Newsletter no. 13

Newsletter Dldp aims through this newsletter to share to the readers the main achievements of each quarter as well as the main activities planned for the next quarter.

This format further enriches the ways of transmitting information through our website www.dldp.al

CONTENT 1

Dldp signs the bilateral agreement for its final phase

2 The Ministry of Finance and

Economy approves the Financial Planning Tool, as part of the Guidelines for the municipalitie

3 What have I learnt from dldp?

XIII-th edition JANNUARY-MARCH 2018

Dldp signs the bilateral agreement for its final phase The Swiss Programs, the Decentralization and Local Development Program (dldp) and Risi Albania, two projects implemented by Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation and funded by the Swiss Government signed on 23 March the cooperation agreements with the Albanian Government on local government and economic development worth about 8.2 million euros.

Deputy Prime Minister Senida Mesi (also a former member of the Women in Politics' Network, supported by dldp) welcomed today Mrs. Ruth Huber, Head of the Department for Co-operation with Eastern Europe in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland.

These two projects are the continuation of the previous phases of the Swiss support for Albania, where the dldp is in its exit phase.

After signing the two agreements, in her greeting speech, Mesi stressed Albania's longterm cooperation, more than 25 years with the Swiss Government. She focused on the two projects, considering them as very important and underlining the fact that in the previous phases they have proved very successful.

With regard to the Program for Decentralization and Local Development (dldp), Messi expressed the consideration that this project, although in its exit phase, will further contribute to the strengthening of local governance. She also welcomed the launch of a new project in this regard - Strong Municipalities.

Expressing special gratitude for the recently introduced Strategy of the Swiss Cooperation in Albania for 2018-2021, Mesi stressed that

long-term cooperation between the two countries is a clear evidence that the Swiss Government is precisely there to help and support Albania in all its initiatives and the latest one is fully committed to meet the objectives.

While, the Swiss official, Ruth Huber congratulated the reforms Albania has undertaken so far through Swiss and international support such as the Territorial and Administrative Reform. "At the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), we are always happy to join forces and efforts with friendly governments. Moreover, Albania is for us one of the 4 priority countries�, she said.

Two week ago, it was launched the Strategy of the Swiss Cooperation in Albania for 2018-2021, which foresees the support for our country in 4 main areas: democratic governance, economic development and employment, health, infrastructure and energy.

The signed bilateral agreements are the first concrete examples of projects included in the Swiss support strategy.

Dldp expresses gratitude to the Swiss Government for its support!

The Ministry of Finance and Economy approves the Financial Planning Tool, as part of the Guidelines for the municipalities Dldp has been particularly active and quite successful in national policy activities in the field of Public Finance Management in 2016. The experience gained from dldp over the years has been translated into a significant contribution to the draft law of the on local finances.

The law was drafted jointly with Ministry of Finance and Economy, with contributions from PLGP / USAID (revenue share) and dldp / SDC (part of Public Finance Management). The PFM section gained the consensus of key international actors -WB, IMF, EU, and local actors. This is the culmination of all the support of dldp and lessons learned over the years.

Dldp has developed curricula and tools for the municipal experts of PFM and in collaboration with Ministry of Finance is disseminating these curricula and tools nationwide. In order to offer technical assistance to the finance municipal experts on the elaboration of FPT (Financial Planning Tool) has created a help desk in collaboration with the experts of Ministry of Finance and Economy. With update of the FPT in collaboration with MoFE the new legal framework on local finances was reflected. Further on, based on the international experience a new system of financial classification at local level, based on international

sta n d a rd s ( C O F O G ) , a n d wa s harmonized with that one of central level. COFOG is abbreviation for Classification of the Functions of Government, and was developed in its current version in 1999 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and published by the United Nations Statistical Division as a standard classifying the purposes of government activities. The new system of classification enables comparisons over time and horizontally with other municipalities; moreover, it facilitates the integration of municipal financial planning information into National Treasury.

Furthermore, all expenditure items of the classification system are precisely described and guidance is in place how to link the output of the FPT with the MTBP. In addition a guidance on M T B P ( M e d i u m - Te r m B u d g e t Program) was prepared from dldp.

The guidance supports the preparation of a comprehensive, concise MTBP document, which is easy to read, and complies with the legal requirements of Albania. The FPT, including the new financial classification and MTPB guidance were approved from MoFE as part of the Guidelines of MoFE for the municipalities in the elaboration of Medium-Term Budget Program.

