Over 240 municipal councilors from 24 municipalities trained in the past two and a half years with a Swiss project

With the last training held last weekend, the implementation of the trainings for capacity building of the municipal councilors from the municipalities of Berovo, Zrnovci, Valandovo, Bitola, Krushevo, Vevcani, Caska and Tetovo was completed. A total of 70 counselors who participated in the trainings received certificates.

Over the past eight months, councilors from these municipalities have improved their knowledge and skills on 11 topics related to municipal public finances management, human resource management, spatial and urban planning, innovation in management, inter-municipal and interethnic cooperation, gender equality and good governance at the local level.

The trainings were conducted by a team of thirty experts and former councilors hired and coordinated by UNDP and the Association of Finance Officers of the Local Governments and Public Enterprises (AFO).

Starting from 2018, up to date over 240 councilors from 24 municipalities have completed the trainings which are also available in the electronic version on the e-learning platform dedicated to all municipal councilors in the country.

In addition to interactive trainings on all 11 topics of the Municipal Councilors Capacity Development Program, the e-learning platform enables councilors to communicate with each other, exchange ideas and share successful practices from their municipalities with their fellow councilors from other municipalities in the country.

The trainings and the e-learning platform for municipal councilors are part of the Swiss Embassy / Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) project “Empowering Municipal Councils”, with a total budget of 3.5 million Swiss francs, which is implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in cooperation with the Association of Financial Workers and other national and local partners.

In addition to the trainings for councilors, a total of 1.2 million Swiss francs are earmarked for grants aimed at implementing priority initiatives in all 24 municipalities participating in the project.