central executing agency: Ministry of Local Government Administration (MLGA) Co executors and beneficiaries: Association of Kosovo Municipalities (AKM), 5 municipalities Additional partner support from: Ministry of Public Services (MPS)/Kosovo Institute for Public Administration (KIPA); Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC); Ministry of Finance and Economy (MFE) Recommended Budget: TBD In order to effectively strengthen the service delivery capacities of municipal governments, not only must attention be given to sector specific interventions such as those proposed in the previous Programme Profile, but also to a number of important generic management tools that as international experience demonstrates are able to significantly improve the productivity of a broad range of municipal services and utilities ranging from the more palpable sectoral services such as education, health, potable water and sanitation, and public transportation, to the more intangible but no less important administrative services such as birth and marriage registration; building and construction permits; automobile registration; or the issuing of passports. The current programme proposes technical assistance efforts aimed at strengthening the capacity of municipalities in three of these service delivery areas: (i) service delivery performance benchmarking; (ii) one stop shop facilities to streamline front office delivery of services to local citizens and (iii) improving the cost effectiveness of services by way of pooled, inter municipal service delivery agreements. Unfortunately most of the mayors who participated in the consultations admitted that, in their municipalities, there was considerable room for improvement in this area. In particular there is a dire need to professionalise the small community offices which deal with everyday requests such as drivers licences and birth certificates. While these community offices are not found in every municipality they present the public face of civil administration to hundreds of thousands of Kosovars. The Mayor of Kacanik, in his attempts to alter the administrative ethos in his municipality, suggests promoting a culture of customer care among municipal staff. This approach may go some way towards helping to streamline the process of basic service delivery. 23

24 The efficient delivery of municipal services is directly linked to staff skills and financial resources. While basic infrastructure, like computer software, is critically needed, many mayors (such as Malisheva and Shtime) complained that many of their staff, both at the central municipal building and in the outlying satellite offices, do not even know how to operate a computer. Thus the retraining of municipal staff was frequently mentioned in the consultations as a way to increase the efficiency of service delivery. Need for performance benchmarking in service delivery. At the municipal level, regulatory complexity and poor training has resulted in service delivery that is obscured by a series of complex procedures, regulations, directives and licensing requirements. Citizens often experience long delays in obtaining needed services, or are forced to rely on networks of personal contacts. Adequate training and education opportunities are limited. This situation often results in weak performance, a lack of transparency and corruption. The ability to measure the performance of service delivery is further undermined by standardised data collection methodologies, and lack of properly recorded data for comparability. Furthermore, benchmarks cannot be arbitrarily set in depth consultative processes with the local community (village leaders, businesses, civil society) needs to be undertaken to establish benchmarks for key services such as health care and education, access to clean water, public transport and waste collection. Need to streamline front office service delivery by municipalities. The majority of municipalities in Kosovo have a "Reception Office" that can be usually found at the entrance of the main municipal building. The staff at this office can direct citizens to the department in charge of their concern. However, citizens usually have to wander around the municipal building and knock on different doors in order to get the information or service they require, as a result of a lack of clear understanding by reception staff of the functions and responsibilities of various departments. Services are provided behind closed office doors and citizens cue up in the municipal corridors waiting to be served. For some issues, such as business registration, not only are municipal licenses required but also licenses from various ministries depending on the kind of business provision of information for these procedures is often unclear and results in confusion and improperly prepared documents. Streamlining and capacity building for front offices must be prioritised in order to offer customers the convenience of obtaining their requirements in one stop by providing many services in one place, thereby reducing the amount of time citizens require to obtain information. This will also reduce the amount of paper work for the large number of civil servants it currently takes to address the specific issues raised by individual citizens. Previous activities initiated to set up one stop shops, or citizen service centres, in 6 municipalities (funded by USAID), have aimed to achieve similar reductions in waiting time and traversing of municipal building corridors. The newly created CSCs offer every service previously provided by the Intake Office and Municipal Directorates, including birth certificate issuance and many administrative, cadastral and business certification requests. Citizens in most cases are able to have their requests dealt with immediately or, in more complex cases, are given specific times to return for their documents. Moreover, EMI has placed multilingual Kosovar staff at the CSCs and trained them to fill out the request forms using an online system, which eliminates the language barriers and lighten the burden on the citizens for obtaining a document. However, a critical weakness continues regarding the clear understanding of front office staff of the 24

25 functions and mandates of various municipal departments, and the type of assistance which can be provided to citizens in most municipalities. Improving efficiency of service delivery costs through joint administration. The objective of inter municipal cooperation is to improve the management of local affairs and quality of municipal service delivery against acceptable costs. Inter municipal cooperation is most appropriate when it leads to gains in economic efficiency, in cases where municipalities combine their resources to take advantage of economies of scale and divide tasks according to appropriate expertise. For example, a group of municipalities may join forces to reduce administrative costs for tax collection, financial administration or building inspectors by specializing in a specific administrative function serving all municipalities, lessening the number of civil servants required, and freeing up financial resources for capital investments. Likewise, a group of municipalities may also jointly fund a specific function, such as a notary public position, or local economic development agency. Excellent examples of inter municipal cooperation can be seen in Macedonia (joint administration), Hungary (jointly funded position), and France (joint management of public utilities). While the concept and added value of inter municipal cooperation is understood, technical knowledge of planning, funding, and implementation/management modalities are weak, and data on efficient numbers of civil servants vis à vis service provision has not yet been constructed. Components Component 1: Creation of service delivery performance benchmark systems in municipalities. Creation of minimum standards and baselines on sectoral service delivery by municipal authorities: Output 1: Undertake policy discussion and draft administrative instruction to require municipalities to implement a standardised benchmarking system; Output 2: Initiate a pilot programme for benchmarking, including on the job coaching for data collection, analysis and setting benchmark recommendations through community participation; Output 3: Based on outcomes of the pilot programme, create an action plan for the scale up and institutionalisation of benchmarking of public services. Component 2: Strengthening one stop shops as a tool for streamlining front office services of municipalities. In order to (i) strengthen front office responsiveness and efficiency of municipal governments in dealing with citizen clients, (ii) improve accessibility to municipal services by citizens residing in geographically more remote locations, it is proposed to: Output 1: Undertake a cost benefit analysis of services most efficiently and effectively provided via OSS and draft an MLGA administrative direction on the establishment, function & operational procedures of the OSS; Output 2: Pilot the set up of OSS through the provision of training to municipal staff and management on the software related to OSS and on customer service and one stop shop duties, including concrete knowledge of the functions and mandates of municipal departments 25

