“Local Self-government Units are a key link in providing services to citizens and the economy. Citizens’ satisfaction with the quality of services provided by city and municipal administrations is growing annually, while the mechanisms for greater participation of citizens in creating public policies at the local level have been improved,” the State Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Maja Mačužić Puzić, has said at today’s online event marking the conclusion of the USAID’s “Government Accountability Initiative”.
She has added that MDULS is committed to strengthening government accountability, good governance and transparency, the values supported by this Initiative, and that the Ministry is the greatest ally of cities and municipalities. “The fact that the Government of the Republic of Serbia has increased the budget of the Ministry for the implementation of several strategically important projects at the local level in this year also speaks in favour of the commitment to improve the partnership with Local Self-government Units,” the State Secretary has stressed.
Speaking about the fight against corruption, Mačužić Puzić has pointed out the important role of cities and municipalities in this fight, and expressed her satisfaction with the fact that local self-governments have identified and eliminated possible irregularities in their work through the aforementioned Initiative.
As she has stated, the Republic of Serbia has raised cooperation with civil society to a higher level, thanks to the eConsultations Portal, which was launched in December last year. Mačužić Puzić has explained that citizens can gain insight into all regulations and public policy documents in one place via this platform, from the very beginning of the process of their drafting.
“The joint effort we are investing is the only way to reform the administration into a more professional, modern, faster and more efficient service for citizens and the economy. The Initiative is a good example that improving the quality of life at the local level, through strengthening the capacities of Local Self-government Units, remains high on the list of MDULS priorities,” the State Secretary Mačužić Puzić has concluded.