A new project of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation “Empowering Municipal Councils” was launched in Mavrovo today in the presence of over 70 representatives of national and local institutions.
Over the next four years, this project worth 3,4 million Swiss Francs, will be implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in cooperation with the Ministry of Local Self-Government and the Association of Local Self-Government Units (ZELS).
In her opening address, Minister of Local Self-Government Shiret Elezi said that empowered municipal councils will help improve the process of transparent and inclusive decision making.
“The work of the councils is a mirror of the success of the process of decentralization and of the democratic capacity to find solutions for the citizens’ most pressing problems”, said Elezi.
Ambassador Sibil Suter Tejada underlined that this project is a continuation of the active Swiss support to the process of decentralization.
“With this project we intend to support the municipal councils all over the country to become better at fulfilling their role of oversight, legislation and representation. In return, transparency and accountability will improve business conditions and help ensure a sustainable future for the citizens” – said Tejada.
UNDP Resident Representative Louisa Vinton pointed out that this project draws inspiration from the fundamentally democratic notion that the state and its institutions must be accountable to the citizens, and not the other way around.
“The idea is at the heart of Goal #16 of the Sustainable Development Goals, which is dedicated to building effective, accountable institutions at all levels”, said Vinton.
The President of the Committee of Councils, Trajce Donev, underlined that this project will help empower councilors at local level by “encouraging peer-to-peer support and the sharing of experience, with the help of traditional and innovative methodologies”.
It is expected that this project will help municipal councils to take the lead in engaging citizens more directly in setting municipal priorities, ensuring these priorities are translated into the specifics of municipal budgets and in monitoring municipal spending to ensure that every single denar is spent wisely, efficiently and transparently
