Newsletter II-nd EDITION

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 Swiss-supported conference fosters consolidation of the territorial and administrative reform 2 Integrated One Stop Shop Offices Model Recommendations 3 Centre of Competences meeting on urban waste management 3 F2F 2015 meeting of the SDC thematic network on democratization, decentralization, local governance (ddlgn) 4 Conclusions and recommendations for Women in Politics Network

II-nd EDITION APRIL - JUNE 2015

Swiss-supported conference fosters consolidation of the territorial and administrative reform Further consolidation of the territorial and administrative reform and strengthening of the new municipalities were the topics of a conference supported by the Swiss local development and decentralisation programme (dldp) in close collaboration with Albanian Government and built on the synergies with PLGP/ USAID, STAR/UNDP, SLGS/CoE and LGU-s which contributed to the Functional Area Programme (FAP).

The conference was held on the 11th of May at Sheraton Hotel where representatives from central and local government, as well as international partners, exchanged experiences and discussed ways of consolidating the new territorial and administrative reform and empowering the newly-formed municipalities.

A major part of the conference focused on the Functional Area Programme, a new concept introduced by the Swiss programme dldp, whic h proposes that territories maybe defined as 'functional areas' that do not strictly follow administrative mapping but rather demographic, economic and historical links. It creates greater synergies and development for certain regions along 'functional' lines. The functional area concept was adopted by the government in preparing the law on implementing the Territorial and Administrative Refor m.

Independent experts presented advantages offered by the FAP and proposed future organisational structures for the new municipalities. Good experience gained by One-Stop Shop centres in Lezha and Kallmet was also presented as a possibility

for replication with the new municipalities.

During the conference two 5000 Euro awards were given to Kukës and Lezha for their commitment and innovative projects during the pilot phase of the Functional Area Programme. In addition, three organisations that provide support services were also awarded with prizes of 2500 Euro – ALCDF and DEA Consulting – and 1000 Euro for ANTTARC. The prizes are part of a grant fund that rewards local government units and service providers participating in the FAP set up by the Swiss programme.

The Functional Area Programme is active in 9 new local government units including Peshkopi, Burrel, Klos, Tropojë, Kukës, Lezhë, Durrës, Malësi e Madhe and Shijak.

The conference aimed at alerting national political representatives for further support to consolidate the territorial and administrative reform and to move forward with decentralisation.

Recommendations: In the framework of the consolidation of the territorial reform, DLDP, based on the findings of the report of the Conference and in the experience of the One Stop Shops, suggested to the State Minister on Local Affairs as follows: 1. Setting up of a Guide on the Regulating the work process on offering services to the public from LGUs and Administrative Units.

2. The functionality criterion to be included as an analytical criterion to guarantee thus the methodological coherence between territorial design and its further development.

3. The standard model of the strategic planning of the LGU remains the socalled methodology SDP(e)MTBP, where it represents the instrument of medium-term financial planning.

4. Adapting the Fund of the Agency for Territorial Reform Implementation (ATRI), but also the Fund of Regions Development (FRD), Albanian Development Fund (ADF) or the reviewed formula, to facilitate the identification and approval of projects of this kind.

5. Presentation of an alternative scheme of the future organogram of the LGU, validated with all actors in the National Conference.

6. Establishing an online platform administered by the Albanian School on Public Administration in close cooperation with the State Minister on Local Affairs, to put together all contributions from programs or actors engaged in the developments of curricula that will serve to LGUs in the transitory period.

Integrated One Stop Shop Offices Model - Recommendations Recommendations are organised in 5 main columns: DLDP has set up the model of One Stop Shop Offices in local governmental, due to the support of State Minister for Local Affairs, Mr Blendi Çuçi and the Minister of Innovation and Public Administration, Mrs Milena Harito.

The model “Integrated One Stop Shop System” [IOSSS] was presented also during the Innovation Week, on May 16, in Lezha municipality and Kallmet commune.

The model is the result of a several months analysis of offering direct services to citizens in eight local governmental units (Lezhë, Kallmet, Shkodër, Dajç, Durrës, Manëz,Vau i Dejës, Bushat) which were selected for this purpose. The analyses and the setting up of the model are based also on the support made by experts of the Centre of Competence for Local Government, set up by DLDP. The findings and recommendations of this study have been constantly consulted with other actors supporting local governance in Albania: STAR/UNDP project, PLGP/USAID Programme, Council of Europe, etc., which have helped the shaping of this model.

