DEMOS Project supports Kosova in its process of transition towards a democratic and decentralized state in which municipalities exercise inclusive social governance and provide effective services by the needs and priorities of citizens.
During the ceremony, DEMOS signed a memorandum of understanding with each of its 17 partner municipalities, and awarded grants to the municipalities for 2015, based on their performance.
A total of 806,500 Euros will be available for municipal projects in 2015. Municipalities will use these grants for works, supplies or services in areas such as waste management, public spaces, municipal traffic, financial management and local democracy.
The amount of grant for each municipal partner depends on their performance (and related to the number of population). Municipal performance is evaluated on the basis of official data from the Ministry of Local Government, Ministry of Finance and the Auditor General, in the following areas:
Financial Management – implementation of recommendations of the auditor general and the collection of property tax;
Local Democracy – reports of municipal mayors in assembly meetings and publication of acts of municipal assemblies;
Public Services – the coverage and quality of municipal services in the field of waste management, public spaces and municipal traffic.
DEMOS grant systems encourages municipalities to improve their performance: the higher the municipal performance is, the higher the annual grant will be.
Besides grants, DEMOS will also provide technical assistance to the municipal partnerships during the next 3.5 years in:
Improving public service delivery in the field of public spaces, municipal traffic and waste management;
Improving financial management and transparency;
Improving the democratization of local government and citizen participation in decision making;
Improvement and harmonization of policies for local government;
The total financial volume of Demos’s is 8,650,000 Euros.
Besides the 17 municipalities (covering approximately 40% of Kosova’s population), DEMOS’s partners are also the Ministry of Administration of Local Government, Ministry of Finance and other line ministries and the Association of Kosova Municipalities.
15 of 17 partner municipalities have met the eligibility criteria for the grant to benefit for 2015 year. Results (scale from 1-6) and the amount of grant per municipality is as follows:
| Municipality | Performance Result | Grant Amount for Year 2015, in Euros |
|
Gjakovë
|
1.86
|
110,000 |
|
Graçanicë
|
2.22 | 33,000 |
| Hani i Elezit
|
1.92 | 33,000 |
| Junik
|
2.28
|
33,000 |
| Kaçanik
|
1.86 | 44,000 |
| Kamenicë
|
0.94 | 40,000 |
| Kllokot Vërbovc
|
2.06 | 22,000 |
| Lipjan
|
0.64 | 45,000 |
| Novobërdë
|
1.28 | 30,000 |
| Pejë
|
1.94 | 110,000 |
| Prishtinë
|
2.25 | 264,000 |
| Rahovec
|
1.11 | 45,000 |
| Ranillug
|
2.25 | 22,000 |
| Shtime
|
3.08 | 48,000 |
|
Viti
|
1.61
|
49,500
|
Today, the Ministry of Local Government and the Swiss Cooperation Office in Kosova held the launching ceremony of the project marking the beginning of the Project for Decentralization and Support the Municipalities (DEMOS), funded by the Swiss Development Agency (SDC) and implemented by Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation in Kosova.
