Technical Assistance to Local

The implemented and foreseen training activities were presented at the NTC meeting held on 31 March. The NTC gave overall support to the presented work plan. A comprehensive report on the TA training activities will be drafted and presented at the next meeting of the NTC. The training curricula will be submitted for adoption to this body at the end of the project implementation, after the testing phase. In both cases the activities to be implemented were discussed and the procedures for the procurement of services were presented. The discussions were very fruitful and participants had an opportunity to hear other ideas and improve their knowledge.

Preparatory Seminar for new applicants was organised on 26 May in Podgorica. The participants were introduced in more details in the new form of the application form and in the procurement procedure according to PRAG. They were also advised on further development of their respective project ideas.
The representatives of 7 out of 8b eligible municipalities participated at the event, as well as the project teams of 2 already awarded municipalities who needed additional training.

The Info day was organised on 13 April in the DEU premises in Podgorica, with presence of the DEU, Ministry of Interior, UoM and TA Team as well as of potential applicants. In total, 21 people participated at the event, among which were representatives of 7 out of 8 municipalities. 

On that occasion, the applicants got introduced to the new guidelines and novelties of the new Call for Proposals comparing to the previous one.

 

A workshop on local strategic planning was organised on 20 May in Podgorica by the Ministry of Economy, in cooperation with the UoM and TA Team. This workshop was held after the adoption of the Law on Regional Development and elaboration of the first draft methodology on strategic planning.
The participants welcomed the methodology and gave important inputs for its final development. In total 25 participants attended the workshop, comprising representatives of 14 municipalities.

The additional 2,5 days of training on PCM and project formulation for ToT participants was organised on 10-12 February in Danilovgrad in RESPA premises. In total, 21 people participated at the training, out of which 13 women and 8 men. Ten new participants joined the group of potential trainers: 1 municipal staff, 3 representatives of OSCE (1 OSCE staff and 2 representatives of NGOs of Cetinje and Ulcinj supported by OSCE), as well as 6 staff of the Ministry of Economy – Regional Development Department.
At this training, the ToT participants had the occasion to get the overall view on PCM. The trainers went through exercises on identification of investment projects, and gave suggestions for the improvement of the applications that were not awarded a grant in the first CfP.
As a result, the participants created 8 teams that would support development of applications for the second CfP. HRMA provided valuable support to the organisation of this event.

In the period of 31 January to 7 of February, Mr. Pierre-Yves Bellot - DEU Task Manger, visited the municipalities whose project proposals were rejected in the first CfP. While Mr. Bellot presented to mayors and his staff the assessment and advice on their project proposals, the TA Team presented the recommendations on the improvement of the work of the municipal project team. 

The visits should motivate mayors to participate in the second CfP, as well as to make them understanding the evaluation process of the submitted application forms.

On Wednesday, 02/16/2011, local government of Danilvograd has organized a launching presentation of the project ''Improving waste management in Danilovgrad municipality''. Total value of the project activities that will be implemented in the next 18 months amounted to 1,019,345.18 euros, out of which the contribution of the European Union is 682,961.27 euros, the Montenegrin government will contribute with 203,869 euro, while the municipality Danilovgrad gives 122,321.42 euros and the municipal Public Utility - 10,193.45 euros.

The project aims at establishing a functional system for selective waste collection and disposal.

The presentation was led by Maja Matunovic, chef of the Mayor's cabinet and member of the project team. In his opening address, the Mayor Brano Djuranovic pointed out that precisely these successful projects are evidence of the capacity of local government, with young and educated people cooperating with experienced older colleagues and thus providing significant resources for implementation of strategic Municipal projects.

- In addition to obtaining utility vehicles, the very important compoennt of this project are the activities on increasing awareness of citizens about the importance of selective waste disposal, which will enable citizens to live in a healthy environment. Also, other local governments in Montenegro may learn from Danilovgrad and using their experience, solve this problem in the future in their communities - said in his speech Nicola Bertolini, Head of Operations of the EU Delegation to Montenegro.

Darko Mrvaljevic, Project Manager, explained in his presentation the objectives, activities and results to be achieved by the project. The project will strengthen technical and management capacity of municipal public utility company in selective waste collection and disposal, improve community infrastructure, increase awareness of citizens and businesses on the selective collection of waste and implement a system of selective waste collection and disposal in the municipality of Danilovgrad. 6 utility vehicles will be purchased, as well as 70 containers, 80 cans and 3,000 plastic bags. The Info Center will also be established, where citizens will be able to register their communal problem. Finally, 26 locations for waste disposal will be identified, Memorandums of Understanding with local businessmen and local communities will be signed, educational and promotional billboards will be printed and 5000 brochures distributed. In addition, 22 workshops are scheduled for students as well as two public actions of city cleaning. At the end of the presentation, the Project manager thanked the partners and friends of the project: the EU Delegation in Montenegro, the Public Utility company, the Government of Montenegro, the Team of technical assistance and the Union of Municipalities. 
  

The basic training for new members of project teams of all municipalities in Montenegro was held on 28-29 January in Podgorica. The training topics were project cycle management and preparation of projects in line with EU rules. Participants had the opportunity to learn the basics of the project cycle, logical framework approach, the principles of filling out application forms and project budget. As a result of the training, the participants developed several logical framework matrixes that will serve them as good practices for preparation of their future projects. Participants were motivated to prepare applications for available EU funds, in particular cross-border cooperation programmes, in order to gain the necessary experience in preparation and management of projects financed by the European Union.

The training was attended by 34 representatives from 16 municipalities, including the four municipalities that do not participate in EU Municipal Development Grant Scheme (Podgorica, Tivat, Bar, Herceg Novi). Besides employees of municipal administrations, the employees of public utilities participated at the training.

Seven projects were selected for financing under the EU Municipal Development Grant Scheme, out of 17 submitted in the first Call for Proposals. The following municipalities were awarded: Andrijevica, Berane, Bijelo Polje, Danilovgrad, Pljevlja, Plužine and Savnik.

The total value of the approved projects is 5.3 million euros, out of which 3.8 million is prvided by the European Union from IPA 2008 and IPA 2010 funds, while the rest will be contributed by the Government of Montenegro, the municipalities and their project partners.

The Project Team of the Technical Assistance to Local Self-Government Reform will continue to support municipalities in implementing their projects.

The press conference on the occasion of the signing of the contracts was held on 7th December 2010. The speakers were Mr. Leopold Maurer, Ambassador of the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro, Mr. Ivan Brajovic, Minister of Internal Affairs and Public Administration and Mr. Veselin Bakic, president of the Assembly of the Union of Municipalities and Mayor Andrijevica. With the media presence, the contracts were signed by the Ambassador Leopold Maurer on behalf of the EU Delegation, and the mayors of seven municipalities.

Implementation of the awarded projects will start on 1st February.

The approved projects are:

Project Title	Municipality
Reconstruction of the road Zabrdje-Gradisnica	Andrijevica
Improvement of Rescue and Protection Service Center in Berane	Berane
Establishing a functional parking infrastructure in Bijelo Polje	Bijelo Polje
Improvement of waste management in Danilovgrad municipality	Danilovgrad
Modernizing Urban Parking Infrastructure in Pljevlja Municipality	Pljevlja
Reconstruction of one part of the local road Crkvicko Polje - Nikovici	Plužine
Construction and technical equipping of the Protection and Rescue Service of Savnik municipality	Šavnik