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Assessment of the public services at the local level in the municipalities of the Northern MontenegroPodgorica, 5 February 2009 Within the regional project “Western Balkans on the Path to EU Integration”, the UNDP Country Office in Montenegro, in cooperation with the Dutch development organization SNV, has conducted a project titled “Assessment of the Public Services at the Local Level” in two Montenegrin Municipalities: Bijelo Polje and Žabljak. The Municipalities Bijelo Polje and Žabljak were randomly selected and they represent a “small” and a “big“ municipality in the North of Montenegro. The Project both encompassed local self-governance services and public companies, in order to assess the problems that they face and to propose possible solutions. Although one of the project goals was to point out the problems faced by the “small” municipalities - specifically in comparison with the “big” ones - regarding communal services, one of basic conclusions of the research is that the Montenegrin municipalities in the North share similar problems. * * *
The capacity gaps in all the described functions of local self governments have an impact on quality service delivery. At individual level, there is a need for critical cross-cutting and technical capacities while, at a more organizational level, it is crucial to have a well-functioning service delivery system based on participatory planning mechanisms and an efficient and accountable delivery chain. For achieving these, both individual staff and organizations as a whole have to be capacitated in the way they work and deliver. The situation described holds especially true at municipal level in Montenegro. Given the comparative advantage of the UNDP in capacity development and public sector reform, specifically because of its world-wide networks, technical expertise and strong local presence (namely, deep knowledge of and ongoing relationship with many municipalities in the North in areas as diverse as social inclusion and environment), the UNDP Montenegro in partnership with municipalities and in close contact with the EC, is presently promoting different initiatives that will produce concrete and integrated responses to enhance the planning capacities of the municipalities while enhancing the quality of their individual and institutional set-up to deliver services and empower communities.
The main conclusion from the report is that Montenegrin national legislation is still in the adjusting process regarding communal services and local self-governments’ role in its provision, as local self-governments do not have full capacity to perform all activities which legislation is enabling them to do. Mr. Nicola Bertolini, Head of the EC Montenegro Operational Sector said: “The aforementioned findings should not be recognized as problems but rather as challenges which all the local self-governments face, not only the ones selected for the research,“ He also said that there were concrete ways and advice to achieve the quality of public services locally. „A quality service on the municipal level represents decentralisation of the system that all the EU members tend to achieve, as well as the countries in the pre-accession phase. You should not perceive your problems as obstacles but as challenges. Also, you should try and have good human resources in the local self-government administration, develop good projects and they will be financed, improve municipality legislations and, finally, unify that all into a system that can independently get everything done at the town level. Brussels will not fail to assist in all the mentined projects, and that is also your chance to improve the quality of public services and even a greater chance to get closer to the EU. The EC, the UNDP and the Montenegrin Government share the same goals and tasks, and you should use those for your own benefit,“ Mr. Bertolini emphasized. In her analysis of the capacities of the Municipalities Bijelo Polje and Žabljak in terms of decentralized providing public services, Ms. Budimka Golubović, Representative of CEED Consulting said all the problems could be resolved through implementation of fining and control systems for citizens and companies and ensuring more efficient systems in various domains of local self-governance. „It is necessary to introduce more efficient bills collection system and fining the individuals and companies that cause ecological problems. In addition, the level of public awareness about the environmental protection must be raised through the education system and additional school curriculum. Good practices of both companies and households should be rewarded. Also, the funds for implementation of long term plans and projects aimed at better functioning of public services should be raised,“ Ms. Golubović stressed. * * * The main recommendations of the report are: firstly, there is a need to establish local implementation forums and commissions, as implementation of any strategy or program may be a problem; secondly, make sure that local Parliaments adopt a more active role in managing communal services, especially in terms of direct communication with citizens; thirdly, adjust strategic plans and action plans to the international standards; and finally, engage experts for preparation of adequate project proposals that would meet donors’ requirements and raise funds and investments. Complementing these findings, especially those related with capacity gaps in planning and project design, the second survey aims at providing a picture of the difficulties municipalities are facing in planning for and absorption of EU’s IPA funds and, at a later stage, structural funds. This survey, piloted in Mojkovac and to be extended to other municipalities, did not aim to address all capacity gaps of all municipalities. Rather, it was devised to identify and to address the issues that will have the most impact on overall absorption of IPA funding and maximise the IPA absorption at the municipal level across the country.
* * * Presentation on the development of the municipal capacities in the context of the European integration in Montenegrin, delivered by Mr. Borko Vulikić, Representative of UNDP Montenegro. For more information please contact: |
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The experience in EU pre-accession countries and new EU member states suggests that a key impediment to smooth integration into the EU is the weak capacity of public institutions due to several factors, which include planning; budgeting; procurement; financial management; absorption of domestic and external funds; implementation; monitoring and evaluation, across different sectors, etc.. 
The approach aimed at integrating a vast number of partners, starting by the municipalities themselves, national institutions such as the Union of Municipalities, Ministry of Interior, Human Resources Management Agency, among other; the European Commission; and different bilateral and multilateral agencies. In doing so, the UNDP has been developing two parallel albeit reinforcing surveys which will inform about different alternatives to cope with identified capacities gaps and will be a platform for developing a tailored response to each municipality. 
Firstly, the UNDP Regional Project “Western Balkans on the Path to EU Integration: Strengthening Decentralized Service Delivery”, in cooperation with the SNV and the CEED Consulting, conducted an assessment of the public services at the local level in Montenegro, focusing on Žabljak and Bijelo Polje. The rationale behind the choice of these two municipalities is that Bijelo Polje is a rather big urban municipality in the Northern region, whilst Žabljak belongs to a group of smaller rural municipalities. 
“The results of capacity assessment are intended to be used jointly by central, regional, and local stakeholders to 1) identify and prioritize capacity gaps; 2) identify appropriate capacity response strategies; 3) support capacity development funding requests by demonstrating a clear link between capacity development project proposals and real, evidence-based needs that are well defined and documented,” said Mr. Francisco Roquette, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Montenegro. “I wish to highlight that these reports and the responses that are emerging from both, are very much aligned with Montenegro’s EU accession objectives and, more concretely, with the EC Delegation views on local capacity development for the country. Throughout the process of the design of the questionnaire, the EC has been involved playing both a consultative and an advisory role. The UNDP Montenegro, as an implementing partner, will aim at facilitating the whole process with a twofold concrete output in mind: a capacity development response that will have a direct impact on the ability of municipalities to apply for, and effectively utilize, IPA funds while supporting the EC and municipalities efforts in enhancing capacity for service delivery at local level,” Mr. Roquette concluded.