26 Output 3: Output 4: Establish satellite OSS of 1 2 staff in areas geographically removed from main municipal building, based on a pilot funding programme from the central government; Increase remote access through ensuring that municipal web sites are upgraded and maintained in order to cope with service/information requests from citizens (particularly those residing abroad) (Please note that web site strengthening is also addressed in the programme on municipal transparency). Component 3: Inter municipal cooperation for service delivery. To address the widespread lack of technical knowledge on the advantages of joint administration of municipal functions and services as well as joint project management (particularly in relation to the management of public utilities), it is proposed to: Output 1: Implement a technical support programme to increase the awareness of IMC modalities, particularly on planning, management, financing and implementation of joint projects and joint administration programmes; Output 2: Undertake a cost benefit analysis of the rational size of municipal civil service for the provision of public services; Output 3: Implement a government programme to provide on the job technical assistance to pilot the planning and implementation of joint administration agreements in two micro regions in Kosovo Output 4: Find out the rational size for efficient service provision of different types of POEs for future municipal budget requests to the central government. 26

27 Programme Profile no. 6: Sector specific support for local service delivery Objective The objectives of this programme are to (i) strengthen local delivery mechanisms in four sectors health management, environmental management, social services, and community safety; (ii) establish more clear cut, operational divisions of functions, responsibilities, and funding mechanisms/levels between municipal governments and central ministries in charge of these sectors, piloted in five municipalities. Institutional Responsibility Executing agencies: Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning (MESP), Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (MLSW), and Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), respectively, for Sub programmes A, B, C, and D (below) Co executors and beneficiaries: 5 municipalities for each component Additional partner: Association of Kosovo Municipalities (AKM) Recommended Budget: TBD Kosovo s new mandates on municipal competencies will require a significant technical assistance effort, at both local and central levels of government, to become operational i.e., for municipalities to be able to clearly and efficiently administer their responsibilities, and coordinate with central government ministries. Eventually, individual exercises of technical assistance will need to be formulated and implemented for each of the service sectors now assigned to the municipalities. So far, the Roadmap exercise was successful in formulating preliminary programme proposals for four of these sectors: health management, environmental management, social services, and community safety thanks principally to the clear commitment shown by the respective central government ministries of these sectors to proactively engage in the decentralization process. Accordingly, the programme presented below consists of four stand alone components, one for each of the participating sectors, each with its own executing structure, led or facilitated by the respective central ministry in charge of the sector. The most common issue cited by municipal leaders in relation to service delivery in specific sectors (education, health care, social services etc) was the lack of financial resources. While many of the mayors had sector specific projects they wished to implement the lack of available capital has continuously held them back. Generating more funds for sector specific services is seen as the priority in this field by the mayors who participated in the consultations. Health management. A number of critical bottlenecks in local health service delivery were identified by the Roadmap exercise, including: a need for far greater operational clarity on decentralisation mandates, both for primary health (in all municipalities) and, in the case of minority communities, secondary health care; 27

28 poor inter governmental coordination, dialogue, and technical support mechanisms. The MoH currently lacks an adequate mechanism to respond to ongoing technical support and administrative coordination needs of municipal governments; insufficient management capacity of municipal health authorities. Poor quality of local health services, due to lax application of standards and norms, and a poor understanding of patients rights; lack of citizen awareness on rights and entitlements regarding health care, hand in hand with no citizen participation in planning and monitoring of municipal health services. Environmental planning and management. As in the case of the other three sectors, the overriding concern that exists regarding the local delivery of environmental management services centres around the incomplete inter governmental normative and operational framework that currently exists for the transfer and implementation of competencies in this area. In addition, the following specific issues have been identified for priority action: ambiguity regarding inter governmental responsibility for EIAs; inadequate mechanisms in MESP for outreach and technical assistance to municipalities; insufficient municipal capacity to: (i) formulate environmental policy and (ii) implement the environmental protection law and the environmental components of municipal development plans; Weakness of local system of environmental inspection and control. Inefficiency of system for the enforcement of fines and penalties; risk of corruption of environmental inspectors due to low salaries; ineffective mechanisms for controlling illegal construction. Social services. As a result of the Ahtisaari Proposal, municipalities have been clearly mandated to assume responsibility for delivery of social assistance (with the exception of pension payments) and social services. There is little clarity both at the municipal and central levels over how to implement this mandate. Up until now, MLSW has managed these services via a deconcentrated delivery mechanism of municipal Social Work Centres. The task of transferring management of these Centres to the municipalities will require careful planning, coupled with systematic follow up technical assistance. The sorting out of delivery mechanisms between municipalities and MLSW will be particularly challenging, since the services offered by the current Centres include the pension payment system, which is slated to remain under responsibility of MLSW. To address the latter, as with the other sectors, there is a strong need for a well structured system of inter governmental communication, negotiation, and technical support in the sector. In addition, the working group for this sector also identified a high risk of municipal funding gaps, as a result of the new competencies on social and family services that could seriously compromise the quality of future service delivery in the sector. Community Safety. Unlike the previous three sectors, it should be noted at the outset that the management capacity of municipalities in the area of community safety is currently quite advanced and established thanks to the longstanding technical assistance efforts on the part of OSCE and other international donors to create a strong, reliable voice for local stakeholders in the management and planning of activities related to citizen security and safety irrespective of the fact that the explicit designation of municipal competence over this sector was only made official very recently (under the Ahtisaari Proposal and the Law on Local Self Government). On the other hand, quite irrespective of progress made within municipalities, at the inter 28