The recommendations come as a result of analysing the process of offering direct services to citizens in the 8 above mentioned LGUs. The implementation of these recommendations: - Would make possible the offering of direct services to citizens through One Stop Shop Integrated Model; - Would influence the improvement of service quality toward citizens and transparency increase; - Would make possible having an automated provision of services through electronic governance services for citizens; - Would use the potential established in the new local governmental units from a wide coverage of territory to offer new services that would improve the life of citizens and would generate income in LGUs.

- The first column describes the institutional model to offer the direct services to citizens.

- The second column describes a model of human resources structure that allows citizens access to services through the administrative units - The third column summarizes recommendations related to the level of authority delegation for identified services treatment.

- The forth column lists some recommendations related to the digitalisation of some of the back offices processes.

- The fifth column describes some recommendations on the features that OSSH information system of should have on local level.

(I) Recommendations from IOSSS Model for offering direct services to citizens To offer direct services to citizens in local administrative units, it is proposed a separation in two phases of the process of offering services: Interface with citizens: includes actions of the work flow having to do with the communication with citizens, such as admission of forms or applications for service and replying back or giving the result of the service that would be a response or a document such as certificate/permission, etc.

Processing of citizens requests: includes actions of the work flow having to do with the processing of the citizens requests. The

processing of the request starts by taking for granted that it is properly submitted and is accompanied with all documentation that has to be attached to the request for that certain service. In this group will be included also actions that might request special field verifications by municipality employees in order to prepare the result of the service.

Geographic organization: In general, the model proposes that the documentation of the communes be transferred to the municipalities and that processing functions be concentrated in to the municipality.

(II) Recommendations of Legal instruments for implementing this model So that the Administrative Unit fulfil all functions delegated from the municipality, it is necessary that first the municipality to approve and take a decision for: List of Direct Services for citizens that the Administrative Unit is to offer. Through amendments of this decision, changes would be made in the future for the list of services, to be made official through a municipal decision. The municipality must publish the list

of services offered in each OSSH front-desk.

Regulation for Offering Direct Services by the municipality, one of the specifics of this document is that, besides other things, the Services Regulation authorizes the Administrator of the Administrative Unit to make official the response given to the citizen.

(III) Recommendations on services' list Depending on the separation of processing functions between the municipality and the administrative unit, we have created groups of services, based in the offering of services through Information System of the One Stop Shops.

Services, whose supportive documentation is located in the administrative units, it is recommended to be processed in the administrative units until all documentation is transferred in the relevant municipal office. These services are put under the subgroup “Services offered and processed at the administrative unit”.

(IV) Recommendations on services digitalisation Based on the existing legal framework, some very sensitive services require the unification of procedures for registration and administration through the process of their digitalization. More tangibly, it is recommended: - The unified register of housing: MCD (VKM) No. 574, date 29.8.2012, bullet 4, requires that the local governmental units should input the forms of housing applications in an electronic system.

- The unified register of land management according to Law 7501: In the framework of offering the service of equipping citizens

Services, which require a high level of qualification in taking the request (whose number is not high), it is recommended that the request be submitted at the One Stop Shop office situated in the municipality. These services are put under the subgroup “Services offered and processed in the municipality”.

Other services are offered through all IOSSS of the municipality and the administrative units, while the requests for them are processed in the municipality. These services are put under the subgroup “Services offered in administrative units and processed in the municipality”.

with the Decision act on land property, for lands falling under the dispositions of Law 7501, it would be necessary the digitalization of the distribution registers, which are located in the current communes.

- Digitalization of Construction Permissions issued by administrative units: Law No. 10119, date 23.04.2009, “On Territorial Planning”, which entered into force on 30.10.2011, foresaw in its Article 53 the obligation of local governmental units to publish in the Register of Territorial Planning, of all approved draftby-laws or legal acts related with planning and the control of territorial development.

(V) Recommendations for digitalizing IOSSS process The offering of direct services to citizens through IOSSS is completely dependent on the characteristics of the IOSSS information system supporting this model. The following recommendations describe the characteristics of the information system that municipalities must set up to guarantee offering services through IOSSS. These characteristics are tested in the pilot system in Lezhë - Kallmet.

Information System supporting IOSSS (pilot model) has the following

characteristics: 1. Application for processes automation 2. Portal for processing practices 3. Enables the digital signature of municipal employees 4. Equipped with a portal of self-service for citizens 5. Generates documentation 6. Integral.

Centre of Competences meeting on urban waste management On June 4-5th, DLDP organized a workshop with the Competency Centre on the issue of urban waste management. This event was attended by local experts of DLDP partner m u n i c i p a l i t i e s a n d c o m m u n e s, representatives from line ministries, as well as partner organizations that cooperate with DLDP in offering support packages for the sector.

Present were also commissioners from Water Regulatory Authority (WRA).

