ASOCIACIONI I KOMUNAVE T KOSOVS ASSOCIATION OF KOSOVO

ASOCIACIONI I KOMUNAVE TË KOSOVËS ASSOCIATION OF KOSOVO MUNICIPALITIES ASOCIACIJA KOSOVSKIH OPŠTINA

Actual Situation in Kosovo • 30 Municipalities • No regions • Big Municipalities • From 7000 (Novo Bërdë) up to 600. 000 (Prishtinë)

Principles of Local Self-Government in Kosovo a) European Charter on Local Self-Government b) UNMIK Regulation 2000/45 on Local self – Government in Kosovo

Organization of Municipalities in Kosovo • Municipal Assembly President • Municipal Committees

Organization of Municipalities in Kosovo – Chief Executive Officer – Head of Departments – Civil Service

CITIZENS Municipal Assembly Political Side M. Committees M. President Administrative (Professional) Side C. E. Officer Departments Civil Servants CITIZENS

Challenges of Local Governance in Kosovo • Re-centralization of Responsibilities • Establishment of Kosovo Trust Agency • Reserved Powers (such issuing ID etc)

How to move forward ? • Law on Local Self- Government • Law on Local Finance • Law on Local Election

Why ? l Regulation 2000/45 • Decentralization of Powers from Central Level and KTA • Kosovo Municipalities wants to work based on Principles from European Charter On Local Self -Government

ASSOCIATION OF KOSOVO MUNICIPALITIES (AKM) l Established in year 2001 l 26 out of 30 municipalities are members of AKM l Four Municipalities with Serb majority

International presence of AMK l Observer Status in CLRA of Co. E l NALAS l Good relations with other Associations in Europe

Structure of AKM l Political l Administrative- Executive

Political Structure of AKM l President, Mr. Ismet Beqiri l Board (consist of 7 Municipal President) l Council (consist of all Municipal President) l Assembly (107 members)

Executive Structure (Self-sustainable) l l l l Executive Director Two Officers dealing with AMK committees Communication Manager Finance manager Two interpreters (Alb-Eng and Ser-Eng) Secretary Legal Officer IT-Logistics Officer

What AKM did so far l 13 Policy Statement and Implementation Guidelines l Established 11 committees l Two years project on Internal Auditing and Systems of Internal Financial Control l Mo. U with Prime Ministers office and MALG on our future cooperation l Newsletter l Website for AMK l Supporting Municipalities in establishing “Business centres” l Supporting Municipalities in fulfilling “Standards for Kosovo”

What AKM did so far l Inter-ethnic dialogue l Negotiations with KTA on municipal property l Opening web-sites for Municipalities l Drafting municipal strategies on protecting children right and other strategies l Different campaigns (poster campaign to inform citizens about the work of Local Government and Public Meetings) l Providing trainings on different subjects l Sharing experiences with sister associations in SEE and Europe

What are we doing l Involvement of AMK in Law drafting l Running with 11 committees l AMK involvement with MALG on Decentralization process in Kosovo l Providing trainings l Organizing round tables on different subjects l Looking funds for municipalities and for AMK l Preparing Projects for Donor Community

AMK future projects l Two years project with EAR (supporting AMK and Municipalities) l GTZ support “Modernization of Municipal Services” l World Bank project on De-concentration of business registration

AMK future projects l Continuation of AMK committees l Municipal Property (until that municipalities will get back this competence) l Regional (SEE) conferences on different subjects (waste law, decentralization, LED etc. )

Where AMK Needs Support l AMK as a training body for Municipal Assembly members a) Training Needs Assessment b) Training of Local trainers c) Implementation of training Program after Election 2006

Where AMK Needs Support l E-governance l Getting an Observer status in CEMR l Publications a) Legal Acts and its implementation b) Monitoring of Municipalities c) Status of Employees in Municipal Administration

Where AMK Needs Support l Law Implementation through Competence transfer l The awareness Raising Campaign for Decentralization Process in Kosovo l Training newly established Municipal Units (future Municipalities) l Real Estate Training Program l Local Governance Information Network

THANK YOU! www. komunat-ks. net St: ”Rexhep Mala” #12 Prishtinë, Kosovë