29 governmental level similar bottlenecks and weaknesses exist as in the other sectors. Specifically, there is no comprehensive policy framework at the national level, to guide and assist policymaking and strategic planning at the local level. Similarly, there are no structured mechanisms for local national dialogue on matters related to the sector, or for specific, on demand technical assistance needs of municipalities. Components Component 1: Municipal health management Output 1: Technical assistance to facilitate a joint working group, with representatives from MoH and the municipalities, to formulate an Administrative Instruction on local health care delivery, defining operational procedures and assignments of responsibility, minimum standards (where still unclear), and resources for both levels of government; Output 2: Technical assistance to MoH in setting up a permanent body that collaborates closely with municipalities to support the effective implementation of primary healthcare policies. Specifically, to: (i) respond to specific technical assistance requests by municipalities; (ii) monitor the implementation of good practices in all municipalities and assist in improving any weak areas including data and information systems through National Institute of Public Health; (iii) establish a regular communication mechanism with the Association of Kosovo Municipalities and other relevant stakeholders; Output 3: With the support of the MoH, formulation and implementation of technical assistance programmes to municipal health authorities, paying particular attention to procurement and management functions vis à vis health care supplies, capital investments and operating costs; Output 4: Technical assistance to municipal health authorities to create mechanisms for citizen information and outreach and, to local advocacy groups, to inform citizens on health care options and rights. Component 2: Environmental planning and management at the local level Output 1: Technical assistance to facilitate a joint working group, with representatives from MESP and the municipalities, to formulate an Administrative Instruction on local environmental management services, defining operational procedures and assignments of responsibility, minimum standards, and resources for both levels of government with particular attention to the assignment of responsibilities regarding EIAs; Output 2: Technical assistance to MESP in setting up a permanent body that collaborates closely with municipalities to: (i) provide respond to specific technical assistance requests by municipalities; (ii) monitor the implementation of good practices in all municipalities; (iii) establish regular communication mechanism with the Association of Kosovo Municipalities and other relevant stakeholders; Output 3: Technical assistance programme to strengthen environmental inspection mechanisms including (i) case specific evaluations and proposed solutions 29

30 regarding numbers of inspectors and salary levels; (ii) improved system of environmental fines and fee structure; (iii) strengthening system for processing building permits and building inspection. Component 3: Local delivery of social services Output 1: Technical assistance to facilitate a joint working group, with representatives from MLSW and the municipalities, to formulate an Administrative Instruction on local social service delivery, defining detailed operational procedures and assignments of responsibility, resources for both levels of government; Output 2: Technical assistance to MLSW in setting up a permanent body that collaborates with municipalities to: (i) provide responses to specific technical assistance requests by municipalities; (ii) monitor the implementation of good practices in all municipalities; (iii) establish a regular communication mechanism with the Association of Kosovo Municipalities and other relevant stakeholders; Output 3: Costing of municipal mandates in the sector, including for monitoring and enforcing minimum standards, ensuring the minimum level of service provision and applying remedial action as needed. Component 4: Community safety services Output 1: Output 2: Output 3: Technical assistance to MIA in setting up a permanent body that collaborates closely with municipalities to: (i) provide respond to specific technical assistance requests by municipalities; (ii) monitor and disseminate the implementation of good practices at the local level; (iii) establish a regular communication mechanism with the Association of Kosovo Municipalities and other relevant stakeholders; Technical assistance to support (i) an intergovernmental policy debate, and (ii) formulation, approval, and budgeting of a national policy and strategy for community safety; With the support of the MIA, technical assistance in the preparation and implementation of municipal community safety strategies (in line with the national strategy) giving special attention to issues of citizen access and information, funding shortfalls, and special training needs. 30

31 Programme Profile no. 7: Public Private Partnerships in support of Local Economic Development Objectives Working with three pilot municipalities: (i) strengthen municipal capacity to engage in partnerships with the local private sector in local economic development programme planning and project execution; and (ii) implement specific technical assistance projects jointly funded and executed by the local public and private sectors. Institutional Responsibility 3 municipalities as pilot executors, in partnership with local chambers of commerce, with direct coordination support from specialized donor agencies Possible additional support (in Steering Committee) from: Ministry of Finance and Economy (MFE) Ministry of Local Government Administration (MLGA) National Chamber of Commerce (NCC) Recommended Budget: TBD Given the critically high levels of unemployment that currently exist in Kosovo, particularly among youth and minority communities, there is a growing consensus both at the national and local level that business development with a high content of job creation and income generation must be given high priority by government. International experience has demonstrated that one of the most effective ways of creating jobs and generating income opportunities for large numbers of people is by encouraging the development of micro, small and medium size enterprises at the local level otherwise known as Local Economic Development. In the past, international donors and government central or municipal have provided little systematic support to local business development, job creation, or local economic planning. In the case of muncipalities, this has been compounded by very low levels of capital investment in local economic infrastructure (especially transportation and communication), and the absence of an explicit legal mandate for municipalities to engage in this kind of support. Under the Ahtisaari Proposal and the recently approved Law on Local Self Government, municipalities in Kosovo have now been assigned an explicit mandate over local economic development activity. This opens the door for municipalities, with the support of central government and international donors, to take on a more proactive role. By partnering up with their local business sectors municipal governments can improve the competitiveness of their regional economies by supporting regional business clusters and supply chains, encouraging innovation, eliminating infrastructure bottlenecks, promoting exports and market access, regional brand names, and strengthening the local labour market with effective technical and professional education. It should be noted that some donor organizations have recently begun responding to this challenge, turning their attention towards new programmatic lines of funding in local economic development, such as is proposed below. 31

