NEWSLETTER
No. 3, January - June 2020
Regulatory framework approved by 93 percent of councils
Selected municipalities include citizen eParticipation in approval of year 2019 performance reports, via online survey and Q&As
Costing model for disinfection services for Covid-19 pandemic
Pre-school
A project of the Swiss Agency for Development and Coopera on SDC
ALBANIA
Regulatory framework approved by 93 percent of councils
The year 2020 saw Albania's municipal councils take a very important step forward with regard to equipping this legislative body with an up-to-date and relevant regulatory framework. As of the end of June, the number of municipal councils that have approved a Regulation on the Rules of Procedure stands at 56, out of 61 councils. This document acts as an umbrella regulation for the running of the council by stipulating clearly aspects of organic Law 139/2015 'On Local SelfGovernance' and by allowing other internal regulations to anchor easily to it. The present situation marks a remarkable improvement over the same period last year, when only a handful of municipal councils used basic regulations that did not re ect the changes made by the Local Self-Governance Law. Bashki tĂŤ Forta (BtF) has found very fertile ground in which to apply its assistance, with many more regulations being approved in 2020, even during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result of direct technical assistance to municipal councils and close cooperation with the Agency for Support of Local Self-Governance there are now approved, out of 61 LGUs, 48 Community Consultation Regulations, 49 Ethical Codes and Con ict of Interest, 28 Regulations on the Treatment of Petitions and Civic Initiatives, and 11 Regulations on Community Structures. The project is also piloting the approval and use of electronic registers, with Roskovec being the rst council to approve one on public consultation in April this year. BtF aims to continue assisting all 61 councils in the second part of 2020 in the use of regulations to exercise e ectively their decision making with an oversight role for a more functional local democracy.
COUNCILS
Nr. 3, Janar - Qershor 2020
Bashki tÍ Forta technical assistance is key to maintaining decision making during the pandemic Albania's institutions went into lockdown only a few days after the rst cases of Covid-19 were con rmed on 9 March 2020. To counter the obstacles created by this emergency, the Albanian government issued a normative act (no. 3, of 15 March 2020), allowing collegial bodies such as municipal councils to undertake their decision making remotely via electronic means. Although this act opened the way for remote decision making, most municipal councillors across the country were unprepared or unfamiliar in the use of online conference platforms such as Zoom or Skype, or of Facebook Messenger or Whatsapp, to facilitate remote meetings. The project acted quickly via its Regional Focal Points and initially helped draft and distribute to all municipalities an instruction on how to hold digital meetings. Importantly, the project assisted with direct technical support for more than 90 percent of all councillors in logging in to various platforms so that decision making would not be impacted negatively. As a result, only one council, due to limited Internet access, was unable to use electronic means to take decisions. The limitations of the lockdown proved to be a great catalyst for transparency at the local level. Bashki tÍ Forta facilitated the broadcasts of all Zoom and Skype meetings at the request of interested municipalities. An unprecedented 34 online meetings were shown live on Facebook, with more than 100,000 people tuning in, while six local TV stations and more than 20 digital local media transmitted the meetings live, with more than 200 comments generated over the March–June period. The project has undertaken to keep on supporting in the second half of 2020 all councils interested in streaming live their public consultations or their planning of the 2021 budget.
COUNCILS
Selected municipalities include citizen e-Participation in approval of year 2019 performance reports, via online survey and Q&As Across Albania, 31 municipalities have each produced and published a citizen and council friendly performance report for 2019. In the rst part of the year, members of these municipal administrations validated the report, which was passed to council for approval at a plenary session in the second quarter of the year. Twenty-eight of these municipalities published the report on their website, with 16 municipalities also sharing it on their Facebook page. This marks a clear move towards more transparency, showing councillors, civil society, media and citizens how their public money has been spent, in easy-to-understand language. In 2019, only 16 municipalities out of the 31 that were assisted to produce a report made e orts to publicise it, while in 2020, all 31 municipalities published the report. Eleven of these municipalities went a step further, broadcasting live the council meeting where budget execution and indicators were discussed at great length. In addition to the live broadcast these municipalities launched a survey to gain feedback on how the money was spent, an area in which the municipalities need to focus during the planning phase. The project was interested to learn that more than half of all respondents, including in the poorer municipalities, agreed with a tax increase if better services were to be delivered.
PERFORMANCE
Nr. 3, Janar - Qershor 2020
Impact of Covid-19 on municipal nances followed closely by Bashki tĂŤ Forta The Covid-19 crisis is impacting relentlessly municipal nances. Bashki tĂŤ Forta has been monitoring some of these impacts through analysis and providing direct assistance. The analysis focused on budget reallocations. In 21 municipalities reallocations were closely observed from the perspective of what was being reallocated to where, whether the reallocation was executed in the appropriate programme, whether the amount being reallocated was linked with results by use of performance elements and whether this was being used in council decisions. As a result a template of council decisions, and reporting to council in cases of reallocations, was provided to municipalities interested in direct assistance in this area. The fourteen LGUs included Bulqize, Cerrik, Elbasan, Kruje, Kukes, Libohove, Maliq, Mallakaster, Mat, Memaliaj, Roskovec, Shijak and Tepelene. Materials for reallocations were reviewed and feedback provided on demand. An analysis was also conducted to gain an understanding of the impact of the review of scal packages. Twenty-one municipalities were observed in order to understand which taxes and tari s were hit the most, along with the nancial implications. A total of 22 municipalities expressed interest in receiving assistance in budget revision that will emerge as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.
