Performance assessment leads to informed decision-making

In the first session, a joint meeting was held with representatives of the Municipality of Struga, where participants had the opportunity to learn about the functioning of public enterprises, their competences, their relationship with central and local government, and their engagement in attracting investment from development funds.

The delegation was received by Ms Ardita Iljazi, an associate in the External Foundations Unit, and Mr Adnan Bajrami, a representative of the water supply company. Ms Iljazi and Mr Bajrami gave an overview of the functioning of the municipality since the arrival of the new mayor and of the mechanisms for raising service quality.

In this context, it was stated that despite the progress achieved, the Municipality of Struga is facing problems in financial terms, a lack of investment and obstacles from the central level. The visit was also a good opportunity to identify, in comparative terms, the similarities, differences and good practices between this municipality and municipalities in Kosovo.

At the close of the visit, Mr Besnik Muçaj, Programme Manager at the KLGI Institute, praised the contribution and readiness of the Municipality of Struga to cooperate, and it was jointly agreed that this cooperation should be deepened further in order to exchange experiences and practices.

In the second training session, a lecture on measuring performance at the municipal level was given by Mr Avni Sahiti, Director of the Department for Municipal Transparency and Performance at the MLGA. In the context of municipal performance, Mr Sahiti presented the historical background, the methodology used in municipalities and the challenges of capacity building at the central and local levels.

Mr Sahiti also presented the importance of the performance report in improving municipal processes and services, and spoke about the work under way to review the municipal performance system. The conclusion of this training session was that the purpose of the performance management system is to ensure the highest possible quality of service delivery, provide valuable information and monitor service delivery.

The event was followed by an interactive debate among participants and group work led by Mr Fatmir Haxholli, a European Integration Expert, which resulted in conclusions and recommendations.

The module is organised by the KLGI Institute within the framework of the programme “An effort towards sustainable and functional governance”.