KLGI is supporting the Working Group on the Funding Formula and Criteria for the Specific Grant for Social Services

The Kosovo Local Government Institute (KLGI), together with the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (MLSW), organised a workshop on “The Funding Formula and Criteria for the Specific Grant for Social Services”. Participants in the meeting were members of the Working Group for preparing the Funding Formula and Criteria for Social Services.

The meeting discussed the criteria for funding social services that should be set out in the Law on Local Government Finance and will also form part of the Instruction on the Funding Formula. The discussion focused on the criteria during the drafting of the document, with the aim of addressing the problems in current funding.

The funding formula for social services therefore aims to guarantee a mechanism for ensuring financial sustainability for the provision of social services. The Working Group addressed issues of advancing and raising the quality of social service provision, including strengthening an open scheme between public and non-governmental providers.

Demand for social services is growing, and service provision must be reflected in the funding of current and new policies. The decentralisation of social services has been accompanied by problems in funding these services, and it has therefore been proposed that the specific grant for social services be incorporated into the Law on Local Government Finance. The funding formula for social services must therefore provide for the setting of minimum standards and targets for new policies.

This activity was carried out within the project ‘Support for Stronger and More Sustainable Municipalities (SSSM)’, funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Kosovo.