PERFORMANCE
Costing model for disinfection services for Covid-19 pandemic A model for costing of the disinfection services proposed by Bashki tĂŤ Forta was submitted to all municipalities by an o cial letter sent by the Ministry of Tourism and Environment. Sixteen of the 61 municipalities applied BtF recommendations. Disinfection of public areas and spaces is one of the measures being taken by the municipalities in response to the crisis resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. The municipalities engaged their nancial and human resources in disinfecting roads, pavements, markets, squares and facilities such as schools, kindergartens and nurseries, as well as other common public spaces. Challenges reported by LGUs in the absence of previous experience with disinfection of public spaces included calculating costs, following procurement procedures and organising the disinfection process. Bashki tĂŤ Forta responded by making available to interested municipalities a model for calculating the costs and all relevant technical recommendations for the procurement process. The support package was based upon the collective positive experiences of municipalities that applied disinfection immediately after the declaration of the state of emergency and the normative act of the Council of Ministers 'On taking special administrative measures during the duration of the infection caused by Covid-19.' The model was developed in collaboration between the BtF team and the municipalities, with provision of data on the norms of service delivery, in close collaboration with the Albanian Institute of Public Health concerning standards in the use of chemicals. The model provides recommendations on how to organise for the service, the technical speci cations and procurement procedures instructions, as well as a calculation tool for the task of disinfection of public spaces due to Covid-19. The model serves all municipalities based on the options they selected and enables a quick and detailed calculation of the costs per unit, and the total costs. The model is easy to understand and easy to use. The model was submitted to the Ministry of Tourism and Environment who then directed it to the municipalities enclosed with an o cial letter. In all, 16 municipalities applied Bashki tĂŤ Forta recommendations, which are appropriate not only in the pandemic but also in the future for municipalities that have little to no experience of calculating the cost of disinfection services.
WASTE MANAGEMENT
Nr. 3, Janar - Qershor 2020
Municipalities have been grappling with the need to manage the function of pre-school education since it was transferred fully to them on 1 January 2019. Bashki të Forta has been playing a key role in diagnosing and drafting key management documents for all municipalities. In February, the project assisted the ministries of Education, Sports and Youth, of Health and Social Protection, of Finance and Economy, and of Interior, as well as the Agency for Quality Assurance in Pre-University Education, in organising a national conference on pre-school education. The meeting was broadcast live on social media through which participants could interact and vote. The conference began with the launch of a handbook on pre-school education practitioners. A best practice shortlist was then presented followed by an open oor discussion among professionals that ended the conference. Tangible progress was made by ten municipalities in applying aspects of the handbook when the Covid-19 crisis struck. The focus shifted quickly to o ering services for 3–6-year-old children who were in lockdown, with provision of the key service of psychological support. With the view that the lockdown might cause long-term di culties for children, with consequences on their emotional well-being and development, the project adjusted to this need. 'I Listen to You' was launched in April. This initiative aimed at providing psycho-social support to children of age 3–6 years through the provision of counselling by psychologists and the commitment of teachers and pre-school education heads, parents and municipal institutions, with pre-de ned tasks for all actors involved. Over this period BtF has been steering an analysis of the psycho-social service based upon the instruments produced in the framework of pre-schooling, with 1) a handbook, 2) a report on ten main standards for pre-school, and 3) eld reports on the service provided by Regional Focal Points during the Covid-19 pandemic. BtF has assessed similar models, e.g. the Kosovo online model of service for children of age 0–6 years, while experts in the subject were consulted and their advice used to identify problems and shape intervention. Bashki të Forta aims to strengthen state institutions in the provision of psycho-social services in the system during periods of Covid-19 lockdown. The initiative 'I Listen to You' is a short-term intervention shaped to respond to the pandemic and will provide the psycho-social service until the end of July 2020, just part of the long-term intervention on stabilising this service.
PRE-SCHOOL
Bashki te Forta at a glance: HELVETAS is implementing on behalf of the Swiss Government the project called “Strong Municipalities – Bashki te Forta”. The duration of the project's rst phase is 4 years (2018-2022). It is providing assistance to all 61 Albanian municipalities for improving public services and democratic governance.
The project's speci c objectives are: · Solid waste management systems will be established at municipal level according to national standards; · A de ned model of pre-school education management at municipal level is established; · Providing training to Municipalities to monitor their own performance; · Establishing e ective communication channels with constituents so that Municipal councillors are able to ful l their mandate · Municipal councils' secretariats are strengthened to support better functioning councils;