Macedonia Make Decentralization Work Project

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Make Decentralization Work (MDW) is a three-year program, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), designed to strengthen the decentralization and local governance processes in Macedonia. It is a continuation of the USAID Local Government Reform Project which, over the past five years, provided technical assistance in the area of decentralization to the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, to the Association of the Units of Local Government, and to the Local Governments. The new Program will be implemented by the same company – Development Alternatives Inc. – DAI. In July 2005 the official transfer to local government of services and fiscal responsibilities that formerly resided with the central government will begin.

MDW will focus on preparing municipalities, through training and technical assistance, and through legislative framework adjustments to assume their new competencies. The program includes designated funds for (1) IT hardware and software support to selected municipalities to implement their new responsibilities, (2) small scale community improvements that make visible the benefits of decentralization, and (3) grant support for municipal associations. Program outputs and progress results are tracked and measured through a two-dimensional Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Plan which consists of a) Performance/Work Plan Monitoring Impact Indicators that track program outputs as well as program impacts and b) the Municipal Capacity Index (MCI) that measures the changes in institutional capacity and performance of municipal governments in the major areas of MDW training and technical assistance.

The program is structured to include three core teams to implement MDW’s assistance strategy:

• Policy Reform, including fiscal decentrali-zation, education decentralization and the enabling environment for Public Communal Enterprises.

• Association Development, including grants and further capacity-building of the Association of Local Self Government (ZELS), Association of Finance Officers (AFO) and the Association of Communal Enterprises (ADKOM).

• Municipal Management and Services, including Municipal Management and Finance (Human Resources/Organizational Management Structure, Budget and Finance Administration, Property Tax and Communal Fees Administration); Municipal Services (Local Economic Development, Urban Planning and Permitting, Communal Enterprises and E-Governance).

These core teams will be supported by a cross-cutting Citizen Participation Team that will conduct public outreach activities related to municipal management and services while also continuing cooperation and support to Citizen Information Centers.

In the first year of the Program, we will focus on supporting the legal framework for decentralization and conducting country-wide municipal management training. Over the life of the Program we will continue to provide assistance in building the capacities of both central and local government and the Association of Municipalities, to implement, monitor and improve the process of decentralization.

Throughout the three-year program, ZELS will be DAI’s primary partner in implementing municipal training and technical assistance.

USAID Macedonia | Embassy of the United States | ZELS | Development Alternatives Inc.
USAID's Decentralization Project is implemented by Development Alternatives Inc.
ul. 27 Mart 9, Skopje 1000, Republic of Macedonia • Tel: +389 2 3113188 • Fax: +389 2 3290122 • mdw @ dai.com