32 Many of the mayors consulted have already implemented public private partnership schemes to promote local economic development. Some municipalities, as in Istog and Prizren, have built industrial zones offering sites to local businesses at very reasonable, and even symbolic, prices. These schemes have met with considerable success so far and are encouraging. In another innovative scheme to promote public private partnership the mayor of Rahovec instigated a tax amnesty whereby any business who owed revenue to the municipality could half their bill if they agreed to pay within a designated time frame. This was a quick way of securing considerable municipal funds while also allowing many local businesses to save in the long term. Another classic example of effective public private partnerships which emerged during the consultations was the collaboration between municipalities and local businesses on tourism. Obviously tourism holds massive potential for many rural municipalities in Kosovo and several municipal administrations have seized on tourism as a sort of proverbial golden goose. Other municipalities have tried to promote public private partnership by establishing municipal centres for business promotion. Shtime, Suhareke and Peja have all established such institutions and report considerable success. Despite these encouraging signs it is worth noting that many mayors made it clear that there is still a sizeable gap between municipal and private business activities. The mayor of Shtime, in particular, referred to the fact that before the war private business had seen local government (Serb administered) as an adversary. The legacy of this passive resistance to local government seems to linger in at least a few municipalities. Components Component 1: Strengthen municipal capacities to promote and support local economic development Output 1: Technical assistance to undertake individual business development needs and project identification assessments in three pilot municipalities; Output 2: Technical assistance to pilot municipalities and the local business sector in the formulation of joint public private strategic economic development plans; technical assistance to municipalities in the formulation of Capital Investment Plans (CIP); Output 3: Based on the business development assessments (recommended above) create matching grant funds to finance demand driven projects presented by local institutions (local business collectives; locally active technology or education entities; or joint public private ventures) in diverse sectors such as tourism, cultural industry, agriculture, metallurgy, artisanry depending on the competitive advantages of each region. These projects would aim at: a. Supporting strategically critical needs of local business clusters in areas such as: IT development; technological development; regional branding; elimination of logistic bottlenecks; strengthening of supply chains. The latter can include collaborative agreements between individual entrepreneurs and knowledge institutions, such as universities or international technical centres; b. Strengthening a region s pool of social capital that supports business development and job creation, and generating a greater appreciation for the 32

33 benefits that can be gained from collective action. Encourage joint venture initiatives between private and public sector stakeholders aimed at improving a region s competitive standing in the larger national and international markets; c. Strengthening joint private public initiatives, between municipalities and central government agencies, on the one hand, and the local business sector and other local institutions, on the other, aimed at improving the competitiveness of local, regional economies. Output 4: Technical assistance to bolster inter municipal cooperation for economic development of micro or meso regions, facilitating collaboration on project design, financing, or execution. Such projects could support diverse sectors, such as tourism promotion, joint ventures in agriculture or agri business, and pooling resources to develop industries that employ local residents; Output 5: Technical assistance to organize vocational education in areas such as trade, agriculture, entrepreneurship, industry and services in the respective municipalities that have a tradition in one of these particular areas and then share that knowledge with other municipalities. 33

34 Programme Profile no. 8: Strengthening municipal finance systems following up on the Law on Local Government Finance Objective The overall objective of this programme is to create the necessary capacities in five municipalities for the implementation of the Law on Local Government Finance, to enhance the process of fiscal decentralisation in Kosovo. Institutional Responsibility Ministry of Finance and Economy (MFE) Ministry of Local Government Administration (MLGA) Association of Kosovo Municipalities (AKM) Recommended Budget: TBD In keeping with the Ahtisaari Proposal and the recently approved framework law on local self government, a new Law on Local Government Finance (LLGF) is currently being drafted with a view to significantly strengthen the fiscal autonomy and financial management responsibilities of municipalities commensurate to their new competencies in service delivery while at the same time ensuring an effective framework for intergovernmental fiscal responsibility. The current programme proposal is aimed at complementing the LLGF with a set of follow up support activities in three priority areas: Local revenue generation and management: Tax collection is a massive challenge for Kosovo s municipalities who receive most of their funding from the central government who, in turn, receive the vast majority of their funding from the international community. If Kosovo s decentralisation plan is to become sustainable this situation will have to be remedied. On the one hand this has led to significant discussion regarding the appropriate levels of grant funding to municipalities i.e., whether municipalities have been given unfunded mandates. In order to minimise confusion and controversy on this issue, the current programme proposes the development of a fiscal gap analysis instrument, capable of quantifying the difference between the potential own source revenues of a municipality and its funding requirements to administer currently mandated services. Many municipalities that were having difficulties in this area reported that a culture of paying tax had not yet taken root in their municipalities. Many of Kosovo s citizens have, for decades, seen the dodging of taxes as a form of passive resistance against Serbian rule. Even in the wake of the declaration of independence this custom has proven to be stubbornly resilient. Other municipalities who were having difficulty in collecting appropriate taxes complained that citizens sometimes openly refused to pay their taxes because they could see no improvements in infrastructure or service delivery. Transparency is thus paramount in the promotion of a tax paying culture. The mayor of Peja, for instance, instigated a massive overhauling of the tax system which focused on transparency and business registration. This scheme helped bring 34

