Project Relevance. The reform and modernization of the public administration, including the decentralization reform and the strengthening of local government are core elements of the strategic development vision for Albania and among key priorities for the European integration of the country. The draft National Strategy for Integration and Development (2015-2020) commits to developing a “public administration … in accordance with the European Administrative Space … to provide high quality services to citizens and businesses in a transparent, effective and efficient way, through the use of modern technologies and innovative services … through impartial and professional civil employees as part of efficient structures”. Also, the NSDI commits to substantially advance the administrative and fiscal decentralization agendas for empowering local governments to xxxxxx sustainable local development with a high institutional integrity that enjoy public trust, [and] guarantee quality services. These commitments are set within a larger engagement of transposition of the EU Gender Equality acquis into the Albanian legislation so as to ensure gender perspective is an integral part of governing structures, policies, and planned resources. The overall Public Administration Reform (PAR) vision is about “development of public administration, which provides high-quality services for citizens and businesses in a transparent, effective, and efficient way through the use of modern technologies and innovative services and that complies with the requirements of European integration through impartial, professional and accountable civil servants”. PAR objectives, applicable to the local level, provide for an efficient and sustainable administration that would provide accessible, simplified, integrated and citizen-centered public services with full transparency and accountability, including the establishment of integral performance management and monitoring systems. The Strategy for Decentralization and Local Governance reiterates the aim for the consolidation of local human resources and their skills: “empowering the local administration [through] the establishment of a non-bureaucratized, professional and transparent public administration … able to respond to the expectation of the business and the community for public services [and the development of] a special “performance monitoring system” for the LGUs … to guarantee the accountability of the public administration and ensure efficient delivery o...
Project Relevance. The decision-making process in Lithuania is legitimised by our elected representatives. However, NGOs can make a contribution to fostering a more participatory democracy both on the national and local levels as well as within the EU. In Lithuania NGOs are not yet recognised as a significant component of civil society in comparison to the situation in the old EU member states. Adequate involvement of the NGOs into the policy and decision making processes should be sought in the future. Lithuanian NGOs can act as a balance to the activities and opinions of other interests in society by representing the views of specific groups (e.g., people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, etc.) or on specific issues (such as gender equality, environment, higher education, etc.). However, Lithuanian NGOs, being able to reach the poorest and/or most disadvantaged, still do not have sufficient expertise nor are adequately encouraged by Lithuanian government institutions to provide a voice for those not sufficiently heard through other channels. In general, Lithuanian NGOs have been quite successfully contributing to policy discussions in some issue areas (such as the disabled, children and human rights), however links at regional and national levels are not very strong for NGOs working in some other issue areas. Furthermore, quite a few of Lithuania NGOs lack relevant skills for provision of expert input for either local/regional or national policy-making. For almost twenty years since restoration of Lithuanian independence there was no strategy approved for the development of the NGO sector in Lithuania. Seeking for better regulation of NGO activities, to encourage cooperation between them as well as between NGOs and governmental institutions, the Government of the Republic of Lithuania has approved the Conception on the Development of the Non-Governmental Organisations on 20 January 2010. It is expected that implementation of this Conception would serve for creation of a more favourable environment for establishment of NGOs and the realisation of their activities, it should also encourage more active participation of society in the NGOs activities; NGOs themselves will act more effectively. Creation of a general system, defining the long-term perspectives for the development of the NGO sector is of a strong importance for strengthening the NGO sector in Lithuania and making it more effective. The same Governmental Resolution assigned the Ministry of Social Security and ...
Project Relevance. Changes in contexts during the project implementation • Relevance of the project to the local communities’ needs/issues in relation to various levels (i.e. national, regional, district and local levels) at the time of evaluation
Project Relevance
