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Milevski: The local self-government functions successfully only with the involvement of the citizens

The Ministry of Local Self-Government it implements the Government Program in the area of ​​local self-government and balanced regional development. Both policies have a huge impact on the quality of life of all citizens, said Minister Goran Milevski at today's annual conference "Decentralization 2.0: Effective mechanisms for citizen participation within the project" Effective mechanism for citizen participation "held in Stip organized by Local Community Development Foundation with support from the USAID Civic Participation Project.

- During the creation of the two key documents, the new Strategy for Regional Development which is in the Parliamentary procedure and the new Program for Sustainable Local Development and Decentralization which is part of the Government procedure, the ministry organized a broad consultative process. The documents were prepared with the participation of representatives of all relevant institutions and the civil sector, he explained.

According to Milevski, the new Program encourages the government's commitment to continue the decentralization process, strengthen the financial stability and independence of municipalities, access of all citizens to better public services, as well as improving transparency and accountability at the local level.

- All these efforts can not be realized without active involvement of citizens in the processes of creating local policies and decision-making. The expertise of the civil society sector is also of great help, through such projects supported by the donor community, specifically by USAID. The citizens have their representatives in the Municipal Councils, but it is necessary to provide mechanisms that will enable direct involvement of the citizens in the creation of local services, in the planning of the municipal budget, in urban planning, in youth policies and for all others. Important issues. Local self-government as a form of government in its essence exists only for the sake of the citizens and can function successfully only with their direct involvement, in an institutional and transparent way, added Milevski.

Finally, he pointed out that the Law on Local Self-Government envisages consultative bodies such as commissions for inter-community relations, consumer councils, but the assessment of the implementation of the Law on Local Self-Government made by the Ministry showed that they are not sufficiently functional. Now, with the new Program for Sustainable Local Development and Decentralization, in cooperation with the local authorities and the civil sector, we have an obligation to change things and create sustainable mechanisms. Constant cooperation and synergy of the public sector with the civil and business sector is needed.