On 16/3/2023 the joint Steering Committee of the Programme “EU for Municipalities” came together in Skopje to review and discuss the progress made by eight grant projects awarded to municipalities in North Macedonia for the improvement in delivery of local government services through innovative concepts. The meeting was chaired by the Minister for Local Self-Government, Risto Penov, and co-chaired by the Secretariat for European Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia.
As lead partner of the Technical Assistance to the “EU for Municipalities” Programme, B&S Europe prepared the Steering Committee and presented the status of implementation of all projects based on the permanent monitoring that the TA performs for the EU Delegation. The monitoring revealed showed different stages of implementation, with some projects very advanced, already planning the next phase of the project, while other are yet to fully start with the core work packages.
The Committee looked at the challenges and the ways to support all projects in advancing towards and achieving the expected results. The Ministry and EU Delegation stressed the importance of the projects, as well as their support and encouragements towards the work done so far and that coming up in the next period. The Programme counts on the crucial assistance of a helpdesk provided by the TA for all grantees, attending questions and aiming at building the capacity needed for municipalities to face challenges.
The participants also discussed about synergy with other donor-funded projects, cooperation proposals, offering guidance based on previous project results.
The EU-funded Technical Assistance to the “EU for Municipalities” is implemented by B&S Europe with Consortium partners Evoluxer, ALDA, and the municipalities of Silla and Quart de Poblet, for a period of 36 months. The overall objective is to contribute to local economic and social development of municipalities of the Republic of North Macedonia, by introducing innovation in their policy development, planning, governance and service delivery capacity.
