P L A N N I N G A N D L O C A L G O V E R N A N C E P R O J E C T Vol. 8 • No. 11 • February 2019

In this issue:

Intergovernmental dialogue and consultationlead to better policies 2

The Law on the Annual Budget for 2019 is approved: What are the implications for municipalities? 3

Advancing fiscal decentralization reform 3

USAID leads efforts to improve the quality of preschool education in Albania 4

USAID - funded tax administration systems as instruments to increase own source revenues 6

Better systems - Better services 7

Vora’s increased own source revenues provide improved local services 8

Energetic and motivated 9

Transforming lives through better services 10

Municipality delivers on promises 12

Support to reduce non-revenue water in Albania 12

Korça study tour serves as a knowledge-sharing opportunity for staff of other water utilities across Albania 13

Supporting municipalities in accessing funds for strategic projects 14

Improving the quality of tourism offer 15

Building skills for labor market needs 16

Local detailed planning: From design to development opportunities 17

The importance of local safety councils and the role of youth as promoters of change 18

Bulqiza youth board: A mechanism to revitalize community life in Bulqiza 19

Outreach 20

Rr. “Dervish Hima” 3 Kullat pranë St. “Q. Stafa”, Kulla 1, Apt. 91, Kati 10, Tirana, Albania • facebook.com/Albania.USAID • www.plgp.al

BUILDING SKILLS FOR LABOR MARKET NEEDS

Elbasan’s “Ali Myftiu” Vocational School established a metallurgy/foundry class with support provided by USAID’s Planning and Local Governance Project.

With almost 16,000 fami-

lies, the Municipality of Elbasan has some of the largest num-bers of poor families that live on social assistance from the government (INSTAT 2017). During com-munism, the city relied heavily on in-dustry and imported thousands of work-

ers from all over the country. Nowadays, a minor portion of what was once the largest plant in the country is still operational and employs only a few hundred workers. Elbasan is still home to Albania’s heavy industry, including the steel plant, cement factory, ferrochrome workshops, etc.

USAID LEADS EFFORTS TOIMPROVE THE QUALITY OF PRESCHOOL EDUCATION IN ALBANIA

VORA’S INCREASEDOWN SOURCE REVENUES PROVIDE IMPROVEDLOCAL SERVICES

As a result of steady increase of own source revenues, the Municipality of Vora has made significant investments in upgrading its urban and rural road infrastructure to modern standards. In addition, this municipality has invested in many local infrastructure projects, including recreational areas, playgrounds for children, water supply system, sidewalks, public lighting, etc. with the ultimate goal of improving the lives of its citizens....page 16

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INTERGOVERNMENTAL DIALOGUE AND CONSULTATION LEAD TO BETTER POLICIESCentral and Local Government officials discuss policies and legislation impacting local self-governments.By Elton Stafa and Bekim Murati

An open and inclusive dialogue between the

national government and local self-governments is key to improving both service delivery to citizens and the efficiency of the overall central and local public administrations. Under such auspices, the Government of Albania (GoA) established the Consultative Council between the Central and Local Governments (CC) in late 2016, marking a major milestone in Albania’s progress towards effective decentralization policies and legislation.

In 2017 the CC convened on two occasions to discuss the draft Law on Local Self-Government Finance and the 2018 draft Budget Law and Fiscal Package. These meetings resulted in impactful improvement of policies and legislation

before final approval by Parliament. In 2018 the CC convened nearly every month, discussing more than 54 draft laws and bylaws, and providing an opportunity to all 61 mayors and local government representatives to express their opinions before the final approval by the Council of Ministers and Parliament.

“The CC now constitutes a unique platform and an effective mechanism for bipartisan intergovernmental dialogue and consultation between the national government and local self-governments from the entire political spectrum,” – says Bekim Murati, the General Director of the Agency for the Support of Local Self-Government, which is also the CC’s Technical Secretariat. The Agency has played a remarkable

role in stimulating the functionality of the CC by institutionalizing the regular meetings of the council on a monthly basis, strengthening the mechanism for setting the agenda, providing feedback to participants on the conclusions of the meetings, and by widening the scope of participants (including those such as the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth, and Ministry of Justice that were not originally included in the CC). Meanwhile the major challenges remain the follow up of the implementation of recomandations and improvement of the consultation standards.

“The CC needs a strong Technical Secretariat to do the prep-work for an

effective meeting of the CC and to ensure that after the meeting, line ministries do their follow up to reflect local governments’ comments and suggestions,” says Kevin McLaughlin, Chief of Party of the USAID’s Planning and Local Governance Project in Albania (PLGP). PLGP has supported the Agency and the CC technically, logistically, and financially during 2018 and is proud to see the CC become a key and indispensable institution in the lawmaking process in Albania. “This would have not been possible without a partner as committed as the Agency for the Support of Local Self-Government”, continues Mr. McLaughlin, also promising the continued support of PLGP into 2019.

Photo: Erald Lamja for USAID

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On December 4th, Parliament approved the Law on the Annual Budget for 2019. The Ministry of Finance

and Economy (MoFE) highlighted that this law shows the continued support of the Government of Albania for the Territorial and Administrative Reform as well as for effec-tive decentralization policies and legislation.

But what are the major implications for local governments?

The MoFE anticipates local revenues in 2019 to increase by 5 billion Lekë, or by 11% when compared to 2018, which will in turn support local investments and improved service delivery. This overall increase is due to both an expected increase in the revenues that local governments will collect through local taxes and fees (+21% when compared to 2018) and the increase in the unconditional grant for the third consecutive year (+6% when compared to 2018, and +42% when compared to the first year of implementation of the territorial reform in 2015).

The 2019 Budget Law also reforms the nature of the transfers dedicated to the financing of the new func-tions that were shifted to local governments in January 2016. As of January 2019, municipalities can exercise full discretion and convert previously earmarked specific transfers (which are ineligible for financing local func-tions) into sectoral unconditional grants. To avoid service interruptions, it is expected that local governments will likely continue to maintain the level of previous spend-ing, despite their new authority over the grants.

Ultimately, and perhaps most importantly, the 2019 Budget Law introduces a major change in the system of preschool education finance. The MoFE, in collabora-tion with USAID and the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth, increased funding for preschool education

THE LAW ON THE ANNUAL BUDGET FOR 2019 IS APPROVED

By Elton Stafa

What are the implications for municipalities?

teachers in 2019 by 9.1% when compared to 2018. In addition, funds will be allocated to local governments based primarily on the number of pupils (as per Albanian legislation and in alignment with international best prac-tices) as opposed to the current system based on the historical number of teachers. These two changes will prompt the hiring of at least 438 new preschool teachers (10% more) to be allocated in municipalities that have an urgent need based on the ratio of preschool pupils to teachers. This reduction in ratio (projected ranges at 15-18 down from the current 18-26 pupils: teacher) creates a better overall quality of service, both for teachers and students.