The process was conducted in close collaboration with experts from MoFE and State Treasury and involved local experts from municipalities, and national and international service providers from University of Luzern.

What have I learnt from dldp?

"I know the dldp project since the first phase, 9 years ago, even more than 9 years. The project has had an amazing development because it started as a regional project covering some municipalities in the North.

Even for those who remember the project in those years wonder how much it has achieved so far. From a regional project, it has become a project with an impact on national politics. Why was that? Because it has a very energetic, wise, cooperative and open staff and above all they represent all the problems of the local government and the municipalities. They became the biggest municipality lawyers in Albania.

Dldp is a project, which its staff, has been able to develop instruments for improving local services, mainly in waste management and public finance management, which have now become a national instrument. "

“It is a pleasure for me to express a few words of gratitude for the excellent cooperation we have had with the dldp program. I refer to the time of my engagement in the Ministry of Urban Development, where we actually did not realize only a few concrete products, such as the Local Development Plans for the municipalities in North, but in fact we have also built a working spirit which, I believe in the long term, will serve to many institutions, both in central and local level. The Ministry of Urban Development has been indirect beneficiary of program assistance, as the focus of the program is mainly the assistance provided to the municipalities of the country, but I think, what I mentioned during the meeting, is an added value that this program has brought to the aspect of an integrated approach where no one has been excluded from the role of making a contribution, and has also been an essential contributor to the decision-making table to bring a better framework of policy making and of course to finalize it with concrete activities that will in the long term have a concrete impact on communities and municipalities. I believe that, since the Government and Council of Ministers' initiative to draft and adopt a methodology for evaluation and impact that will soon come into force, I believe that the dldp role can also address this effort to improve even better qualitative drafting of legal acts before they pass for approval in the Council of Ministers, which will help not only in the shortterm, but also in the medium-to-long and long-term all regulatory assessment and improvement processes. Therefore, it has been a pleasure and I believe that in the future we will have space and ways to cooperate again.�

Ornela Shapo

Nertil Jole

“The Local Development and Decentralization Program is a program that has supported the Ministry of Tourism and the Environment in improving the legal framework in the field of Waste Management. This program has supported us in drafting a Council of Ministers decision on cost and tariff calculation, which is one of the most important in the field of waste management to help local government in defining the cost and tariffs correctly. Lastly, the Ministry of Tourism and the Environment has undertaken an initiative "Let us clean up Albania we want", part of which is the identification of legal and illegal landfills of waste. In this context, the Ministry of Tourism and the Environment will look at the model of the existing landfill of the municipality of Dibër, rehabilitated and settled by dldp. Based on the identification of all dumpsites, dldp will undertake the rehabilitation of a good part of them. In this way we will have a cleaner Albania and a more developed tourism.”

Lediana Karalliu

“The 4-year dldp collaboration experience has been enjoyable. We, as the Academy of Political Studies, have had the opportunity to collaborate on the involvement of women councilors in the Municipal Councils from different municipalities. Thanks to this cooperation, women's advisers had the opportunity to be part of the political studies program, to have access to other people selected from different sectors of the public administration, business, civil society and the media. Of course to bring their experiences, but also to get new knowledge that helps them in their daily activity. We have found a reliable partner, a partner who knew very well how to operate on the Albanian reality where often there is need for sustainability, also needs political impartiality. Dldp has been well versed in the professionalism, seriousness and continuity of its interventions, in a sustainable intervention that has managed to solve the problems faced in the local government.”

Erjon Tase

“The collaboration with dldlp has been very successful. We are proud and very pleased to have collaborated and supported by dldp with regard to two things related to the Albanian School of Public Administration. First, increasing the capacity of public administration at the local level, successful trainings, well organized and interesting by the participants. And the second, which I consider to be the most important, the contribution that dldp has given to the development of quality assurance at the Albanian School of Public Administration. By creating curriculum quality standards, by controlling the quality of many curricula at both local and central level. Creating, especially, elibraries,the only one for the moment, the digital library for public administration curricula, which is open to all public administration employees at the local and central level, and will certainly continue to expand even more in the future. These are more or less the achievements that have further developed the Albanian School of Public Administration by placing it in one of the most trusted and partner institutions of both national and international institutions.”

Fatmir Demneri