The OSCE in Serbia: helping municipalities from the ground up
Gaining experience first hand
"Local government needs to be closer to the people and to develop its own institutions," says Teuta. The college graduate is one of a dozen interns recruited from 10 Serbian municipalities. The programme aims to provide educated young people with a one-year opportunity to learn about the work of municipal government. It also can help them pass the State Exam for Public Administration.
Teuta started off working for the Labour Relations Department, where she learned about personnel and human resource issues. She then moved to the Department for Citizen Communication, collecting applications, writing down decisions and answering claims.
"We wanted to expose young people to all aspects of local government - political institutions as well the administrative bodies," says Shaun Barcavage, Governance Adviser at the OSCE Mission to Serbia.
To get a feel for the political side, interns will attend municipal assembly sessions, work with local councillors and participate in training sessions for local media.
Building bridges between ethnic communities
The programme encouraged members of minority groups to apply. As a result, the current twelve interns represent a diverse cross-section of Serbian society, bringing together Serbs, Hungarians, Slovaks, Bosniaks, Roma and Albanians.
In November 2005, the interns gathered in Belgrade with their mentors for the first in a series of OSCE-funded workshops on local government issues, and to develop their practical skills such as public speaking and team-building.
"Every player in a team needs to contribute to make the group effective," says Predrag Nikolic, an intern from Kursumlija. He has been part of a team focusing on reconstructing the town's park and developing a local ecological plan for the Toplicki district.
The interns brought with them different perspectives on opportunities for improvement. "Local administration has usually not been open to citizens," adds Nikolic. "It should become a service for citizens - for listening to their needs and finding ways to address them."
The OSCE's Barcavage explains, "One of the most important aspects of the programme is strengthening co-operation among councillors, institutions and the public's various ethnic groups."
Focusing on municipal assemblies
The internship programme, funded through the OSCE by the United States and Germany, falls under the Municipal Assembly Support Project (MASP), created two years ago by the OSCE Mission's Democratization Department. Based on a 2003 assessment of the needs of local government, it is the Mission's largest project aimed at improving the capacity of Serbia's municipal assemblies.
"Many international donors have supported public administration reform, economic development and infrastructure," says Barcavage. "But no one until now has targeted municipal councillors and assemblies."
Traditionally viewed as weak institutions, municipal assemblies are nevertheless taking on more responsibilities as a result of the process of decentralisation and the 2002 Law on Local Self-Government. Strengthening these institutions is vital to fostering a healthy democracy in the country.
Supporting the councillors
The core of MASP is a series of intensive training sessions for councillors from 10 municipalities. They are "pilot" participants chosen on the basis of ethnic diversity, economic need and enthusiasm for the project. The training focuses on local government issues and developing communication and negotiation skills.
To instil a sense of ownership and appreciation of cost, the municipalities "pay" for the sessions with vouchers and help design parts of their own training schedule.
The project's major implementing partner is the Standing Conference on Towns and Municipalities. Created in 1953, the Standing Conference is a national association of local authorities in Serbia.
"Our role is to help local governments rebuild their legal and financial capacity," says the Standing Conference's Jasmina Krunic-Pasku, Project Manager for MASP. "Councillors need much more support to better understand their responsibilities, represent citizens and negotiate effectively."
The bigger picture
Making the Standing Committee a stronger, more representative organization is an important goal of MASP. "The international community won't be here forever. When it leaves, the vacuum will need to be filled," says Barcavage.
The OSCE-supported internships will ensure that young people will continue to have the opportunity to work for and learn about municipal government, helping them become more involved in the changing local political environment.