The 32 municipalities currently struggling with over-crowded preschool classes will receive funding as of Jan-uary 1st, while the MoFE will provide clear guidelines and expectations for additional allocations and the increased number of preschool teachers. This reform positively af-fects 70% of Albania’s preschool-aged children.

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Local GovernmentBudget, in billion ALL

The USAID’s Planning and Local

Governance Project (PLGP) is working with the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MoFE) to implement for the first time in Albania the sharing of 2% the revenues from the Personal Income Tax (PIT) with municipalities. This shall increase local governments’ revenues from shared taxes by 35% in annual terms (by 736 mln ALL or $ 6.4 mln). Currently, Albania shares 25% of the revenues from the national Tax on Used Vehicles and 5% of

the national mineral rent. PIT sharing has been promised by the Albanian legislation for more than two decades, although it was only in 2017, with the approval of the Law on Local Self-Government Finance, developed with the key support of the PLGP, that the actual percentage that would be shared was determined.

USAID is currently work-ing with the MoFE to address the main chal-lenge of PIT sharing – the identification of the origin of the PIT revenue and the PIT taxpayer. As

ADVANCING FISCAL DECENTRALIZATION REFORM

By Elton Stafa

Albanian municipalities to receive for the first-time shares of the revenues collected from the National Tax on Personal Income

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in many other countries in the region, the alloca-tion of PIT revenues to municipalities accord-ing to the residence of taxpayers requires ad-ditional investments and efforts in the informa-tion technology systems to allow the automatic identification of the origin of the PIT revenue and the residence of the PIT taxpayer. Until the establishment of the IT infrastructure, the PIT revenues are expected to be shared with mu-nicipalities in accordance with the number of population residing in each municipality. It is expected that the MoFE will begin allocating PIT revenues on a per capita basis in 2019.

PLGP will continue to work with the MoFE so that the shares of the PIT are allocated to local governments in accor-dance with the origin of the PIT revenue and the residence of the taxpayer. At the technical level, our efforts are currently focused at establishing rules and procedures and overcoming technical constraints between the responsible institutions (the MoFE, the General Tax Administration, the Civil Status Register Of-fice under the Ministry of Interior and the National Agency for Information Society).

Shared tax revenues have become an important pillar of fiscal decentral-ization reform in Albania’s neighboring countries and

beyond. With the excep-tion of Kosovo and Bul-garia, all post-communist countries share some percentage of PIT with their municipal govern-ments. From a compara-tive analysis conducted by PLGP the previous years, it emerges that, in Macedonia, municipalities receive 3% of the PIT, in Montenegro, 12% of PIT. In Republic of Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina, LGUs receive about 25% of the PIT. Serbia as well shares the PIT coming from different sources, 1.5% -2.5% of the tax on inheritance and gift and 2.5% of the tax on the transfer of absolute rights.

Sharing revenues from the PIT is important because it creates incen-tives for municipalities to promote economic development because local governments have an incentive in support-ing the creation of new jobs because they would receive more PIT rev-enue. PIT sharing cre-ates incentives for local governments to work with the national govern-ment to reduce the gray economy and there-fore be able to benefit from more PIT revenues and it also helps satisfy the demands of richer municipalities to keep more of the wealth they generate.

USAID LEADS EFFORTS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF PRESCHOOL EDUCATION IN ALBANIA

Throughout 2017 and 2018, USAID’s

Planning and Local Governance Project in Albania (PLGP) partnered with the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MoFE), the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth (MoESY) and local policymakers and experts to ensure that the full decentralization of preschool education at the municipal level is accompanied by a stable financing system that works to improve the quality and access to preschools.

As a result of our joint ef-forts, funding for preschool education teachers in 2019 will increase by 9.1% when compared to 2018, while the funds will be allocated to local govern-ments, based primarily on the number of pupils – as required by the Albanian legislation and as recom-mended by the interna-tional best practices. These two changes allow for the hiring of at least 438 new preschool teachers (10% more) that will be allocated in those municipalities that have a more urgent need based on the preschool

By Elton Stafa and Erald Lamja

“Equal access to relevant, quality education creates pathways for greater economic growth, improved

health outcomes, sustained democratic governance, and more peaceful and resilient societies”, states the U.S. Government Strategy on

International Basic Education.

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pupils to teacher ratio. This will reduce class sizes from an average of 18 to 15 pu-pils per teacher and high of 26 to 18 pupils per teacher in some extreme cases like the municipalities of Tirana, Kamez, Durres etc, creating therefore the preconditions for a more qualitative service.

Preschool education is the costliest - and argu-ably the most important for Albania’s future - of the new functions that were transferred to local governments in 2016. For three consecutive years, this function was financed with transitory earmarked specific transfers for every singly municipality, calcu-lated on the basis of his-torical costs by the MoESY and the MoFE. The transi-tory period ends in 2018,

and as of January 2019, the earmarked specific trans-fers will be transformed in unconditional transfers at full local discretion. Besides the transforma-tion of earmarked grants into unconditional grants, Albanian policymakers at the national and local level needed to improve the method of allocating preschool education funds to each municipality.

Historically, funds were allocated on the exist-ing number of teachers employed in the system in each municipality. On the other hand, the Albanian legal framework requires that funding preschools, should be allocated pri-marily on the number of pupils. The analysis con-ducted by PLGP shows that, the current system

does not adequately reflect the social and demographic changes over the past 27 years in Alba-nia and that this, coupled with the unequal enforce-ment of the of regulations on class sizes, have led to significant differences and disparities in pre-school education quality in Albania.

To address these dis-parities, and ensure a more stable financing system, PLGP partnered with the MoFE and MoESY to conceptualize Albania’s new system for allocat-ing funding for preschool education. As of 2019, the system will be based primarily on the number of pupils (60% on the num-ber of pupils and 40% on the number of teachers). This will help improve the

service by better reflecting the demographic changes of the past 27 years and at the same time smoothing out disparities within and across municipalities, while helping improving quality and access to preschools.

Ultimately, this reform positively impacts 70% of Albania’s preschool pupils living in half of Albania’s municipalities.

“This is not statistics, but a real opportunity to improve the situation in those communities that have a more urgent need for preschool teachers and provide for a better service for the youngest of our citizens,” states the Minister of Finance and Economy Arben Ahmetaj.

Photo: Erald Lamja for USAID

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USAID - FUNDED TAX ADMINISTRATION SYSTEMS AS INSTRUMENTS TO INCREASE OWN SOURCE REVENUES

“Familiarization with the various reporting instruments provided by the TAIS system

facilitates the work on tax administration and local tariffs, considering that the taxes we collect will be returned to citizens in investments,” – said Aida Saraçi, Director of Local Tariffs and Taxes,

Municipality of Elbasan.