35 about a 130% increase in tax revenue for Peja. On the other hand, despite promising efforts made to encourage own source revenue generation, by awarding a stimulation grant to municipalities that achieve performance benchmarks in property tax collection, overall, relatively little progress has been achieved so far in increasing municipal reliance on own source revenues. There is general consensus that the current incentive system for own source revenue generation needs to be critically reviewed with an eye to strengthening its effectiveness. Moreover, it needs to be complemented by a more proactive programme of capacity building aimed at strengthening the inefficient revenue collection and management systems currently in place in most municipalities. Budgeting and planning systems: Municipal budgeting systems in Kosovo have the advantage and disadvantage of functioning with relative centralised control and efficiency under the umbrella of the national Kosovo Consolidated Budget. This has allowed for the creation of uniform accounting standards and relatively efficient treasury controls. On the other hand it has also contributed to two critical shortcomings in the fiscal management of Kosovo municipalities: (i) the atrophying of municipal planning systems and (ii) the absence of a culture of local taxpayer participation and accountability in the setting of financial priorities. The current budget process in most municipalities operates self sufficiently, disconnected from municipal planning processes. This has resulted in annual budgets that lack a strategic development vision, and undermine the relevance of local planning systems. In addition, the latter has been compounded by a very weak culture of citizen participation in both municipal planning and municipal budgeting, leading to an almost complete absence of fiscal accountability of municipal administrations to local taxpayers. One of the mayors, in relation to his planning and budgeting processes, confided that he has learned not to accept extra competencies without receiving extra funding. His budget is stretched too thinly as it is and he has no desire to stretch it any further even if it does entail added competencies, something that almost all mayors desperately want. Other mayors complained of similar disparities between the competencies handed to them and is thus almost impossible. The Fair Share Finance scheme came under considerable fire from several mayors in mixed municipalities who believe that they are forced to spend a disproportionately large percentage of their budget on minorities who do not make up an equivalent percentage of the municipalities population. Several other municipalities also complained that the central government was short changing them by awarding them funds based on old censuses which do not accurately reflect the demographics of the municipalities at present. This puts further strain on the budget. The scarcity of financial resources has also led to a shortfall in funds for unforeseen emergencies. Such was the case in Podujeve where the municipality struggled to fund the extra border security needed during the unrest in March. Local capital investment systems. In order to fulfil their new responsibilities in sectoral service delivery defined in the LLSG and Ahtisaari Proposal, municipal governments will require major increases in capital investment financing if not a complete overhaul of the existing local capital investment financing system. Currently Kosovo municipalities function with weak, ad hoc mechanisms of capital investment financing limited largely to the options available within the 35

36 current annual budget process. Given the lack of a development planning vision in the budget process, noted above, capital investment financing in the municipalities has been equally hampered by ad hoc, short term decision making. In addition, the amount of local capital investment financing has been woefully inadequate relative to the investment needs of municipalities reflecting a classic problem of unfunded mandates. Aware of this, the draft Law on Local Government Finance is giving consideration to the creation of a new local capital investment financing mechanism; however, it appears that the details of this new mechanism will need to be worked out and discussed in a follow up effort, which could be supported through the current programme. Such an effort will need to give attention to several alternative sources of capital investment funding, including: (i) self funding of investment needs by way of increased user fees charged by municipal service providers; (ii) unconditional grant mechanism: explore prospects for expanding unconditional grants to municipalities to include capital investment earmarking; (iii) creation of a project driven central Capital Investment Fund, managed by central government; and (iv) creation of a sub national credit market. Throughout the consultations process mayors consistently complained that they simply did not have sufficient resources at their disposal to meet with the costs of their projects. This lack of capital investment has seriously curtailed the ambitious reform programmes proposed by many local administrations. Components Component 1: Increasing capacities and opportunities for own source revenue generation and management Output 1: Technical assistance to municipalities in the design and implementation of collection and management systems for own source revenues; Output 2: Technical assistance to municipalities to assist in implementation of new property appraisal system proposed by MFE; Output 3: Develop fiscal gap analysis mechanism to inform decisions on appropriate grant levels to municipalities and assist in dispute resolution. Component 2: Support to the creation of Municipal Capital Investment System Output 1: Fund study to explore cost benefits and feasibility of alternative approaches for funding (see 4 dimensions above); include funding of national policy forums to discuss results and formulate final policy; Output 2: Develop accompanying financial/credit rating system of municipalities that can be used by MFE for (i) allocation of project driven capital investment financing (whether as grants, credit, or a mixture of the latter two) and (ii) as a reference and part of an incentive system for financial capacity building of the municipalities. 36

37 Component 3: Supporting integrated, participatory planning and budgeting systems Output 1: Marketing and education campaign with municipalities, demonstrating benefits of strategic development planning; Output 2: Technical assistance to municipalities, aimed at integrating strategic development planning with MTEF and annual budget process; Output 3: Develop guidelines and provide technical assistance for (i) extensive public participation in budget planning process (at least 3 meetings per year), and (ii) taxpayer information campaigns on budget planning and budget performance. 37

38 Programme Profile no. 9: Strengthened Local Government Association and Intergovernmental Communication Systems Objective The overall objective of this programme is to enhance the capacity of the Association of Kosovo Municipalities and its members to effectively lobby and engage with central government on issues related to local government and the decentralisation process. Institutional Responsibility Association of Kosovo Municipalities (AKM) and its professional collegia Recommended Budget: TBD Inter governmental communication is a critical aspect of effective local government without effective and efficient communication structures, local government participation in the discussion and drafting of national policies and regulations will be ineffective, and the implementation of central government regulations and policies related to local government could result in uneven or partial implementation of regulations, limiting their effectiveness. One of the key mechanisms by which inter governmental communication is fostered and conducted is local government associations. Currently in Kosovo, the AKM is a critical conduit of information between central and local governments, however, the actual inter action of both levels of government on important processes as legislative drafting and budget formulation is extremely ad hoc. One of the issues related to this weak inter action is the lobbying capacities of local government and the AKM towards the central government. The AKM has a number of structures by which it can harness the information and requests of local government, particularly through its professional collegia, however, a strategic approach for lobbying of central government has not been put in place. The AKM is a recognized and highly appreciated institution for the advancement of local government reform and development, and will continue to be so over the coming critical months and years. While significant support for internal capacity building and knowledge management for the AKM has been present since its inception in 2001, nonetheless, the scale up of its activities, as well as a more targeted approach to service delivery is an important step in its on going development. Many municipal leaders openly admitted that they were previously of the belief that the AKM was incapable of aiding them in any significant way. Furthermore, many mayors from smaller municipalities actually believed that their delegates were being ignored at AKM functions. It was thus promising to discover that most of those consulted now believe that the AKM is improving rapidly and increasing its capacity to unite and represent the municipalities. In particular a considerable amount of support was expressed for the AKM s new Collegia system. The publications, meetings and guidelines of the Association seem to be being received 38

