Capacity Development Community of Practice

1. Capacity Development Community of Practice Aleksandar Popovic Ivan Milivojevic Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities Serbia Sofia, September 28th 2008

2. Serbia - brief • Serbian Government • administrative reform • Decentralization • Limited capacities • Donorsare active in area of local self-government • SCTM

3. What is SCTM? • National association of local authorities in Serbia • Established in Belgrade in April 1953 • Association now consists of 167 fully dedicated members participating in its work • Association participates in law preparation, proposing the regulations and national strategies relevant for local self-government, organizes public debates and provides expert opinion or suggestion for amending and changing the existing legislation, regulations and strategies.

4. Scope of SCTM activities • Advocating for the interests of the members • Services provision • Information and communication • International cooperation • Project implementation

5. Cooperation with Government officials and donors • Serbian Government • National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia • Ministries and otherstate organs • NGO’s • Government agencies • Donorswhich are active in area of local self-government

6. International cooperation • Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (CLRAE) • Network of the Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe(NALAS) • Council of European Municipalities and Regions(CEMR) • World association United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) • International Council for Local Ecological Initiatives (ICLEI) • Association of Local Democracy Agencies(ALDA) • European Network of Training Organizations(ENTO ) • Local Governments Network of Central and Eastern European Countries (LOGON) • Associations of local and regional authorities of Norway, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Austria, Netherlands, Montenegro, Slovenia, Israel and many other.

7. PROJECTS – International Partners 1 • EU, through the European Agency for Reconstruction/ Commission (EXCHANGE Programme, part of MSP Programme in Eastern Serbia and MSP in North-East Serbia), Joint Programme of Strengthening of Local Self Government in Serbia in cooperation with the Council of Europe, Neighborhood Programme – project LA21 etc.). • Norwaythrough cooperation with KS, as well as through cooperation with the IMG in implementation of the project of support to the development of small municipalities. • Sweden, through Sida,Capacity Development of SCTM (implemented with UNDP ) • Germany, through GTZ Programme of modernization of communal services, Programme of land management, Programme of reform of intergovernmental financing system • Switzerland, through SDC Programme of support to citizen participation • USA through the USAID cooperation with the SLGRP (until 2006) and MEGA (ongoing)

8. PROJECTS – International Partners 2 • UKthrough DFID, in the programmes on social welfare policy • OSCEProgrammes of education of local authorities representatives and those related to minority issues • Westminster Foundation for Democracy in the project Ethical Code of Conduct implementation. • Open Society Institute (LGI) and Open Society Fund • Governments of the Netherlands, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Spain, Italy, etc. in the implementation of smaller scale projects.

9. SCTM-UNDP Capacity Building Capacity Development of SCTM II implemented with UNDP • Output I - Support to institutionalization and functional strengthening of SCTM • Output II - Support to implementation of the National Public Administration Strategy and decentralization - that carries out comprehensive Capacity Development Needs Assessment (CDNA) for good local governance with identification of training gaps and priorities

10. CDNA- The process CDNA- The process • Creation of CDNA Task Force • Support provided by UNDP BRC capacity Development Team (training, adapting the CA methodology for a specific one day pilot assessment, testing the methodology in pilot municipality, report on findings and on potential capacity development actions) • Creation of CDNA working group (2 representatives from each of the pilot municipalities) and CDNA training for WG members

11. CDNA- The process • Selection of point of entry – organizational level, with additional analysis on legal and socio-economic environment (enabling environment) • Selection of core issues – Institutional development (Business processes, Human resources & Leadership, Services to citizens, Absorption of EU funds, Local economic development), Knowledge & Skills and Mutual Accountability • Selection of functional capacities (relevant for specific core issue)

12. CDNA- The process Data collection approach • Self-assessment questionnaire – completed by CDNA working group members • Overall questionnaire for capacity assessment (over 150 questions - covers all areas selected for the assessment), • Interviews – with Mayor and Head of municipal administration for each pilot municipality • Focus groups discussions - with Heads of municipal departments; employees; representatives of CSOs and other partner institutions of pilot municipalities

13. CDNA- The process Key findings of the assessment for each municipality are presented in the form of: • Narrative report on CDNA findings • Concrete scoring (1 to 4 scale) of existing capacities for each crosscutting issue –in accordance to previously developed Scale for scoring of existing local administration capacities with predefined definition of each particular score

14. CDNA –Results - example Municipality of Uzice – Capacity levels

15. CDNA – Results - example Municipality of Uzice–CDNA findings on Human resources • There is no formulated policy and strategy for attracting, employing and continued professional development of human resources • The budgeted means for professional training of the employees is only allocated for the needs of passing a state exam.All other trainings are conducted on the basis of donor projects. • There is no method in place to evaluate the utilization of skills developed during the trainings, nor to identify staff training needs • There is a lack of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to ensure staff retention …

16. Proposed CD actions - example Short Overview of Project proposal: DEVELOPMENT OF RESOURCE CENTERS OF THE MUNICIPALITY ADMINISTRATION • Establishing and continued development of the library and/or media library of laws, regulations and other items significant for the work of employees within the municipality administration; • Developing a continued assessment of the needs of employees regarding specialized training – developing appropriate techniques (questionnaires, evaluation scales and similar) • Proactively searching for appropriate training for employees;

17. Proposed CD actions - example • Establishing and keeping a database on the professional development of employees; • Establishing and keeping a corresponding database on realized projects within the municipality (town); • Collecting and archiving project outlines from various departments of the municipality administration, especially projects related to improving the work of the administration itself; • Collecting data on potential donors and forming a useful database of them

18. Proposed CD actions - example Training: DEVELOPING A SYSTEM FOR HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT WITHIN THE MUNICIPALITY ADMINISTRATION (Training topics) • Concept and significance of HRM • Planning needs for personnel and making a plan for developing human resources • Process of attracting and selecting personnel • Creating job descriptions and achievement standards for specific jobs • Hiring and introducing to job • Teamwork in the municipality administration • Monitoring and supervision of achievements of personnel • Developing and motivating personnel (training, salary, non-financial incentives) • Expanding (dissemination) of acquired knowledge and skills within the organization • Promoting personnel • Evaluating the work of personnel and applying disciplinary measures

19. CDNA –Further steps • Based on the findings from pilot municipalities, CDNA Task Force has developed a „generic“ proposal for CD responses in form of project briefs and trainings for municipal administration. • Proposal for CD responses to be discussed with pilot municipalities and adopted to their specific needs • Providing resources for implementation of CD responses • Providing trainings and technical assistance to municipalities

20. CDNA – Key lessons learned • Provide team with practical training executed by experienced international/national practitioners – less speculation and it provides confidence that it can be achieved • In CDNA Task Force make sure to have analysts and on the other hand practitioners preferably from top management in local administration • In methodology adjustment process to the local context it is good to secure participation of beneficiary representatives. Its good also from the organizational point, since they can arrange everything your need for your CDNA exercise in their institution. Provide them with financial incentive if possible • Before initiation of the interviews and focus groups collect all necessary information from beneficiary institution. It ensures professional approach and ability to focus on particular segments in order to create full picture.

21. CDNA – Key lessons learned • Do not implement CDNA unless there are at least minimum resources secured for CD actions, but leave prioritization of investment until after the assessment of capacities has been completed • Secure to have full support form beneficiary decision makers • Combine thematic trainings (CD at individual level) with concrete advancement of particular processes (CD at organizational level). Try to avoid CD responses in areas where results will be minimized due to constrains within enabling environment

22. www.skgo.org The Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities National Association of Local Authorities in Serbia