A workshop was held for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation project: “Empowering Municipal Councils” from 17 to 19 February, at the Hotel Sirius in Strumica.
In the presence of the presidents of municipal councils and in partnership with ZELS, the UNDP project team held three presentations on key project components, which should provide the vital link of accountability between councillors and citizens, which will lead to an improvement in local democracy and local government as a whole.
The first presentation was on the municipal councillors networking, where an e-learning platform was presented as one of the tools that will be used for the needs of the Swiss project.
The learning platform will provide access to basic and in-depth training content and relevant materials, information on current developments and events and relevant data of interest to councillors. At the same time, the e-learning platform will include an administered forum for exchange of information, data, opinions and communication among councillors.
Moreover, a draft capacity building program for municipal councillors was presented. This program integrated the priority training topics and the key challenges faced by councillors, such as funding procedures, the role of councillors in fiscal matters of municipal operations, the need for a more thorough understanding of budget issues. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation project, through a number of training modules focused on key issues related to budgetary and financial management of municipalities, will undoubtedly empower councillors to perform their function in the local government system.
The third presentation raised also a considerable interest among presidents of municipal councils aimed at the application of innovative approaches for a more effective and more efficient functioning of municipal councils. In this regard, the project supported by the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development will contain a series of innovative measures, such as the idea of implementing the monitoring of local services in real time by the citizens.
All presentations in Strumica were followed by active discussions among participants, which certainly created an opportunity for appropriate adjustment of interventions align with the needs of municipal councillors and other stakeholders and beneficiaries.
