The Swiss PRO programme has held an event today in Belgrade titled “Drivers of Change”, on the occasion of the conclusion of the four-year programme “Support of the Swiss Government to the development of municipalities through the improvement of good governance and social inclusion – Swiss PRO”, which was carried out by the UNOPS Office in Serbia in partnership with SCTM, with the support of the Government of Switzerland and the Government of the Republic of Serbia.
On this occasion, Minister Marija Obradović has stated in a video message that the support of the Government of Switzerland through the Swiss PRO programme is extremely significant, as it had essentially contributed to the efforts of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government to make public administration a modern service for both the citizens and the economy.
MDULS is a long-standing partner of UNOPS in Serbia, and is the main partner of Swiss PRO in the field of good governance, especially at the local level. In the past 12 years, MDULS had, through various UNOPS programmes, provided strong support to the efforts to improve the accountability and the rule of law, transparency, citizen participation in the processes of developing and adopting local public policies and decision-making, in the fight against discrimination and improving the implementation of policies and regulations with regard to equality before the law, as well as to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the work of local self-governments.
The representative of MDULS, Aleksandar Lovčanski, has expressed his gratitude to the Government of Switzerland and partners from Swiss PRO for implementing an approach that is relevant to the context of Serbia, thus providing an effective tool for improving good governance at the local level, which can be shared and replicated. He has added that MDULS has been awarding the Annual Award for the best practices of local self-governments in regards to the application of the principles of good governance for four years in a row, which was established in cooperation with SCTM and with the support of the Swiss PRO programme.
The “Drivers of Change” event is a summary of the results achieved under the Swiss PRO programme in the previous four years, at which the representatives of 99 local self-governments were awarded plaques for their contribution to the improvement of good governance, social inclusion and gender equality at the local level.