By Genc Radovicka and Erald Lamja

Financial empowerment of local government

units (LGUs) has been a fundamental issue in the framework of implement-ing local decentralization. To increase own source revenues (OSR), LGUs need to improve and strengthen their tax collec-tion procedures. This can be achieved by using tax information systems that also help increase trans-

parency and avoid devia-tions and corruption on the part of local taxation administration systems and officials.

The PLGP-designed Tax Administration Information System (TAIS) is a com-puterized system built to substantially increase pro-ductivity in local tax admin-istration processes, saving both time and money, while

at the same time provid-ing taxpayers with better service. Through TAIS, all local tax information systems and databases are integrated and provide the tools required to facilitate tax compliance, combat tax non-compliance, and satisfy information require-ments at the operational, managerial, and internal control levels for the ef-fective management of a modern Tax Administration.

TAIS functionalities imple-ment the overarching cycle of local government tax administration: from the ad-ministration of taxpayer data, calculation of taxes, invoic-ing and payments, debtors’ identifications, and reporting of revenues.

On September 13-14, 2018, the USAID Planning and Local Governance Project (PLGP) conducted a training to strengthen their use and understanding of their Tax Administration Information Systems (TAISs).

Twenty municipal officials, including tax directors and other tax staff from 9 PLGP partner munici-palities of Elbasan, Kamza, Lushnja, Berat, Kuçova, Fier, Patos, Vlora, and Sa-randa attended the train-ing on the latest updates of TAIS usage and learned how tax directors can prepare data reports and analyze the information.

PLGP believes that the improvement of local tax administration can be achieved through the computerization of local tax administrations and con-tinuous improvements in the exchange of information with the national tax admin-istration and other central government agencies.

Local taxes officials discuss the TAIS manual prepared by the USAID experts.

Photo: Erald Lamja for USAID

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BETTER SYSTEMS – BETTER SERVICES

By Genc Radovicka and Erald Lamja

Building and property tax is one of the main own source revenues for the local government units in Albania. To date, munici-palities have lacked local territorial registers with accurate information on location and other details on individual properties within their jurisdictions and proper instruments to identify taxable prop-erties and related own-ers. Issues with receiving complete, current, ac-cessible data from the national Immovable Property Registration Office (IPRO) has created problems at the local level.

To address this concern of partner LGUs, the USAID Planning and Local Gov-ernance Project has, in the past three years, assisted the partner municipali-ties of Korça, Fier, Lush-nja, Berat, Elbasan, and Kamza, in developing computer-based platforms that execute a Geographic Information System (GIS) application - essential to creating robust territorial registries. The application includes information on location, size, value, and ownership of the property. It facilitates property tax collection and administra-tion through creation of the tax-related elements

Thanks to the support of USAID, the Municipality of Elbasan can now issue accurate and fair property tax bills, based on reliable data via a GIS-based territory register.

of a working territory register. The web-based application’s primary func-tionality is to support par-cel- and building- based query, selection, display, and mapping.

The platform facilitates the work of municipal staff in maintaining GIS-based territorial registries to re-cord all property data, en-suring accurate and reliable property information that is vital for fair, accurate, and complete property tax identification.

Each of the assisted municipalities is currently conducting comprehen-

sive field surveys of all the individual properties and buildings within its jurisdiction and uploading this property data into its registry. The Municipality of Elbasan recently final-ized its territory register, with a GIS database con-taining accurate data for more than 35,800 build-ings, 53,300 immovable properties and 49,500 taxpayers.

“The digital territory regis-ter focuses on immovable properties and allows us to identify the property owner, analyze the property value, manage an accurate inven-tory of real property, and maximize tax property rev-enues,” says Qemal Tusha, General Director of Tax and Finance Department in the Municipality of Elbasan.

Property taxes are more than just a source of reve-nue and growth. They also play a key role in building institutions, markets, and democracy by making a local government account-able to its taxpayers.

A screenshot of the up-to-date GIS database of Elbasan Municipality

Staff of the Municipality of Elbasan go door-to-door to conduct a comprehensivefield surveys of all the individual properties and buildings. Photo credit: Municipality of Elbasan

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Vora is a relatively small municipality (80

square kilometers) with 25,000 residents accord-ing to the Population and Housing Census of 2011. Located between the Albania’s two biggest cities –Tirana and Durres– Vora is a relatively new mu-nicipality that is struggling to meet the needs of its growing population.

Since 2012, USAID has been working together with its partner local gov-ernment units to address systemic weaknesses and establish the build-ing blocks for effective revenue administration at the local level. Efforts have been concentrated in establishing the neces-sary capital infrastructure, in building capacities of

VORA’S INCREASED OWN SOURCE REVENUES PROVIDE IMPROVED LOCAL SERVICESBy Silvana Meko and Erald Lamja

As a result of steady increase of OSR, the Municipality of Vora has made significant investments in upgrading its urban and rural road infrastructure to modern standards. In addition, this municipality has invested in many local infrastructure projects, including recreational areas, playgrounds for children, water supply system, sidewalks, public lighting, etc. with the ultimate goal of improving the lives of its citizens.

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tax administrations, and in running taxpayers’ aware-ness campaigns. Based on this conceptual framework, USAID has supported its partner municipalities to implement property tax collection action plans to collect information and bill all property owners, cre-ate tax registers based on Geographical Information Systems (GIS), employ a computerized Tax Ad-ministration Information System, build capacity for local tax administrators, and conduct tax awareness and education programs targeted to both business and household taxpayers.

As a partner of the USAID Planning and Local Gover-nance Project (PLGP), the Municipality of Vora has participated in many PLGP activities over the past 7 years that have built the capacity of municipal staff

to improve the collection of own-source revenues (OSR) from local taxes and fees. They have also installed and implemented the USAID-funded Tax Administration Informa-tion System (TAIS) and improved service delivery.

For the second consecu-tive year, the 12 partner municipalities assisted by the USAID Project have increased their revenues by more than 30%.

The Municipality of Vora ranks among the three municipalities with the best performance in increasing OSR from local taxes and fees. Indeed, their sustainability over the last few years translates into an increasing rate of tax collection of $2.4 mil-lion in 2015, $2.9 million in 2016, and $3.2 million in 2017.

Why is the Municipality of Vora performing so well? What is its secret?

The Local Tax and Fee De-partment has a staff of 20 people, including on-site tax inspectors.

“I think we are in the right place doing the right things together with the right people,” says Mira, Head of the Business Sector of the Local Tax and Fee Depart-ment.

