Newsroom
OSCE Mission to Skopje concludes project strengthening neighborhood self-government unit
SKOPJE 19 October 2006
SKOPJE, 19 October 2006 - Strengthening local authority bodies known as neighborhood self-government units was the purpose of a series of meetings that ended in Skopje today.
Participants at the event, which was the last of five such meetings organized with the help of the OSCE Mission to Skopje, discussed the units' legal status, effective communication, financial sustainability and co-operation with municipalities.
"The meetings followed an in-depth study on neighborhood self-government, and are designed to help strengthen the units and raise awareness of their potential," said Philipp Stiel, Head of Public Administration Reform Unit within the OSCE Mission.
"The OSCE Mission has daily contacts with the units and offers them practical assistance. It also analyzes the institutional aspect of these bodies"
The local non-governmental organization Permaculture and Peacebuilding Centre carried out the research preceding the meetings.
"In the past, neighbourhood self-government units have played an important role in ensuring direct citizen participation in the decision-making processes at local level," said Pajtim Saiti, the Centre's Executive Director. "They can assume the same function even today or tomorrow."
Participants at the event, which was the last of five such meetings organized with the help of the OSCE Mission to Skopje, discussed the units' legal status, effective communication, financial sustainability and co-operation with municipalities.
"The meetings followed an in-depth study on neighborhood self-government, and are designed to help strengthen the units and raise awareness of their potential," said Philipp Stiel, Head of Public Administration Reform Unit within the OSCE Mission.
"The OSCE Mission has daily contacts with the units and offers them practical assistance. It also analyzes the institutional aspect of these bodies"
The local non-governmental organization Permaculture and Peacebuilding Centre carried out the research preceding the meetings.
"In the past, neighbourhood self-government units have played an important role in ensuring direct citizen participation in the decision-making processes at local level," said Pajtim Saiti, the Centre's Executive Director. "They can assume the same function even today or tomorrow."