To help Serbian local institutions strengthen their capacity to deliver good governance, the European Union and the Council of Europe are co-financing the project “Human Resources Management in Local Self-Government – Phase 2”, implemented by the Council of Europe and running from December 2019 to December 2021. The €4 million project was developed based on the achievements and challenges of the first phase, which was implemented from 2016 to 2017, and to respond to the needs arising from the implementation of Serbia’s Public Administration Reform Strategy.

Working in partnership with the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities and the National Academy for Public Administration, the project’s expected results are:

1. An improved legal and procedural framework on human resources management at both national and local level 

A civil service system based on merit, professionalism, competence and integrity, aimed at achieving the public interest, is applied at the local level, in line with national reforms.

2.  A more coordinated and effective approach to professional development within local administrations

Civil servants at the local level are regularly trained according to their needs and competences, and local governments anticipate and plan for the continuous development of the full potential of each public servant.

To achieve these results, the project, inter alia:

- Provides support to national institutions, such as the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, with necessary reviews, amendments, legislation and strategic documents regarding the application of the public administration reform to the local level;

- Organises advisory services, on-demand support, training, networking and peer-to-peer learning to strengthen human resources procedures in municipalities and align them with national standards;

- Works with local governments to improve processes for professional development of municipal staff, including the development of a training needs analysis methodology;

- Facilitates the standardisation of the quality of trainings for local government employees, including processes for the monitoring and evaluation of trainers’ performance.

A more structured and standardised management of human resources, combined with an appropriate development of skills and capacities among local administration officials, will contribute to good governance at the local level and to a more effective provision of services to citizens.

On a broader level, improvements on this front will also contribute to Serbia’s fulfilment of requirements and conditions on local public administration deriving from EU accession negotiations.

 

Related links

Council of Europe Office in Belgrade

Council of Europe Office in Belgrade Facebook page

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