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Mira (left), Gledis (middle), and Klaudia (right) pose for the camera during a meeting in their office. Photo: Erald Lamja for USAID.

ENERGETIC AND MOTIVATED

By Silvana Meko and Erald Lamja

Technical capacity-building of new recruits in the General Department of Property Tax

Property tax reform constitutes a major development in local government finance following the approval

of the Local Governance Finance Law. The purpose of this reform is to strengthen municipalities in Albania by substantially increasing their own-source revenue via a market value-based immovable property tax on buildings.

In January 2018, the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MoFE) together with the Swedish International Devel-opment Cooperation Agency (SIDA) initiated work to establish the national fiscal cadaster which will facilitate the implementation of the recently-adopted value-based property tax system on buildings.

The MoFE requested technical assistance from the USAID Planning and Local Governance Project (PLGP) to ensure practical adoption and implementation of the national fiscal cadaster at local levels and to increase the technical capacities of municipal staff, including the newly-recruited staff in the Department of Property Tax (GDPT).

During the first weeks of September, as part of the demand-driven capacity-building activities, PLGP ex-perts developed and provided a comprehensive 3-mod-ule training cycle to the new staff of GDPT. The training addressed topics on Local Tax Policy and Administrative issues, including local and fiscal autonomy concepts and practices and property tax collection and enforcement.

Six newly-recruited staff, most without any work expe-rience but with outstanding performance in university studies, were eager and enthusiastic to learn more about property taxation and its relevance with local gover-nance finance issues.

“I consult with USAID training materials all day long,” says Kledia Nakuci, who studied computer science focused economics at University of Tirana and is one of the recent hires. “There is a lot we as a team are learning from the training materials and manuals on local taxation and finance published by USAID.”

The long-overdue shift from area-based taxation to the new system of value-based property taxation on buildings is expected to create $24 million of additional revenue for local governments in the next 1-3 years.

PLGP will continue to provide technical assistance, sup-porting demand-driven requests from the central and local governments. This will facilitate the implementation of ongoing property tax reforms and improve usage of Information and Communications Technology tools that help local government units enhance revenue collection and financial management and will provide increasingly transparent and responsive services to the community.

“We are committed to do our job and we put a lot of efforts to succeed. We don’t collect taxes to improve figures and have graphics and charts to show off. Rather, we inform businesses and households regularly that their taxes will improve our citizens’ life, our children’s life. The revenues from local taxes and fees are only used for investments and to improve services for the citizens. This is what motivates us in our every day job,” says Klaudia, Head of Households’ Sector under this department.

It is not just their profes-sionalism and commit-ment that makes their performance a success story. These women and their colleagues are residents of Vora, living with their families in this municipality. They bring up their children in this town. This is the very reason behind their com-mitment to applying the PLGP established TAIS tax systems and participating in trainings, and applying the skills learned in their work every day.

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“My father bought this tiny piece of land about 25 years ago, and since then we have cultivated it only for half of the year, because this area gets flooded in wintertime,” he continued. “When winter knocks in with the heavy rain, I have to leave my house and migrate. I work abroad, save money, and then come back in spring to toil my land and to breed our two cows that are just enough to keep the pot boiling for my household.”

I don’t recall having seen any drainage canals working in the entire area,” says Kadri, Miri’s father, a hardworking and taciturn man. “If the municipality continues this work, I think this land will definitely be more fertile and boost production all year round.”

These service improvements were made possible in partnership with the USAID Planning and Local Government Project implementing this Quality Improvement Service Program (QSIP).

The process started with interviews and questionnaires with citizens and municipal staff to solicit their perception of the services provided by their municipality. Results revealed that the irrigation and drainage service was in a dire condition and called for urgent improvements in most municipalities, prompting actions of the municipalities of Elbasan, Fier, Patos, and Kuçova to develop plans with specific timelines and responsibilities to rectify the situation.

The Municipality of Elbasan was the first to approve their action plan by the municipal council and promptly began its implementation.

This summer the Municipality of Elbasan began interventions in improving the irrigation and drainage

systems across its territory. Mechanical equipment and heavy machinery operated daily to clean blocked irrigation and drainage canals and open new ditches where necessary.

Vidhas residents were somewhat taken aback and came to watch the heavy machineries and excavators as they were hard at work opening new drainage canals for their arable lands.

“This area has always been under water every winter for as long as I remember,” says Miri Caka, 30, while his father shovels organic fertilizers off the self-made donkey-drawn farm cart onto his small plot.

TRANSFORMING LIVES THROUGH BETTER SERVICESBy Erald Lamja and Diamanta Vito

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TAR implementation continues to be a challenge for local government units, particularly regarding delivery of quality services to their citizens. Municipalities currently manage and provide services in territories several times larger, challenged by geographical distance of some administrative units where road infrastructure is deficient. Consequently, local self-government units are facing extra challenges in their efforts to deliver quality and timely services to citizens, especially in terms of management of new functions: pre-school and secondary education and infrastructure; forestry and pasture; primary healthcare centers infrastructure; rural road maintenance; secondary irrigation and drainage infrastructure; and social services, fire protection, and rescue.

Following the Territorial-Administrative Reform (TAR) approved in May 2014, the municipality’s territory increased by several times to merge 12 administrative units and 116 villages. The size of the Municipality of Elbasan is 873 km², including agricultural land of about 37,496 hectares. About 28% of the local population is employed in the agricultural sector.

QSIP Findings

The assessment revealed that the municipality’s human resources and infrastructure to provide quality irrigation and drainage services were inadequate and insufficient to implement this new function assigned to local self-government units by law in 2014. The municipal department responsible for the irrigation and drainage service performed other functions as well and had taken on this service as an

extra duty. The assessment also identified that a register of irrigation and drainage areas and an inventory of assets were not in place and that farmers’ service contract records were not maintained. Lastly, revenues from this service were at a record low as no taxes and tariffs had ever been collected.

The post-TAR Municipality of Elbasan can irrigate 7,553 hectares of arable land. The linear length of the irrigation canals is 556.5 km. Drainage canals run for 1,983 km and serve an area size of 3,345 hectares of cultivated land. However, the land area under irrigation shrank to 1,760 hectares by year 2016, and in 2017 the weak service delivery compounded the issue resulting in irrigation of only 1,164 hectares.

Once the service improvement action plan implementation began in the summer of 2018, the agricultural land under

irrigation quickly doubled to 2,493 hectares, to the benefit of 9,900 farmers. In addition, 180 km of irrigation and drainage canals were cleaned, and the drainage network increased with the creation of 70 km of new canals, a scope of intervention that farmers had not seen for almost 30 years.

