The Association of Albanian Municipalities has been preparing the annual status report on municipalities and local developments for several years now. The Local Government in Albania Status Report for 2021 was released in May 2022.
This report is a collection and elaboration of the Association of Municipalities from discussions and ideas generated at the local level with the involvement of local elected officials, municipal specialists and external experts engaged in regional meetings, meetings of the Steering Committee and professional
forums.
This report is an evaluation document which aims to:
- evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of municipalities, with focus on accomplishing the mission of municipalities, public and administrative services, based on facts and indicators from institutional sources;
- assess the dynamics of local developments, intergovernmental relations, transparency of municipalities;
- evaluate the performance of municipalities for the functions assigned to them by Law 139/2015;
- evaluate the financial performance of municipalities;
- take out lessons and make recommendations for further improvement of decentralization reform and consolidation of local government, valid for the municipalities themselves and government institutions or the donor community, as well as
- to present a readable summary for local and foreign actors who are interested in knowing the dynamics of local developments in Albania.
The report brings to the attention of the reader, whether government or central and local institutions, foreign institutions and any interested party, the problems and difficulties of local government in the provision of services and their organization and functioning, problems posed by Administrative Territorial Reform or inherited and an appeal that undertaking such reform requires broad consensus and a more democratic approach. Issues, recommendations and suggestions of this report may provide for possible solutions in the future, open opportunities for further improvements and revisions, presented in the framework of a continuous technical discussion on the Territorial Administrative Reform and decentralization.
Read the full report on the site of the Association of Albanian Municipalities.
Photo credit: Tirana, Albania. Used under Creative Commons license (CC BY 2.0).
