Decentralization brings Kosovo government closer to people
(Lubomir Kotek/OSCE)Ambassador Pascal Fieschi (left), OSCE
Head of Mission, meets local political leaders in Prizren, southern Kosovo. (Lubomir Kotek/OSCE) Photo details
PRISTINA, 16 December 2002 - Ambassador Pascal Fieschi, Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, today opened a forum in Pristina with the aim of bringing local government closer to the people of the province.
The OSCE is responsible for organizing the local elections held in October this year, as well as for the building of democratic structures in the province under its mandate from the United Nations.
"Decentralization has been a feature of the talks I have been having with the municipal presidents and administrators wherever I have been", Fieschi said in his opening remarks to the forum.
"During all my discussions it became clear that there was much interest in the concept of decentralizing municipal government, and giving people a sense of involvement in administering their local affairs. Many of the municipal presidents have already developed concrete expectations of a decentralized Kosovo", he added.
Monday's meeting was the first of three such events designed to bring together academics and local government practitioners from Kosovo and the region, as well as from further afield. The meetings are co-organized by the OSCE Mission with the Kosovar Institute for Policy Research and Development.
"These conferences are meant to promote a public debate in Kosovo on the concept of decentralization, a concept we all seem to have heard so much about but perhaps need to understand better", Ambassador Fieschi continued.
"Let's hear the local voices, look at academic concepts, listen to the experience made with decentralization elsewhere in the region - and finally think about what decentralization could do for Kosovo."
The OSCE is responsible for organizing the local elections held in October this year, as well as for the building of democratic structures in the province under its mandate from the United Nations.
"Decentralization has been a feature of the talks I have been having with the municipal presidents and administrators wherever I have been", Fieschi said in his opening remarks to the forum.
"During all my discussions it became clear that there was much interest in the concept of decentralizing municipal government, and giving people a sense of involvement in administering their local affairs. Many of the municipal presidents have already developed concrete expectations of a decentralized Kosovo", he added.
Monday's meeting was the first of three such events designed to bring together academics and local government practitioners from Kosovo and the region, as well as from further afield. The meetings are co-organized by the OSCE Mission with the Kosovar Institute for Policy Research and Development.
"These conferences are meant to promote a public debate in Kosovo on the concept of decentralization, a concept we all seem to have heard so much about but perhaps need to understand better", Ambassador Fieschi continued.
"Let's hear the local voices, look at academic concepts, listen to the experience made with decentralization elsewhere in the region - and finally think about what decentralization could do for Kosovo."