Local
Governance sector
Donor Activities in 2007
The
donors to this sector include Austria/ADA, France,
Italy/IC, Japan/JICA, the Netherlands,
Norway,
Spain/AECID, Sweden/SIDA, Switzerland/SDC/SECO, UK/DFID, USA/USAID, the EC,
UNDP and the World Bank. Together they contributed € 22.8 million in 2007. These agencies focus on building municipal
capacity in the areas of good governance and local economic development, and
support municipal development planning and service delivery, as well as local
employment and community building activities.
Sector Strategies
Leading
municipal governments, jointly with a group of local experts, initiated the
preparation of a Local
Self-Governance Development Strategy in December 2004. The Strategy,
containing a detailed implementation plan with concrete priority projects, was
finalized in May 2006. Both Associations of Cities and Municipalities have
formally adopted the Strategy while official support and engagement in the
implementation of the strategic directions and goals by the respective
government ministries is still missing.
The
BiH Public Administration Reform Strategy focuses on improving central
administrations at the level of the BiH Government, the Entities and the Brčko
District. Thus, while providing an important reference document for all public
administration reform initiatives, it does not specifically address the local
level.
Direction
for local economic development is provided by the Regional Development Agencies
(RDAs). They are the key institutions by which the process is planned, organized,
and implemented. Since 2003, EC technical assistance has helped establish and
strengthen five RDAs, and has aided them in preparing Regional Economic
Development Strategies. Further progress has been made to create the necessary
legal framework for sustainable economic and SME development.
Donor Coordination
Coordination
between donors is good on the project level: international agencies have
discussed priorities and the selection of municipalities, sought advice from
each other, and worked to avoid overlaps. However, in order to further improve
the work at the local level, both the World Bank and UNDP are trying to
facilitate sector-wide coordination. The key challenge to doing so has been the
establishment of a common strategy to achieve clarity within the legal
framework.
For
a complete overview of donor support to the Local Governance sector, click here.
