EU PROGRES

Twenty representatives of eight South West Serbian municipalities involved in the implementation of the European Partnership with Municipalities Programme EU PROGRES attended a three-day workshop “Relationship Between the Local Self Government Units and Government Administration Authorities“. This was the first of the three events devoted to the vertical dimension of good governance, held with the support of the European Union and the Government of Switzerland with the aim of collecting information on obstacles to improving the efficiency and the effectiveness of the functioning of the cities and municipalities and preparing recommendations on how to advance their work.

With the “Your Money, Our Responsibility” street activity, around 200 citizens of Novi Pazar demonstrated what they felt were priority fields for 2013 city budget funding. The citizens’ survey was a part of the good governance campaign “I want… because I live here” funded by the European Union and the Government of Switzerland through the European Partnership with Municipalities Programme - EU PROGRES, implemented in 25 municipalities in South and South West Serbia.

The documentary film “I Want to… because I Live Here” was made within the good governance campaign, which the European Union and the Government of Switzerland have been funding through the European Partnership with Municipalities Programme EU PROGRES. The five-episode documentary illustrates the application of the good governance principles with reports on projects launched in Leskovac, Vranje, Raška, Novi Pazar and Sjenica. The film will be broadcast on more than 20 local TV stations across Serbia in the next few weeks to raise awareness of compliance with the principles of accountability, transparency, civic participation, efficiency and equality also among the residents of municipalities not participating in the Programme.

The new offices of the Albanian National Minority Council were officially opened today in the so called ‘Committee Building’ in Bujanovac. Thereby resolving the issue of inadequate and temporary offices the Council has used since its establishment in June 2010. The Municipality of Bujanovac ceded the new National Council offices, while all the refurbishment was funded with the Council’s own funds. European Union and the Government of Switzerland furnished the offices with office furniture, computers and other equipment to the amount of € 10,000 through the European Partnership with Municipalities Programme – EU PROGRES.