In accordance with the action plan, the Municipality of Elbasan will keep intervening in the irrigation

infrastructure to make it fully operational and enhance water supply to farmers based on their seasonal needs. In the meantime, the Municipality will place additional efforts and will cooperate with central government agencies to clean and rehabilitate reservoirs and dams with the ultimate goal of improving the irrigation and drainage system as well as to ensure flood protection for local farmlands.

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Municipality Delivers on Promises By Erald Lamja

For 3 consecutive years (2015-2017) the

USAID Planning and Local Governance Project has conducted Community-Based Scorecards (CBS) in 16 municipalities to enable citizens to voice their needs and priorities with regards to public and social services, good governance, and local economic development.

During the CBS process in Patos in 2017, one of the main needs raised by the citizens was the lack of social housing for women in need. PLGP is very pleased to report that

the Municipality promptly responded to their citizens’ feedback.

Supported financially by the Government of Albania, the municipality managed in a short six months to transform an abandoned municipal asset (ruined kindergarten), into a modern building with 12 apartments, ten apartments for families in need with women heads of household, and 2 for emergency use. After approval from the Patos Municipal Council, these apartments were given to the families in need.

The Community-Based Scorecard is a social audit, community monitoring, and citizen mechanism that enables citizens to voice their needs and priorities with regards to public and social services, good governance, and local economic development. It is a powerful and flexible instrument to help improve quality of services, good governance, and enhance development outcomes through social accountability. It is important for local governance that citizens have a stronger voice in the making of decisions and setting of priorities regarding issues that affect their lives, and they must be continuously involved in the making of decisions concerning their communities.

“I have struggled my entire life to hold my house, but it is only now we have a roof over our heads that I finally feel secure for my children,”

says Etleva, a single mother of three, with tears of joy rolling down her cheeks.

On December 9, 2018, Patos Mayor Balilaj handed over the keys of 10 apartments to women in need.

SUPPORT TO REDUCE NON-REVENUE WATER IN ALBANIABy Valu Add Management Services

The Government of Albania has identified

improvement of water supply and sewerage services as one of its five crucial pillars and priorities under its current mandate. The main objective is to expand access to and

enhance the quality of water supply and sewerage services for the entire population of Albania. The ultimate goal is to provide uninterrupted water supply to all people, provide wastewater services to protect human health,

and minimize negative environmental impacts. In late 2017, the Council of Ministers launched the so-called Water Sector Reform and Action Plan, aiming to improve the delivery of water supply and sewerage services by reducing non-revenue water, improving financial sustainability of municipal water providers, and enhancing transparency and accountability.

Responding to the immediate crucial need expressed by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy (MIE), the USAID Planning and Local Governance Project (PLGP) provided primary advisory role in developing the National Approach and Methodology to Reduce Non-Revenue Water in Albania (NRW).

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The Non-Revenue Water Reduction Short-term Action Plan includes interventions in: bulk metering, unmetered customers, customer database, unauthorized use, malfunctioning customer meters, customer billing database, billing errors, large-scale customers, mapping, and active leakage control.

This approach served to provide an understanding of the different components of water losses and strategies to deal with each component as well as a clear description of the actions needed to fulfill the strategies. It also aims to provide an understanding of the framework within which the proposed strategies and actions will become practicable, achievable and sustainable, including the required organizational structure.

The conceptual approach was followed by a comprehensive short-term action plan, which included main interventions focused to achieve reduction of commercial losses in the eight biggest utilities: Tirana, Elbasan, Lushnja, Fier, Kavaja, Durres, Shkodra, and Vlora. This action plan supported the Ministry of Infrastructure in identifying the key requirements and short-term measures that would yield maximal financial return for the service

“There is extreme difficulty in achieving a reduction in water losses, especially in physical losses, under the current Intermittent Water Supply (IWS) operational regimes in Albania. There is an urgent need to establish necessary structures and introduce systems to manage the supply

and distribution network under the current IWS situation. The 3-year short-term action plan targets mainly reduction in commercial losses, and addresses “quick wins” with reasonably affordable investments,” highlighted Mr. Charalambous during his presentation.

providers with the least possible investments thus contributing towards efficient and effective management of the water supply systems and achieve NRW reduction of 16% at national level.

In addition, PLGP water experts assisted the Prime Minister’s Office and MIE in holding roundtables and presentations to managing directors of six water utilities. Topics of discussions of these activities included baseline analysis and findings of the NRW short-term action plan and the timelines needed

for its implementation. MIE incorporated NRW actions plans in the draft Performance Agreements to be endorsed by the national and local government tiers for the provision of water supply and sewerage services.

PLGP’s Lead International Water Demand Expert, Mr. Bambos Charalambous, presented the GoA National Short-Term Action Plan to reduce NRW, developed with the assistance of PLGP, at the 6th Balkans Joint Conference and Exhibition “Water and Nature” in Tirana.

Korça Study Tour serves as a knowledge-sharing opportunity for staff of other water utilities across Albania

The water sector in Albania faces a pivotal moment. The Government of Albania (GoA), in line with the

UN Agenda on Water, has identified improvement of water supply and sewerage services as one of its five crucial pillars and priorities under its current mandate. Water utilities are not in sufficient compliance with the principles of cost control, continuous efficiency improvement, and full cost recovery; causing a vicious circle of underfunded service providers, insufficient investment, and deteriorating infrastructure in particular

By Valu Add Management Services and Erald Lamja

for wastewater management. Currently there are 58 water utilities in Albania, structured as joint stock companies owned by the local governments.

Korça Water Utility is the best operating Water Supply and Sewerage Utility in the country supplying 24-hour pressurized drinkable water to approximately 99% of its municipal area. It has the lowest rate of non-revenue water (NRW) and operates a full sewerage network accompanied with a wastewater treatment plant. Indeed, this utility ranks as one of the best utilities in the Western Balkans.

The USAID’s Planning and Local Governance Project (PLGP) assisted the Korça Water Utility in 2013 to develop a comprehensive 5-Year Business Plan and Performance Improvement Action Plan, which were rigorously implemented and monitored by Senior Management of the Utility.

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On September 27th and 28th, PLGP’s Water Team put together a field study tour to this utility with 5 water and wastewater utilities, representing the USAID Project partner municipalities of Tirana, Lushnja, Fier, Vlora, and Patos, with the intention of sharing and learning from successful experiences and best practices.

Technical and managerial staff from 5 water and wastewater utilities during study tour in the Korça Water Utility premises. Photo: Erald Lamja for USAID

“Based on what I saw during the two-day study tour in Korça, the customer care procedures are of the highest priority at this moment for the Tirana Water Utility. After the study tour, I met with the Customer Care Department staff to draft a handbook of procedures and processes. Our 5 customer care offices are the face of UK Tirana with the citizens and to this end we need to make sure customers are served well.” - Evis Gjebrea, Deputy General Director of Tirana Water Utility

“Korça Water Utility is the perfect example showing that not only investment, but good management is very important in water sector”, said Ersi Veliu, Technical Director of Lushnja Water Utility.

