Македонски центар за меѓународна соработка - МЦМС

Decentralization is a complex process, narrowly linked with the endeavours made by Republic of Macedonia for its EU integration with the ultimate goal of improvement of the services for  the citizens, and thus, leading to improvement of the living standard.

A modern, European type of local self-government requires skills and competent governance in the municipalities. The acceptance of the new standards and values in the functioning of the local self-government, new organizational culture, strengthened capacities of the administration through knowledge and skills advancement is a step towards efficient and effective meeting of the needs and interests of the citizens.

The professionalization of the local self-government, through acquisition of new knowledge and skills, represents an imperative for the successful implementation of decentralization and efficiency of the local self-government. Thus, the institutional and governing capacity represents one of the most important factors in the provision of long-term and sustainable development of the communities.

A precondition for effective and efficient local self-government, prepared to respond to the needs and requirements of the citizens, for fast and timely solution to the problems in the communities, represents the strengthening of the institutional and governing capacity of the municipalities through investments in the human development.

Overall goal of the project was improved services to the citizens in the communities.

Objective of the project was improved organizational and institutional capacities of the rural and other small communities for realization of developmental initiatives.

Target group of the project were the citizens of the municipalities: Dolneni, Mogila, Karbinci, Lozovo, Staro Nagoricane, Saraj, Jegunovce, Veles and Prilep. The target area encompassed the mentioned nine municipalities.

The achieved results of the project are: developed knowledge and skills for access to and management of funds and strengthened human resources in the local self-governments for governance and management.

Four trainings and one workshop were conducted in the project: training on preparation of IPA projects, training on access to donors and production of applications, training on human resources management, training on team work and team management, and workshop for identification of the priorities of the communities in the LRZ programme. All trainings were realized in compliance with the plan. Part of the municipalities encompassed with the project did not participate at some of the trainings and workshop. Out of 98 planned participants, 75 participated at the trainings and workshop, of which 45 were men and 30 were women.

The time period for implementation of the project was from May 23rd to December 17th 2007. The direct costs of the project were 655,934.50 MKD. All funds were received from EED from Germany (www.eed.de).