New financing for consolidating the territorial and administrative reform in Albania

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Swiss Ambassador in Albania Christoph Graf (right) and UN Resident Representative in Albania Brian Williams. ©FDFA — Swiss Ambassador in Albania Christoph Graf (right) and UN Resident Representative in Albania Brian Williams (left). ©FDFA

The Swiss government has provided 500,000 USD to further consolidate the territorial and administrative reform in Albania. The Agreement was signed today by Swiss Ambassador to Albania Christoph Graf and UN Resident Representative Brian Williams.

This new fund will assist the new municipalities that emerged from the amalgamation of former local government units – as part of the multi-donor project ’Support for the Territorial and Administrative Reform’ – STAR 2. Its focus is to strengthen management and administrative capacities at municipal level for delivering more efficient, inclusive and equitable services. The project seeks to enable municipalities to provide higher quality services in an open, transparent and participatory manner so that public expectations are met.

Jointly with the other donors – the EU, Sweden, Italian Cooperation, USAID and UNDP – Switzerland supports the territorial and administrative reform due to its potential to improve the functioning of local government in the country. The Swiss contribution is a continuation of a previous financial contribution of 700,000 USD during the first phase of the STAR project.

The project will last for three years and a half and has a budget of about $8.2 million USD. The Albanian government provides 250.000 USD for this initiative. Given the importance of the Territorial Administrative Reform and particularly the consolidation of 61 new municipalities, STAR 2 enjoys support by six international donors alongside the Albanian government.

Local governance has still to overcome a number of serious challenges and needs bold decisions for an effective implementation of the country‘s administrative and fiscal decentralisation strategies. The STAR 2 project responds to these challenges with a focus on local institutional strengthening, improved service delivery and promotion of local democracy.