The study tour demonstrated practical implementation of good technical and commercial practices with a specific focus on:

• Management and monitoring of water production;

• Metering management (meter-reading process, control center);

• Management of customer services;

• Operation and management of wastewater treatment service plant.

The USAID Planning and Local Governance Project is also assisting model municipalities to prepare a comprehensive assessment of water supply and sewerage services in the expanded area to include:

• Collection of all available infrastructure documentation for the ex-communal systems to be transferred;

• Identification of water demand and non-revenue water characteristics in the expansion areas;

• An analysis of existing staffing in the expansion areas that would need to be assumed by the surviving utility; and,

• Defining new strategic objectives for which revised performance improvement action plans will be developed.

SUPPORTING MUNICIPALITIES IN ACCESSING FUNDS FOR STRATEGIC PROJECTS

Preparing successful fund-able projects for support

by financial or donor institu-tions remains a challenge for Albanian municipalities. Effective projects should be reinforced with comprehen-sive analysis, considering all possible obstacles and op-portunities in the implemen-tation process. They should also convince the funding institutions of the municipal-ity’s capacity to deal with the project’s complexity and ab-sorb its financing. PLGP has supported the municipalities of Fier and Berat to boost local economic development through the preparation of fundable projects to be im-plemented with the financial support of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). Agriculture is a key sector of local economic development for both Fier and Berat, and as such both projects reflect this emphasis.

In the case of Fier, the municipality developed a new regional livestock market project-including feasibility study and construction details. The new market will replace the existing one which operates

in the inner city near the railway, in poor physical and sanitary conditions. The municipality plans to build the new livestock market in an agriculture area outside the city, which will benefit the whole region allowing for more frequent use as a market, along with use for other activities such as fairs, bazaars, municipal days, etc. PLGP supported the municipality in developing this project by conducting a feasibility study addressing both construction and future operation and management. The total cost of the market is around 700,000 Euro and will be co-financed from the municipality and TAP. It will meet all technical and sanitary requirements including specific sections for different types of livestock, offices for veterinarians, an emergency room, a quarantine area, toilets, and a large parking area.

In Berat, the main irrigation channel of Mbreshtani will be reconstructed through the co-financing of the municipality and TAP, with TAP investing

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around 360,000 Euro in the reconstruction of the main channel, and the municipality investing in the branches of the irrigation system. The proposed irrigation system has a length of 7.1km covering the fields of Mbreshtan, Palikesht, and Starova; and will serve around 550 hectares of agricultural land and 5000 people whose economies are agriculture-based. Over the last 30 years the channel has fallen into disrepair due to lack of maintenance and is

no longer functional. PLGP provided technical support for the development of both projects, which are solid initiatives of local economic development. Through the work of PLGP over 700,000 Euros have been raised from external sources (TAP), and another 700,000 Euros will be invested by the respective municipalities. Both projects are expected to be implemented within 2019.

IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF TOURISM OFFER By Nevila Popa and Erald Lamja

Berat Economic Development Advisory Council dedicates efforts to the specific demand of the Asian tourism market

Berat is an international cultural destination for

tourists. In keeping with its designations as a UNESCO world heritage site, it offers an unforgettable experience for passionate visitors of cul-ture, history, art, and nature.

The rich cultural heritage of its architecture is com-plimented by the beauti-ful nature and landscapes surrounding the city. Local and organic ingredients feed into a delicious culi-nary tradition served with

the warmth of hospitality for which Albania is world-renowned. The recent creation of four new ad-ministrative units of Berat can now offer more cultural and natural heritage sites to tourists, increasing accessi-bility and making it pos-sible for greater numbers of visitors to experience the city and its surrounding countryside.

In 2018 Berat was visited by approximately 110,000 guests, 60% of whom were

foreign visitors. This is an in-crease of 34% over numbers in 2017, a strong indication of trends to come. Resulting from the priority of the tour-ism sector in the municipality of Berat and at the request of its private sector, the Berat Economic Development Advisory Council dedicated its last meeting of 2018 to address the specific demand of the Asian tourism market.

The biggest Albanian tour operator catering to Japan and the Asian market, Alba-nia Experience, presented the needs and requests of this market segment when visiting Berat. Topics of pre-sentation included: requests from the Asian tourism market, especially Japan, regarding accommodation; best practices offered in similar cultural heritage cit-ies, concerning promotional events and festivals; and weak points and challenges from the previous tourism season in Albania.

The meeting concluded with a promise to add more accommodation structures in 2019, and it is expected that 200 more rooms will be available in Berat for the international and domestic market next year. Tourist guide standards are now regulated by a legal frame-work, and representatives of the handicraft sector are striving to meet the higher

demands of visitors as well, in quality and quantity.

“Tourism businesses are de-veloping fast in Berat munici-pality, and we are interested to establish contact with tour operators and travel agencies that deal with the Asian mar-ket. This market represents a high number of tourists and a long duration of stay in Europe and we are working to improve our tourism offer within the high standards of Asian market requirements”, said Monika Xheblati, owner of a local guest house Hani i Xheblatit, “Today’s meet-ing was very informative, and the real cases explained helped us to not only better understand, but also (taught us) how to respond to the market demand.”

“This meeting served to foster cooperation between local businesses and nation-al tour operators by sharing experiences on how to better respond to the demands of the Asian tourism market. It also served us to better coordinate the work with the tourism businesses in the municipality, encouraging ideas to improve the tourism product and to organize joint marketing and promotional activities in our municipality of Berat’’, said Klejda Kusta, Director of the Tourism Culture, Youth & Sports Directory at the Municipal-ity of Berat.

The project of regional livestock market in Fier

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BUILDING SKILLS FOR LABOR MARKET NEEDS By Erald Lamja and Nevila Popa

Elbasan’s “Ali Myftiu” Vocational School established, for the first time, a metallurgy/foundry class with 27 students owing to the support provided by USAID’s Planning and Local Governance Project.

USAID is working to provide tailored assistance to municipalities and the private sector to promote competitiveness and job creation. The project is cooperating with private and public stakeholders in our partner municipalities that support economic growth and development.

“I joined the mechanical class of this school 2 years ago to learn the core skills and then try my chances for employment abroad”, says Edison, 18, student of the metallurgy class, “but I now see the green light for secured employment with AlbChrome upon my graduation.”

