Capacity Development at the local level in Serbia Tomislav Novovic UNDP Serbia

1. Capacity Development at the local level in SerbiaTomislav Novovic UNDP Serbia UNDP Serbia

2. Legal framework… • Law on local self government (adopted in 2002; implemented from 2004.) • The Law introduced number of changes: • extended municipal competencies, • direct election of mayors, • establishment of new institutions, • certain aspects of fiscal decentralisation and • limited central government control UNDP Serbia

3. Legal framework- systemic laws • Law on Local Finances • Law on Local Elections • Law on Territorial Organization of the Republic of Serbia • Strategy for Public Administration Reform in the Republic of Serbia • principle of decentralization; • principle of depolitization; • principle of professionalization; • principle of rationalization; • principle of modernization UNDP Serbia

4. Legal framework- capacity development • The Law on Working Relations in Public Services (part of the general Law on Woking Relations and Employement) regulated employement conditions the central and local government employees. • The Law did not provide necessary set up for the full implementation of a career-related professional development system in Serbia • The new Civil Service Act envisages trainings and professional advancement within the chapter “Specialized training and upgrading”. UNDP Serbia

5. Legal framework- issues and challanges • Serbia does not have integrated civil service system- local administration is not part of public administration (Civil Service Act applies only on the central level); • Professional development is not supported by personnel policies neither by incentives such as career development plans, salary increase and systems for performance evaluation; • Lack of commitment to finance professional development of public employees (including both, central and local level) • Need for development of a framework for development of capacities at the local level (National Training Strategy for LSG in Serbia) UNDP Serbia

6. UNDP and Capacity Development at the local level in Serbia UNDP is one of the key players in the area of local governance in Serbia • Support to organizational and functional strenthening of the Municipal Training Centre • Municipal Improvement and Revival, II (MIR II) programme • Municipal Development in South West Serbia (PRO) first and second phase • Capacity development for localization of PRSP and MDGs • Gender mainstreaming at the local level UNDP Serbia

7. Capacity Development Needs Assessment – overall approach • Support to decentralization process in Serbia through implementation of activities envisaged in the “Action plan for Implementation of Public Administration Reform in the period 2004-2008”; Key activity 1 “Analysis of functioning of local Governments’ organs in light of the Law on Local Self-Government” Key activity 5 “Strengthening of local organs capacities to assume new functions; employees’ training; changes in organizational and management frameworks; technical and technological equipment” UNDP Serbia

8. Capacity Development Needs Assessment - model from Serbia • System level (regulatory framework, policies and frame conditions that support or hamper the achievements of certain policy objectives), • Institutional level (procedures, structures, culture, resources, and decision-making process, the relationships between central and local level, between municipal departments), • Individual level (individual skills and qualifications, knowledge, attitudes, skills, competencies, work ethic and motivation). UNDP Serbia

9. Capacity Development Needs Assessment –findings • Report on capacity development needs assessment (analytical part and recommendations) • Improvement of the overall system • Improvement of functional and organizational structure of the local self governmet units (in-depth functional review) • Priority training areas, target groups (numbers of civil servants within the group), sequence of the trainings, and estimates of preliminary costs UNDP Serbia

10. Capacity Development Needs Assessment – benchmarking tool • Benchmarking tool will be developed based on results of the capacity development needs assessment and by analyzing/comparing performance of the municipalities with different levels of development. • Focused on management efficiency and service delivery of municipal administrations • Based on formal competencies and practical functions defined by the Law on Local Self Government and geared towards better service delivery as a part of the broader concept of “good local governance, as explained in the previous paragraphs. • benchmarking will include measures of productivity, effectiveness, quality and timeliness UNDP Serbia

11. Capacity Development Needs Assessment – performance indicators • Input Indicators: report the amount of resources, either financial or other (especially personnel), that have been used for a specific service or program carried out by municipal administration. • Output/ Workload Indicators: these indicators refer to units produced or services provided by different units within the local administration; workload measures indicate the amount of work performed or the amount of services received. • Outcome/ Effectiveness Indicators:report the results, including quality of the public services; this refers to the degree to which services are in line with the needs and desires of the beneficiaries (community and citizens). This indicator encompasses both quantity and quality aspects of a service. UNDP Serbia

12. Capacity Development Needs Assessment – performance indicators, cont • Efficiency (and Cost-Effectiveness Indicators): efficiency measurement is a method for examining how well a local government is performing public services regardless of the outcome (effectiveness indicators). Specifically, efficiency refers to the ratio of the quantity of the service provided to the cost, (money or labor) required to produce the service. • Productivity indicators:in theory, this indicator combines dimensions of efficiency and effectiveness in a single indicator. UNDP Serbia

13. Partners • Municipal Training Centre/ Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (leading the process) • Municipalities in Serbia • Government of the Republic of Serbia/ Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self Governments • UNDP • Other donors UNDP Serbia