Over 200 local government officers and social welfare centre staff are nearing completion of a comprehensive training program delivered by Coffey within the framework of the two-year project.
Responsibility for the provision of social services and social assistance benefits was devolved from Kosovo’s central government to the local level as a result of national legislation passed in 2005 and 2008, but decentralisation is an on-going process. Financial as well as administrative, decentralisation involves significant changes to the budget mechanism for social service delivery.
The project has developed a number of planning tools to assist municipalities to take on these new responsibilities and, through the training program, is transferring the tools and the skills required to use them to public servants throughout the country.
As a result, municipalities will be better able to identify real need, allocate adequate financial resources to address this need and plan the provision of social services to use resources more efficiently. This will improve the quality of life for the estimated 40% of Kosovo’s population who currently live below the poverty line. The training will conclude in September, prior to project completion in October.
Photo courtesy of Radio Nederland Wereldomroep.