39 favourably. Furthermore, several mayors also acknowledged the AKM s increasing role as a lobbyist at central government for the concerns of the municipalities. This is encouraging news for the AKM which serves as the municipalities champion at central level. Components Component 1: Output 1: Enhance the capacities of the AKM to facilitate inter governmental communication processes and inform on new trends/practices in local government. Continue to build on the relationship with MLGA and PMO, and sign MoUs with other ministries to allow for the inclusion of the AKM in policy discussions and legislative drafting and general inter governmental communication, including the formulation of an action plan for the participation of municipalities in central level policy making; Output 2: Improve lobbying skills towards central government through collegia focal points procedures for follow up, effective documentation and presentation skills, capacity for inter action with citizens advocacy groups, awareness raising on improvements/changes made Output 3: Enhance levels and quality of information exchange through the development of transparent and uniform communication procedures with members, MoU with government on communication procedures with Ministries, and increased visibility of information products of the LGA (LOGIN, LOGON, NALAS, CEMR, newsletters). This may also include: o Diagnostic to identify specific shortcomings and obstacles, o Formulate proposal for coordination mechanisms; Output 4: Create a knowledge exchange and management system between local governments. This can be done by including more strategic information in e newsletters, improving the visibility of information sources (LOGIN, LOGON, NALAS, CEMR, etc), regularizing/standardizing AKM collegia meetings, and building the capacity of the IT/Communication section of the AKM; Output 5: Strengthening capacity of municipalities to communicate upwards o Diagnose specific bottlenecks o Formulate and implement training and technical assistance proposal. Component 2: Enhance the capacities of the AKM to provide more targeted services to municipalities and local government civil servants for future intergovernmental communication and local development initiatives. Output 1: Undertake a strategic assessment of activities which can eventually be self financing, needs for a front office/one stop shop service and resource centre, e services, including stream lining request forms and back office processes; Output 2: Internal training programme for AKM staff on service delivery issues for the Association, with specialised training on specific services. 39

40 Programme Profile no. 10: Addressing Inter governmental Dispute Resolution Objective The overall objective of this programme is to ensure that the risks for inter governmental disputes can be significantly reduced by addressing the unclear division of responsibility between central and local government related to the own competencies laid out in the Law on Local Self Government, and in particular on issues related to inter governmental finance. With particular attention directed to the clarification of the central government mandate in line with the principle of subsidiarity, initiatives to identify specific mechanisms and procedures which will be solely dedicated to addressing and resolving disputes of an intergovernmental nature. Institutional Responsibility Executing agencies: Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) and Ministry of Local Government Administration (MLGA) Partners: a Steering Committee chaired by MLGA, and composed of AKM, representative municipalities and representatives of line ministries. Recommended Budget: TBD Disputes between central and local government are inevitable in any decentralized political system. Many of the municipalities who participated in the consultations declared that they enjoyed amicable and productive relationships with the Ministry for Local Government Administration and the central government in general. However, many more did not enjoy such a cordial relationship with central institutions. Disputes between municipal and central government are inevitable and many of the mayors wished to express their opinions on the matter. Arguments over the benefits of resources situated inside municipalities provide a majority of the disputes between central and local governments. For example, Obiliq municipality is the home to the KEK power stations which cause considerable damage not only to Obiliq s environment but also to its infrastructure. The mayor of Obiliq firmly believes that not only is the municipality not being compensated for hosting KEK but that his complaints are also falling on deaf ears inside the government. This has led to considerable resentment. In Kamenice the mayor complained that the central government was reaping all of the benefits of the municipality s quarrying industry without adequately compensating the municipality which was required to carry out the surveying. Istog has also had a similar bone of contention with central government who the mayor believes are obstructing his plans to ban logging in Istog s forests. There was also a feeling among some mayors that the proposals and demands submitted by their municipalities were being shunned by central government on political grounds. Again this has led to considerable resentment to central government in some municipalities. 40