With almost 16,000 families, the Munici-

pality of Elbasan has some of the largest numbers of poor families that live on social assistance from the government (INSTAT 2017). During communism, the city relied heavily on indus-try and imported thousands of workers from all over the country. Nowadays, a minor portion of what was once the largest plant in the country is still operational and employs only a few hundred workers. Elbasan is still home to Albania’s heavy industry, including the steel plant, cement factory, fer-rochrome workshops, etc. Over the last three decades, youth interest in attending education on metallurgy shrank as the industry itself collapsed with the fall of communism.

AlbChrome, an Albanian company and part of Balfin Group, is one of the compa-nies operating in the ferro-chrome industry. Its workers are close to retirement age and the company is facing a shortage of qualified and skilled workforce. As a re-sult, the company reached out to USAID’s Planning and Local Governance Project to support them in coordinat-ing their investing in voca-tional education to secure

skilled labor for its ferro-chrome plant. With support from PLGP, AlbChrome collaborated with Elbasan’s Ali Myftiu Vocational High School to establish a found-ry-metallurgy class for the 2018 academic year.

In May, PLGP facilitated an “Open Day” for the 11th grade students to visit the Ferrochrome Fac-tory in Elbasan. Over 50 Mechanical Branch stu-dents joined this field trip and participated in a tour provided by the factory’s chief engineer. Students expressed their interest by making various questions and probing into some of the employment opportu-nities in the factory.

USAID’s PLGP cooperated with the Vocational School and the AlbChrome team to run a promotional cam-paign and produce a pro-motional video to attract interested students. The video focused on vocations prioritized by the school with the goal of increasing the enrollment rate for this academic year. The video specifically highlighted the employment opportuni-ties with AlbChrome upon graduation from metallur-gy/foundry class, and was later aired by local media,

the school, the company, USAID/Albania social me-dia and PLGP website.

As a result of this pro-motional campaign, 27 students of the third grade of the mechanical branch have enrolled in the foundry-metallurgy course. This will greatly increase employment opportunities for these students living in Elbasan and its surrounding areas. AlbChrome is providing free transport service for students coming from El-basan’s vicinity. “I see great interest shown by the stu-dents and that motivates me a lot,” says Teacher Viron Greco, a metallurgy engineer by profession.

In addition to theory classes, students will prac-tice their newly-acquired knowledge at the foundry

unit of the Metallurgy Plant of Elbasan. Students will work under the close supervision of skilled engi-neers so that they are fully trained and qualified for the job. The foundry-met-allurgy students will have special uniforms. Qualified teachers, with salaries paid by AlbChrome on this am-bitious project, will teach this class and supervise the internship program at the ferrochrome plant.

Those who demonstrate skills, qualities, and moti-vation will have the oppor-tunity to secure employ-ment in the foundry unit managed by AlbChrome. Other students who shoot for leadership profiles and wish to pursue university studies in Tirana will have the opportunity to secure scholarships from the company.

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addition to making sure communities receive benefits that exceed costs in land development, municipalities also guarantee that economic development is proportionately spread across the territory.

In the absence of previous experiences in Albania, PLGP experts built a model for feasibility assessments for LDPs that was implemented in cooperation with partner municipalities of Elbasan, Fier, and Tirana. In the case of Fier, a range of options were explored and financially assessed for enabling the development of a sports center as part of a wider riverfront regeneration plan. The Municipality of Elbasan is aiming to develop a multi-modal terminal. Their feasibility study provided short and long-term development solutions, while facilitating the municipality’s decision-making and communication with citizens regarding this future public investment. The Municipality of Tirana plans to complete one of the city’s interior ring roads, while reducing (at least) expropriation costs and (in the best scenario) capturing a portion of the increased value of land. The LDP’s feasibility study has proposed various options to reach the most optimal and feasible result for all stakeholders, including the community at large.

These are three complex studies that connect

strategic public projects with urban redevelopment and private investment. Such studies offer comprehensive solutions to the municipalities, as well as greater transparency in communication with the community, landowners and private developers. However, there are also simpler cases of LDPs where such studies are not always necessary. Regardless of whether financial calculations are needed or not, two key aspects should always be considered in order to facilitate the development process: land ownership and local capacities. The latter reminds us of the necessity to address land development and local economic development as two closely interlinked processes where new job opportunities and a better business climate are created. PLGP’s roundtables on LDP approaches and practices have consistently emphasised how land development leads to economic development along with providing hands-on knowledge for capacity-building of municipal functions in handling this resulting economic influx. As a result of the cooperation with the National Territory Planning Agency, these roundtables have benefited not only PLGP partner municipalities, but all 61 municipalities in Albania.

LOCAL DETAILED PLANNING:From design to development opportunities

Territorial planning has evolved in Albania in

recent years to make a qualitative leap forward towards integrated spatial development. Planning is now seen as a valuable tool and process enabling sustainable development.

An important change in legislation was the shift from plot-based to area-based planning and development, which addresses the inclusion of various public and private interests in efficient and fair land development. Area-based planning and development guarantees that principles of equity, proportionality, and inclusivity are respected throughout the process. Together with efforts and initiatives for drafting comprehensive territorial plans, the area-based development approach is a step towards institutionalizing a new planning and development culture in Albania. PLGP has provided a direct contribution in this regard through assisting 5 partner municipalities in the preparation of their General Local Territorial Plans (GLTPs), preparing toolkits for planning and development, and through training and coaching at the municipal level. In cooperation with the government of Albania, PLGP has also extended

its knowledge and work-model to other planning and development initiatives in Albania. Nevertheless, the challenge for planning in Albanian lies in its implementation, with local detailed plans (LDPs) as one of the key instruments to implement the area-based development approach. LDPs are applied at smaller territorial scales, for urban (neighbourhood) redevelopment and/or community planning. Efforts are currently being made to bring LDPs from a fairly narrow perspective of use and distribution of socio-economic activities in space to instruments that offer a large potential in promoting local economic development and facilitate access to financial sources for public infrastructure and interests.

For access to funding, LDPs should incorporate financial calculations and feasibility assessments that are open and transparent to the public at large. While private developers and/or landowners carry out such assessments, municipalities, as representatives of public interests and guarantors of community benefits, should also be involved in assessing financial opportunities. In

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The First Bulqiza Council Meeting

The launch and the first official meeting of the Local Council for Public Safety of the Municipality of Bulqiza occurred on September 12th. Chaired by the Mayor, the meeting was attended by 11 senior local stakeholders including prefecture, state and municipal police, education department, hospital, social services, environment and forestry, youth board coordinator, and civil society representatives. The USAID Planning and Local Government Project (PLGP) supported drafting of the internal regulations which were adopted and endorsed by the Council. During the meeting, the Head of Bulqiza Police and the Director of the Education Department provided an update on safety and security in Bulqiza and the measures being taken for safer schools. The participants in the meeting provided feedback and the meeting generated lively discussions.

