USAID supports Ministry of Local Government Administration (MLGA) for positive evaluation in the European Commission’s Report on Kosovo
USAID supports Ministry of Local Government Administration (MLGA) for positive evaluation in the European Commission’s Report on Kosovo
During the local government reform and decentralization process carried out between 2008 and 2010, three new Kosovo Serb majority municipalities were established under the new legal framework. Since then, a lack of qualified human resources at the municipal level has been a significant challenge to realizing the mandates of local governments, especially in the newly established municipalities like the north. In November 2016, the European Commission issued its report on Kosovo, highlighting the progress that has been made in local government, particularly on relations between central and local government, including northern Kosovo Serb majority municipalities. The praise for this progress marks a significant achievement of the Ministry of Local Government Administration (MLGA) and is the result of many years of hard work by the Ministry and its employees and the municipalities, and partners who helped advance the local governance system in Kosovo.
One of MLGA’s partners, since 2014, is USAID Advancing Kosovo Together (AKT) program. MLGA Secretary General Rozafa Ukimeraj particularly appreciates AKT’s focus on professional capacity development and process of systematization of jobs for four northern municipalities. “Cooperation between MLGA and USAID Advancing Kosovo Together program was specifically focused on professional capacity development of municipal officials in fields of legislation, local finance, and in general, on consolidating democracy at the local level,“ explains MLGA Secretary General Rozafa Ukimeraj. “I can surely mention our great cooperation related to advancing communication with the officials from northern municipalities through meetings, joint activities, and realization of joint projects.“
Together with USAID AKT, MLGA made a huge step with the installation of a unified system for local financial management in cooperation with Ministry of Public Administration and Ministry of Finance, which directly helped develop and integrate municipal structures in northern Kosovo. AKT has provided similar support to the human resource system and 5 types of professional trainings to northern municipalities, specifically to municipal finance authorities to introduce public finance policies and municipal revenues in their municipalities, municipal procurement officials on their certification, municipal project management authorities on expending their knowledge concerning project cycle and public contract management, Municipal Office for Communities and Returns (MOCR) on mechanisms to efficiently protect minority rights, municipal EU Integration Officers, etc. The EU Commission Report on Kosovo highlights the MLGA’s work, listing successes in three main fields: 1) advancing cooperation between central and local government, with specific emphasis on northern municipalities of Zubin Potok, Leposavić/Leposaviq, Zvečan/Zveçan, and North Mitrovica, 2) compliance with municipal self-government legal acts where an evident decrease in legal violations was noted in these municipalities, and 3) fulfillment of the municipalities’ obligations which derive from the process of European integration.