Mrs. Ursula Läubli, Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office and Mr. Djordje Stanicic, SCTM Secretary General have signed the four years cooperation agreement worth 3.1 million EUR. The ceremony of signing was held on Wednesday, September 19th, 2018 and it represents the continuation of the support provided by the Swiss Government to the SCTM within the project ’’Institutional Support to SCTM – Phase 3’’.
Through the previous two Project phases (implemented from 2010 to 2018) the capacities and the status of the national association of local authorities have been significantly strengthened. SCTM became not only a relevant stakeholder in all local government related processes in the Republic of Serbia, but also the initiator of certain reforms. In partnership with the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Government, SCTM initiated and prepared amendments of the fundamental law regulating functioning of local government – Law on Local Government. The ‘’new’’ Law will improve the practice of the intermunicipal cooperation, community involvement in decision-making at the local level, functioning of local community government (mesna zajednica) etc.
Owing to the Swiss support, SCTM also became a place where Serbian towns and municipalities have an opportunity to communicate their challenges, to exchange directly with the ministries and to acquire a concrete and pertinent support from their association in implementing reform at the local level. The most recent example is the support provided to local authorities after the adoption of the Amendments to the Law on Local Government. SCTM prepared and provided models of the most important local legal documents - Model city/municipal statute, Model decision on local community government, Model Rules of procedure of local assemblies etc.
Bearing in mind local government reform is an ongoing process, it is expected that local governments in the Republic of Serbia will face new challenges on their path towards a modern administration and a high-quality service provider to citizens. Phase 3 of the Project will contribute to the implementation of the reform processes in line with local governments’ interests and in favor of the local communities they represent.
The importance of this continuous support provided by the Swiss Government to Serbian towns and municipalities was also underlined by the SCTM President and the Mayor of the City of Sombor, Ms. Dušanka Golubovic. She pointed out that this Project phase will support SCTM in reforming processes the Republic of Serbia is facing at all levels of government and contribute to further strengthening of local government units and their increased capacities despite the differences in their development level, structure and size.
“The local government is there for citizens and businesses; therefore, through this project, we expect to build better and more efficient local government’’, said Golubovic.
Mrs. Ursula Laubli, emphasized that SCTM is an important partner of Switzerland, since it is an association between the central and the local levels of government. This is particularly important having in mind that reforms initiated at the central level are implemented at the level of local government. Due to its long-lasting tradition of decentralized government, Switzerland is very devoted to local government reforms in Serbia.
“The overall goal of the joint efforts is achieving functional local governments capable of providing high-quality services to citizens’’ stated Läubli.
Until today, the support provided by the Swiss Confederation to the development of local government in the Republic of Serbia through the SCTM amounted to over 9 million EUR.
