Third objective

Based on experiences with good practices of local governance which arise during the implementation of MDP in different fields of municipal work (e.g. transparent budgeting criteria for the public, introduction of team work in a municipal department, establishment of a municipal post for contacts with and consultancy for NGOs and MZ etc.) the knowledge transfer between the partner municipalities is facilitated. A specific source for the exchange and dissemination of good examples are the best practice competitions which are supported by MDP. In order to improve the mutual understanding between municipalities on local governance examples MDP supports in general (in whole BiH) the introduction of the Common Assessment Framework model which provides a common platform for the analyses of municipal mangement problems.

A further channel for the exchange and dissemination of practice examples are the strategic Intermunicipal Advisory Group (IMAG) and the manyfold intermunicipal operational working groups in different MDP activity fields (like PR, HRM, strategy making). In BiH MDP addresses the Associations of Towns and Municipalities and the Forum of Mayors (and others) for a broader exchange of good local governance issues.

A specefic focus concerns the identification of problematic experiences at the local level which are caused by dysfunctional higher level legal or institutional regulations. Such issues arise from ongoing MDP activities concerning the municipal managment (see objective 1) and the citizens’ participation (see objective 2). To give an example: It is very relevant for the municipalities to have more rights in exercising an appropriate control on local (territorial, financial etc.) resources with regard to the implementation of municipal development strategies (like Local Economic Development plans). Yet these rights are still quite restricted by higher level legislations. Such issues are the object for a policy dialogue between the MDP partner municipalities and higher level entity and state officials in order to adapt policies and laws in favor of solutions which fit the municipal needs. With regard to this policy dialogue the cooperation with the Associations of Towns and Municipalities and the Forum of Mayors (and others).

A most relevant policy dialogue partner for MDP is the group of mayors and experts (with the project lead at Enterprise Development Agency in Banja Luka) which elaborates and promotes the “Development strategy of good local governance in BiH by key domestic players”. One of the key results of this project shall be a reformagenda adressing the legal and institutional framework for good local governance in BiH (LINK to the report in the magazine). This includes proposals to overcome countrywide obstacles against civil society’s direct participation at local decision making.

For all MDP activities the coordination and cooperation with other local governance programmes of international organisations (actual programmes like GAP by USAID and SIDA, UGOVOR by OSCE, RMAP by UNDP, PLUD by FAO) is undertaken in order to use synergies, harmonize activities and avoid overlappings.