41 The Law on Local Self Government, while specifying in which fields central and local governments should have a close relationship (Chapter X), does not provide any channel or mechanism for the communication of this central local relationship or for dispute resolution when the authorities of central and local government may overlap. Specific role of central government vis a vis decentralized municipal competencies. Further, the capacity of municipal administrations is critically hamstrung by the ambiguities and imprecision that exists regarding the precise definition of competencies and responsibilities of municipal governments. Although critical progress has been made by the Law on Local Self Government and the Law on Local Government Finance in the definition of the broad categories of municipal competencies, major work still lies ahead in clarifying with functional and administrative precision, the specific, detailed assignment of competencies between municipal and national entities. Until the latter is undertaken systematically, sector by sector, and functional area by functional area, municipal as well as national government entities will continue to operate in the dark, leading to confusion, paralysis of initiative, and lack of accountability in both levels of government. Unclear procedures and mechanisms for inter governmental dispute resolution. The Kosovo court systems are currently too backlogged to handle inter governmental disputes. In the case of the Ombudsman system, a lack of mandate and procedures for dealing with intergovernmental conflicts presents a challenge. Roles and responsibilities of the Ombudsman institution, courts, MLGA and AKM vis a vis dispute resolution are not clear. Therefore, the gap that exists in the channel or mechanism for central local dispute resolution needs to be tackled with great care. Satisfactory resolution to disputes between central and local governments can only result from mechanisms that are agreed upon by both parties. The design process for these mechanisms should therefore rely on considerable participation from both the MLGA and AKM. Components Component 1: Legal clarity on the enhanced competencies of municipalities and central government monitoring functions achieved Output 1: Define the allocation of general powers to municipalities over matters not regulated and defined for other administrative bodies; Output 2: Undertake a strategic review of laws on inter governmental finance, natural resources and public enterprises and environmental protection issues to ensure municipal competencies are clarified/amended as necessary; Output 3: Prepare administrative instructions in order to supplement the laws. To be undertaken in close cooperation with municipal leaders to incorporate municipal principles on development, to avoid challenges in functionality if administrative instructions are poorly conceived and without clear legal guidance from the central government. 41

42 Component 2: Capacities built at central level to lower potential for inter governmental disputes and respond to disputes between municipalities and line ministries Output 1: Develop clear coordination mechanisms between MLGA and line ministries for drafting the legal framework to avoid overlap and contradiction with sectoral laws; Output 2: Continuous efforts on training of managers and officials in the legal departments in order to decrease the capabilities for legislative gaps in the decentralisation process; Output 3: Review strategic dispute resolution options, particularly the ability of the MLGA to take on the primary function of resolving disputes between municipalities and line ministries; Output 4: Regularise the follow up and reporting by the MLGA on the implementation of recommendations given to municipalities; Output 5: Training to MLGA staff on methodologies for monitoring and evaluation of municipalities in line with principle of subsidiarity. 42

43 Programme Profile no. 11: Central Government Support to Municipal Development Objective The objective of this programme is to enhance central government capacity especially the Ministry of Local Government Administration and Ministry of Finance and Economy for more targeted support to municipalities for their development, assisting in: (i) the facilitation/coordination of aid and technical assistance to municipalities in the respective areas of responsibility of the ministries; (ii) direct support to municipal teams in programme/project development, implementation, and resource mobilization efforts; and (iii) ensuring effective and responsive central level coordination. Institutional Responsibility Executing agency: Ministry of Local Government Administration (MLGA) Co executing partners: Ministry of Finance and Economy (MFE) and other central government agencies that share responsibilities with municipalities in the delivery of local services Recommended Budget: TBD In order for the new decentralisation framework to function, central government entities will need to play a strong pro active role in the process, ensuring the effective and sustainable performance of local services. This will require, on the part of most central ministries but especially MLGA and MFE the creation or strengthening of mechanisms responsible for support and interface with municipalities, including in particular: (i) mechanisms for technical assistance, training and mentoring of municipalities; (ii) coordination, communication, and knowledge networking systems; as well as (iii) information and monitoring systems to ensure compliance with national standards. Furthermore, central government institutions can also play a crucial role assisting in the orchestration of aid and international assistance to municipalities, helping to correct or compensate for significant problems of uneven distribution and/or redundancies of international aid that currently exist among Kosovo s municipalities. The MLGA as a line ministry is responsible not only for oversight but, moreover, for support to municipal development and thus, is the main institution addressing local government at central government. However, involvement of other line ministries such as MLSW, MoH, MEST and MFE is equally important when municipalities need support in the fields that these line ministries represent. The mayors consulted had very little to say about this programme other than the fact that they believed, unanimously, that central government did not offer enough support for municipal development. Components 43

44 Component 1. Strengthen MLGA capacities to actively support municipal development Output 1: Create and build capacity of a specific team within the MLGA to mentor/assist municipal teams on programme coordination, implementation and resource mobilisation; Output 2: Provide technical assistance to the MLGA on developing a strategic plan to promote and support cross institutional cooperation related to municipal development at the central level; Output 3: Technical support for MLGA to establish methodologies for monitoring and evaluating municipalities in line with the principle of subsidiarity, including the establishment of a system for follow up reporting by MLGA on the implementation of the recommendations given to municipalities. Component 2. Strengthening other key central government institutions to contribute to municipal development Output 1: Based on the clarification of roles and responsibilities between municipalities and line ministries, targeted capacity enhancement within line ministries on their functions vis a vis municipalities should be undertaken. Specifically, on reporting processes, communication, and possible mentoring of municipal civil servants by Ministry staff. These activities are elaborated under the programme Sector Specific Support to Service Delivery. Budgetary considerations are mentioned there. Component 3. Output 1: Supporting more effective delivery of aid and technical assistance to municipalities through a strengthened donor coordination cell at the MLGA Continued strengthening of the donor coordination cell of the MLGA to respond to donor initiatives, based on a needs assessment (human and technical resources, software, communications strategy, reporting templates, etc); Output 2: Introduce regularity and consistency in communication and coordination mechanisms with donors and line ministries with devolved competencies to municipalities; Output 3: Regularised evaluation mechanisms established which will more easily facilitate the MLGA s response to the strategic needs and requirements of municipalities for their development. These activities are also found under the programme Local Government Development and Resource Centre Output 3. Budgetary considerations are mentioned there. 44

