H.E. Ambassador Philippe Guex signed the Memorandum of Cooperation on behalf of the Swiss Confederation. He noted that good governance is a key precondition for the development of a democratic society in Serbia, which is the reason Switzerland provides support to cities and municipalities in this region: “In its support Switzerland builds on and shares good practice from its own experience with over 2000 Swiss local governments we have”.
Two areas are going to be covered with the Municipal support packages (MSPs) within the Swiss PRO programme. The first one is the improvement of citizens participation and transparency at the local level. Jagodina, Smederevo, Beograd, Kikinda, Kučevo, GO Vračar i Veliko Gradište will be supported. The second is the improvement of the local anticorruption policies at the local level in which Loznica, Sombor, Zaječar, Boljevac, Plandište, Žabalj i Medveđa are going to be supported. „Fighting corruption is a dear topic for the Swiss Government as we apply a zero tolerance for corruption”, the Ambassador emhasized.
Presenting the SCTM activities in 2018, its president and the Mayor of Sombor, Dušanka Golubović, said that the institutional support given by Switzerland proved to be substantial for the overall archived results of SCTM since 2008.
In the next period, the Swiss Government will continue supporting SCTM to contribute to the strengthening local government voice in policy and law making and implementation of laws at the local level. The support of 3.1 million EUR will last until 2022. Through the cooperation with the SCTM, Switzerland supported local self-governments’ development with a total amount of 9 million EUR since 2005.
The Swiss PRO programme aims at enhancing the quality of life of Serbian citizens, particularly those who belong to excluded groups, through improving the rule of law at the local level, strengthening social cohesion, gender equality and increasing the responsibility, transparency and efficiency of the local self-governments, as well as the participation of the population in decision-making processes.
