At the event, representatives of 32 local governments from Šumadija, west, east and south Serbia were awarded certificates for successfully attending the good governance training and training of trainers, organised in the previous two years under the Swiss PRO Programme supported by the Government of Switzerland in cooperation with the Government of Serbia.
"Through the training process delivered by the Swiss PRO Programme, an effective tool has been provided for the implementation of good governance principles. We have high expectations of our colleagues in local self-government, and the support they receive in order to acquire new skills and knowledge is very important", said Mila Stanković, Head Of Department for Projects at the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government’s Sector for International Cooperation and EU Integration.
The Government of Switzerland has been committed to humanitarian and development cooperation with Serbia for 30 years, and a good part of that support concerns local self-governments, said Petar Vasilev, National Programme Officer, Swiss Cooperation Office.
"The promotion of good governance aims to improve the quality of services at the local level, and thus the quality of life of the citizens. It is the core of professionals that you create who contribute to disseminating knowledge about the good governance principle and thus to the development of local communities. We are working on continuing to support you in the future," Vasilev said.
Dejan Miletić, National Academy of Public Administration Acting Director, pointed out that improving the performance of the public administration is a shared goal, and that strengthening the capacity of civil servants is a key step on that path.
Through two cycles of trainings in which 55 cities and municipalities have participated so far, the Swiss PRO Programme has established a network of professionals dealing with the topic of good governance. Ana Nedeljković Belja, Swiss PRO National Programme Manager, highlighted the importance of the further transfer of the knowledge acquired, within the local self-governments and among colleagues from the public administration, to which the training of trainers we have organised has also contributed.
More information on the impact of training is presented in this short video.
The training is implemented within the program "Enhancing Good Governance and Social Inclusion for Municipal Development - Swiss PRO", which the Swiss Government is supporting with 6.6 million euros for the period 2018-2022.
