State Secretary at the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Maja Mačužić Puzić, spoke today, on behalf of Minister Aleksandar Martinović, PhD, at the solemn ceremony organized by the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (SCTM) on the occasion of the signing of a Cooperation Agreements with 12 local self-governments within the project “Improving the Application of the Principles of Good Governance in Local Self-Governments”.
Congratulating the selected municipalities in which specialized support packages will be implemented to improve the application of the principles of good governance, Mačužić Puzić has pointed out that MDULS recognizes the importance of this project, because the application of these principles simultaneously improves the quality of life of the residents.
“Our role is to support, strengthen and facilitate the application of the principles of good governance at the local level, and given that cities and municipalities are the closest place for exercising the rights and interests of citizens, it is important to ensure that the services provided by local self-governments are efficient and effective, and decision-making processes are transparent, responsible and, most importantly, that they involve citizens,” the State Secretary has stressed.
She has recalled that the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government and the Government of the Republic of Serbia have been allocating funds from the Support Programme for the Development and Functioning of the Local Self-Government System for many years, and that they also provide financial rewards to cities and municipalities that have stood out as the best examples in the areas of good governance. As she has said, the winners in each of the four areas of good governance shall also receive ICT equipment, provided by SCTM from the funds of the “Partnership for Good Governance” programme, which is supported by the Swiss Government.
“I expect that, in this way, we will encourage local self-governments to be even more prominent in carrying out tasks and providing high-quality, simple and fast services to end users, because good governance is key to improving the quality of life of citizens. Today’s signing of the Cooperation Agreements represents one of the key stages in the realization of our common vision – which is a modern, professional, efficient and responsible local self-government, that is, an administration tailored to all of us,” Mačužić Puzić has said.
At today’s event, which was organized by SCTM with the support of the Swiss Government through the “PRO – Local Governance for People and Nature” Programme, the Regional Governance Advisor at the Embassy of Switzerland, Melina Papageorgiou, Programme Officer for Good Governance on the “PRO – Local Governance for People and Nature” Programme, Maida Jusufović, and Secretary General at SCTM Nikola Tarbuk, have also made their addresses.
In the continuation of the ceremony, support packages for the application of the principles of good governance in local self-governments were presented, while Cooperation Agreements were signed with the Municipalities of Mionica, Kuršumlija, Vrnjačka Banja, Bogatić, Veliko Gradište, Kosjerić, Vrbas, Ćuprija, Temerin, Arilje, Boljevac, as well as with CM Pantelej-Niš.
Photo gallery – source: MDULS and SCTM