45 Programme Profile no. 12: Local Government Development and Resource Centre Objective Create a consolidated and sustainable mechanism for municipal capacity building and training of local government civil servants and other specialised professionals on state of the art practices in local administration, management and service delivery systems. Operating as a specialised training and technical assistance centre, the facility could be directed collectively by a group of interested stakeholder institutions, or be housed in a specific location; however, the overall mechanism should have oversight undertaken by the MLGA Donor Coordination Cell. Institutional Responsibility Executing agency: Local Government Development Centre Supporting partner institutions (through Board of Directors): Ministry of Local Government Administration (MLGA; particularly the Donor Coordination Cell); Ministry of Public Services (MPS)/Kosovo Institute for Public Administration (KIPA); Association of Kosovo Municipalities (AKM); Ministry of Finance and Economy (MFE); universities Recommended budget: TBD The mayors consider the nurturing of the personal capacities of their staff as the highest priority. Very few mayors consulted could say that they were pleased with the myriad of trainings offered to and undertaken by their staff. While there are a whole host of national and international agencies providing capacity building trainings to municipal staff, very few municipal leaders could name any of the trainings that they felt were truly beneficial for their staff. There is thus considerable room for improvement in this sector. Often the development of municipalities has depended largely on individual leadership. As a result municipalities have developed in an ad hoc manner and not in a national or regionally cohesive manner. Thus, strengthening of municipal leadership and municipal civil service capacities is crucial aspect in ensuring sustainable development at local government in Kosovo. The process of decentralisation will put the aspects of local authority and responsibility closer together by giving local leadership many more responsibilities regarding policy making, planning and budgeting and resource generation. Further, with the principle of subsidiarity, municipal civil servants will be solely responsible for their day to day work, rather than simply carrying out the directives of central government. As such, feelings of ownership of municipal services will allow for a more serious approach to capacity development for the improved effectiveness of their work. Need for specialised mechanisms to develop local leadership skills. With the adoption of the Law on Local Self Government, which is based on the European Charter of Local Self Government, legislative and policy changes transfer more competencies to local leadership. This devolution of power involves almost all local government affairs, thus strengthening of local capacities is 45

46 crucial. Decentralized authority now means that local leaders have the opportunity to implement the vision which they have foreseen for the development of the municipality. Therefore, the ability to link vision with policy making and implementation of activities to support development is essential. Building up and enhancing skills in strategic management and goal setting in line with realistic time frames and resources is a critical capacity that municipal leaders will now require in order to make the effects and potentials of decentralisation positively impact their communities. Management skills, strategic planning, policy making, basic and advanced computer skills, customer care and budget planning were all identified as the areas in which municipal staff were most in need of instruction. The mayors who were asked appeared to view the idea of a Local Government Development and Resource favourably and recognised the need to standardise the education of municipal staff. Weak national mechanism for training and development of government civil servants. The establishment of the KIPA as the only institution charged with the training and education of civil servants, including those at the municipal level, initially produced positive results but the majority of the training programmes and modules were largely donor driven and provided on an ad hoc basis. Further, KIPA s mandate limits them to programmes focused on general issues, such as administration and finance, and did not discriminate between approaches taken to those issues at the local level, which is much different to the tasks of civil servants at the central level. As a result, application of the knowledge gained was either extremely difficult or not undertaken as training in general principles does not necessarily translate into practice, without linking those principles to specific day to day functions. Trainings on specific municipal functions have been carried out by donors and NGOs, as well as by the Ministry of Local Government Administration, usually in relation to new regulations and directives for municipal administration. These types of specific issue based trainings are generally one two day initiatives, which do not explore application of the knowledge gained into day to day work deeply enough. Further, the plethora of trainings and training providers has resulted in training fatigue. Thus, motivation to attend trainings which do not have high value added, is weak, resulting in senior municipal civil servants delegating attendance to more junior staff who may then gain some knowledge which does not necessarily apply to their own functions within the administration. Real motivation for capacity development is thus lacking at the municipal level as a result of a lack of strategic approach to capacity building of municipal civil servants over the past years. Furthermore, several mayors expressed dismay at the one day training that many staff are offered. Several indicated that they believed most of those who went on these trainings did so not to learn valuable skills but for the monetary compensation or even for the free lunch. Lack of coordination of capacity development initiatives. The donor coordination facility within the MLGA lacks critical capacity to assist municipalities in responding to the deployment of donor assistance, resulting in inefficient aid to local government. A result of the generalist trainings provided by KIPA, donors as well as civil society groups tend to by pass KIPA as a training provider. Further, capacity building initiatives which are not specifically training currently cannot be provided by KIPA restricting the type and method of capacity building available to municipal civil servants directly provided by the central government. 46

47 A number of institutions in Kosovo are capable of undertaking capacity building activities, including coaching, mentoring, exchanges, distance learning, and certification programmes. These institutions include the AKM, line ministries, issue specific civil society groups, international institutions and their implementing partners, as well as academic institutions. Components Component 1. Building local leadership capacities in a decentralised government environment Output 1: Technical assistance on strategic management skills, related to planning and implementation of activities to support vision of municipal leadership either through the AKM or international leadership forum. Component 2. Ensuring that capacity development mechanisms respond to the particular needs of civil servants for increased ownership of municipal mandates Output 1: Establishment of comprehensive modules and methods within the training institutions (such as KIPA) to train civil servants in practical issues, to avoid ad hoc capacity building initiatives, allowing for/initiating long term courses on specific municipal functions in which civil servants can be certified; Output 2: Establishment of an on demand resource facility specifically for local government civil servants to assist in transferring knowledge into practice (such as coaches available in person or via , or civil servant exchanges/partnerships possibly through the AKM). Component 3. Strengthened donor coordination cell with the MLGA related to capacity building initiatives at the local level Output 1: Continued strengthening of the donor coordination cell of the MLGA to respond to donor initiatives, based on a needs assessment (human and technical resources, software, communications strategy, reporting templates, etc); Output 2: Introduce regularity and consistency in communication and coordination mechanisms with donors and line ministries with devolved competencies to municipalities; Output 3: Establish regularised evaluation mechanisms which will facilitate more easily MLGA response to the strategic needs and requirements of municipalities for their development. 47