Role of Youth as Promoters of Change

The active role of youth, and more specifically of the Bulqiza Youth Group Coordinator, Fatri Puca, was impressive in the first meeting of the local safety council. A representative of the selected group of the high school students, Fatri raised some concerns related to road safety and drug consumption by youth.

This young man’s demands and concerns were straightforward and well-

articulated, as he spoke from his heart. Of the various voices in the council, Fatri’s dominated and made the officials take note. Indeed, the head of the Police invited him and his peers to visit the police station and assured him that the Police will place more efforts to address the concerns of the youth.

“It is unacceptable! The police are not reacting to prevent people driving their cars like crazy in our town posing risk to the life of the people. Police patrols should be present whenever and wherever the community needs are, including schools where drug dealers operate undisturbed,” – was Fatri’s appeal to local stakeholders in this meeting of Security Council of Bulqiza.

Empowering youth and training them on a variety of topics is one of the main goals of PLGP. In July, the members of the Youth Board of Bulqiza were trained on advocacy and lobbing as tools to build the capacities of the youth in bringing positive models of participation through advocacy. During this specific training, young men and women acquired new skills and discussed some of their own successful experiences advocating in their community. These newfound abilities empower youth to speak up and voice their problems and concerns. To them it is more important to be heard, not simply in a safety council meeting, but also in all forums where they can be part of the decision-making process.

The importance of Local Safety Councils and the role of youth as promoters of change By Robert Korkuti

Confronted by the need for better coordination

between state, non-state, and civil society actors, several municipalities established and formalized Local Councils for Public Safety. This initiative was triggered by a directive of Agency for Support to Local Self-Government in the framework of territorial reform and implementation of the Law on Local Self-Government. But beyond strategic and legal provi-sions, there is also a benefit to communities from this strengthened cooperation and interaction to address security issues, including those of radicalization and violent extremism.

Usefulness of the local safety councils in addressing and improving local security parameters prompted the Municipality of Bulqiza to seek USAID support to establish a council and assist with its functioning.

What Is A Local Safety Council?

Headed by the mayor, a local safety council is comprised of local stakeholders representing state and municipal police, social services, education, health services, forestry and environment, prefecture, civil society, religious communities, the business community, local media, volunteer groups, and other relevant local organizations. The council operates upon a regulation approved by its members, outlining the purpose and structure, as well as the modalities of

management, secretariat, cooperation, and reporting. The regulation also provides the establishment of special (ad hoc) groups as per specific local concerns. Decisions taken at the council are submitted in the form of recommendations to the responsible local institutions, which in turn report on the activities carried out to address local public security issues.

Unlike other existing local referral mechanisms that are limited in terms of the organization and functioning of the system, the local security council’s scope is unlimited vis-a-vis the topics they cover and the issues they address.

In the absence of a dedicated mechanism on radicalism and violent extremism, the security council is the appropriate forum to handle many local issues that cannot be addressed in the existing referral mechanisms. They address push factors in radicalization and violent extremism, such as exclusion, inequality, discrimination, denial of civil rights and freedoms and pull factors, including the existence of local extremist groups, narratives, and distorted preaching of religious leaders. What is specifically important is the fact that the local security council facilitates communication and cooperation between the two key local security actors: the mayor and the head of police commissariat.

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Bulqiza is a town in northeastern Albania.

Like a considerable number of small municipalities, this town “suffers” from scarce activism and lack of civil society organizations.

Youth activism is undoubt-edly one of the challenges –my greatest personal challenge, indeed– that made me return to my hometown, Bulqiza.

Whenever the municipality conducted activities, such as training, informative brief-ings, etc. with the youth, we could plainly see the pes-simism and lack of trust on the part of many people in what we undertook. Initially youth initiatives did not ensure continuity, and this called for an effective and sustainable organization.

This was the very reason that triggered the creation of the Bulqiza Youth Board. A sustainable structure to revitalize community life, this Board was the first serious initiative under-taken by the young men and women of Bulqiza. The USAID Planning and Local

Governance Project (PLGP) became the main sup-porter and partner of the youth board in their efforts to activate youth and have this organization officially recognized by the Munici-pality of Bulqiza.

I work for the Municipal-ity, and I see increasing youth activism as a neces-sity for my town. This is where PLGP contribution has proven invaluable; Its experts have followed up on every Youth Board activity. This work is worthy of much appreciation and gratitude.

In cooperation with the municipality and Arberia High School, the Bulqiza Youth Board so far has conducted many training activities with the assis-tance of PLGP experts. The Board is now officially recognized as a partner through a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the mayor and the board leader. Other activities per-formed by the board seek to enhance youth involve-ment and engagement in local decision-making and community life.

BULQIZA YOUTH BOARDA mechanism to revitalize community life in Bulqiza By Edison Balla

We are sure this estab-lished practice will contin-ue in the years to come in our town. With PLGP sup-port we have succeeded in creating an organization that will be sustainable as new youth join, and given the increasing interest, will continue to contribute to a better life in Bulqiza.

I have always held the opinion that investment in youth is the greatest venture a country, organi-

zation, or institution can make. It is so rewarding to give youth the oppor-tunity to contribute. The case of Bulqiza shows that energetic and enthusiastic youth can make a change with the proper mecha-nisms and tools in place. We are here to support them, and I am convinced that we can still do better. There is more work to be done, and we are prepared to welcome any challenge.

Head of the European Integration and Foreign Assistance Unit of the Municipality of Bulqiza, Edison Balla also supports the Media Office. One of the original initiators of Bulqiza Youth Board, Balla has been a civil society activist in the last few years. Photo: Erald Lamja for USAID

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DISCLAIMER

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government.

Do you want to know more about our activities? Visit USAID’s Planning and Local Governance Project web page www.plgp.al to learn more about project activities, events, publications and media outreach.

USAID’s Planning and Local Governance Project (PLGP) collaborates with local stakeholders to bring joy to children with special needs in Bulqiza.

On the verge of the New Year, PLGP in collaboration with Municipality of Bulqiza and private businesses (Balfin Group - Jumbo Chain) supported the Bulqiza Youth Board initiative to provide Christmas gifts to children at the Bulqiza Center for Children in Need. This initiative brought a bit of joy to 33 children with disabilities from low-income families; and supported Municipal efforts to better respond to local families in need.

USAID/Albania has an active FACEBOOK page. Like us to follow our work and stories from the 15 communities as well as information from other USAID projects around the country. Go to: www.facebook.com/Albania.USAID for more.

EDITORIAL BOARD:

Kevin McLaughlin • Editor-in-chiefDurim Tabaku • Editing and translation Sarah Keese • English proofreader Erald Lamja • Art design and photography

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