Capacity Development Community of Practice

Aleksandar PopovicIvan Milivojevic

Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities Serbia

Sofia, September 28Sofia, September 28thth 2008 2008

Serbia - briefSerbia - brief

Serbian Governmentadministrative reform Decentralization Limited capacities Donors are active in

area of local self-government

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.

What is SCTMWhat is SCTM??

Advocating for the interests of the members

Services provision Information and communication International cooperation Project implementation

Scope of SCTM activitiesScope of SCTM activities

Cooperation with Government Cooperation with Government officials and donorsofficials and donors Serbian Government National Assembly of the Republic of

Serbia Ministries and other state organs NGO’s Government agencies Donors which are active in area of local

self-government

International cooperationInternational 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.

PROJECTS – International Partners 1PROJECTS – 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.).

Norway through 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)

PROJECTS – International Partners 2PROJECTS – International Partners 2

UK through DFID, in the programmes on social welfare policy

OSCE Programmes 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.

SCTM-UNDP Capacity BuildingSCTM-UNDP Capacity BuildingCapacity 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

CDNA- The processCDNA- 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

CDNA- The processCDNA- 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)

CDNA- The processCDNA- 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

CDNA- The processCDNA- The processKey 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

CDNA –Results - exampleCDNA –Results - example

Key area and sub-areaLevel of Capacity

1.Very low

2.Basic

3.Moderate

4.High

I INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT (Overall)

X

I.1. Business Processes X

I.2. Human Resources X

I.3. Services to Citizens X

I.4. Attracting EU Funds X

I.5. Local Economic Development X

II KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS X

III MUTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY X

Municipality of Uzice – Capacity levels

CDNA – Results - exampleCDNA – Results - exampleMunicipality 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 …

Proposed CD actions - exampleProposed 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;

Proposed CD actions - exampleProposed 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

Proposed CD actions - exampleProposed 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

CDNA –Further stepsCDNA –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

CDNA – Key lessons learnedCDNA – 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.

CDNA – Key lessons learnedCDNA – 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

www.skgo.org

The Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities

National Association of Local Authorities in Serbia