This workshop took place in Velipoja beach and had as a main objective the presenting of results and findings from the four packages that DLDP supports in the urban waste management sector: 1. Model of costs and tariffs calculation, 2. Practices of recycling and social inclusion,

3. Inter-local cooperation practices and extending of service, 4. Individual and agricultural composting practices.

During the sessions of this workshop, participants were presented with the results achieved and recommendations that are suggested to overcome challenges in this sector.

The second day of the workshop was continued in Dajç commune. There were presented the two practices about the individual and agricultural composting carried out in Dajç and Puka. By comparing findings of each expert's group, the participants had an opportunity to acknowledge pros and cons of eac h application. The presentation of positive experiences in

Dajç, apart theoretical findings was accompanied also by a visit in one of the farms where this model is being piloted. During the Dajç visit, members of the Competence Centre had the opportunity to observe closely the commune premises and the way the One Stop Shop operates.

F2F 2015 meeting of the SDC thematic network on democratization, decentralization, local governance (DDLGN) The DDLGN Network is SDC's exchange networ k on democratization, decentralization and local governance.

Face to Face event was organized from SDC's DDLG network and it took place on the 14-19th of June in Pemba, Mozambique.

This international event gathered 68 members of the network (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) staff from headquarters and Swiss Cooperation Offices (SCOs), representatives of implementing partners, and experts). The Programme Manager of DLDP, Mrs. Valbona Karakaçi, was also invited to participate in this event. During this event Mrs. Karakaçi had the opportunity to share DLDP experience in areas such as transparency and accountability of governance to citizens, intergovernmental transfers and their impact on governance and economy.

At the launch of the event, Manuel Sager, Director General of SDC, addressed the participants in a video message. Mr. Sager emphasized the importance of this network to feed with ideas and practices the SDC work.

The thematic focus of this meeting was on accountability and fiscal transfers in a decentralized system. The programme's methodology focused on a mix of expert inputs and discussion among peers, mainly based on SDC examples that were presented by participants.

Besides interest to further deepen the understanding of the priority issues such

as accountability and fiscal decentralization, the participants suggested additional new topics such as land rights, decentralization in fragile and conflict affected situations and local economic development.

As the result of DDLGN F2F 2015 event will be drafting an action plan for the next two years, based on the ideas and discussions among participants.

CoE, PLGP/USAID, STAR/UNDP

Conclusions and recommendations for Women in Politics Network During February - April 2015, the Women in Politics Network, established as a platform in the framework of the DLDP Programme in 2011, conducted interviews and focus-groups with members of city councils and members of political parties (Shkodër, Lezhë, Kukës, Durrës, and Dibër Qarks), women MPs, as well as members of national and international organizations that deal with gender issues and local development. The findings from these meetings were wrapped up and processed into a report, where suggested recommendations were included.

The important changes to the Electoral Code, made on April 2nd, 2015, made it possible to set up the lists according to zebra version and avoided the “fear” that the territorial-administrative reform would worsen the representation of women in local elections of June 21st, 2015.

Interviews with women activists and civil society bore witness to a campaign oriented more toward numerical calculations rather than the generation of competing ideas. The change of territory, especially on those units where the rural-urban rate has changed, represents a c hallenge to the presentation of integrated ideas.

Recommendations for support: Short-term: · Inclusion of women from rural areas as candidates in party lists, to assure the representation of the grievances of these areas on electoral programs of the parties; · Encouragement of public and inside-the-party debate on the establishment of criteria as regards the inclusion of women in the lists, making possible the transparency and mobilization of the right human resources, so that the changes in the Code be not only numerical, but to also result in long-term impacts in decision-making over policies; · To implement information campaigns on the changes of the Electoral Code and changes on the Organic Law; · Promotion of successful women in local level, by building on international practices; · Establishing influencing instruments by using the added role of women in the future city councils, but also in the list of candidates for mayors, so that political programmes become more sensitive as regards gender and social aspects; · Cooperation with media is considered the proper channel in the condition of the need for information and share of gender issues and time pressure; · Encouragement of women to be included in working groups for setting up political programs and campaigns of candidates for mayor.

Recommendations for support: Medium-term: · Increase of capacities of future city councils (men and women) to improve strategic decisionmaking in issues of social-economic cohesion of the integrated territory; · Wide consultation of the Organic Law (in review process) and the Law on Local Finances (planned for 2015-16) to reflect gender and social equality aspects, especially in the fields of services, participation, and representation.

Recommendations for support: Long-term: · Also in the implementation of the Law on Public Information, public hearings and consultative processes must reflect the principles of access and gender equality; · Increase of membership of women in political parties and strengthening of their advocacy and lobbying capacity.