CIS Working Paper No 31, 2007 Published by the Center for Comparative and International Studies (ETH Zurich and University of Zurich) Capacity Building Through Research Partnership: A case study on Decentralisation and Governance in Northern Albania Blendi Gerdoçi, University of Shkodra Dieter Zürcher, ETH Zurich ISSN 1662-7504 Universität Zürich Economic Faculty University of Shkodra “Luigj Gurakuqi” Shkodra Capacity Building Through Research Partnership - A case study on Decentralisation and Governance in Northern Albania Compilation of Research Papers Blendi Gerdoçi and Dieter Zürcher (editors) Shkodra / Zurich October 2007 Table of contents Foreword Introduction The report contains the following papers: Artan Hoxha (2007): Does decentralisation support good governance? Decentralisation in Albania - A top down perspective Terezina Hila / Julinda Sokoli (2007): Merging communes-an important issue of the decentralisation process Dieter Zuercher / Arjeta Troshani (2007): The role of civil society in decentralisation and better local governance – a case study of Northern Albania Esmeralda Uruçi (2007): The perception of transparency at local level – Shkodra case study Edlira Tukaj / Drita Kruja (2007): Local government functions and activity Note: The content of the papers is the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily coincide with the opinions of the editors. 100 Leke = approximately 0.8 € or 1.1 US $ (mid 2007) ii Foreword The following publication is testimony of a very productive and encouraging cooperation between the University of Shkodra (represented by the Faculty of Economics) and the NADEL/ETH of Switzerland (Master of Advanced Studies in Development and Cooperation). The joint research project has brought together lecturers and researchers from Albania and Switzerland and has enabled to jointly analyse, learn and exchange views and ideas. The subjects of the study are various aspects of Decentralisation, its policy design as well as the outcomes of this reform process in Northern Albania. The economic, political and social transformation during the past 17 years has brought many problems and challenges to the Albanian society and especially to the peripheral areas such as the Region of Shkodra particularly. The accelerating globalization process has further exposed Albania to global trends and worldwide competition. Yet, people and organizations are responsible to adapt to these new circumstances in order to benefit from newly emerging opportunities. Therefore, people and organizations at the local have to change their behaviour and values. Parallel to this globalization of the economy many decisions relevant for the local context must be rooted in the local social and cultural context. For sustainable local development, local decisions matter as do central government policies, but it has become clear, that decisions taken at the local level offer better perspectives to cater for local needs in many areas of public services such as health, education, water and local roads. Albania is now in an important and impressive process of decentralizing many of its public service functions closer to the local people on the basis of the subsidiarity principle. The academia plays an important role in analysing this process and the outcomes of the decentralization policies in order to shape more effective strategies for the future. In this context the research partnership was an ideal platform to expose our lecturers to new and relevant topics through this applied research. It is a promising start and certainly more research and analysis has to be done. It has been realized that our University can make beneficial contributions to the debate on decentralisation and the various issues that are related to the successful implementation of this important policy. Prof. Dr. Mahir Hoti Rector, University of Shkodra “Luigj Gurakuqi” iii Introduction The publication of this brochure presents the findings of the research efforts of a group of lecturers of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Shkodra in cooperation with NADEL/ETH. All papers explore the effects of the decentralisation process in Albania, which has gained substantial momentum after 1999, when a series of new legislations was launched giving evidence to an emerging the political will to effectively decentralise power to local government authorities. The papers focus on decentralisation and local government issues, such as policy outcomes, transparency, the role of civil society and the progress in good governance at the local level through decentralisation. This research has been realized in the frame of an institutional partnership between NADEL/ETH and the University of Shkodra. The project was financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation under the SCOPES programme (2005-2008) and had a duration of 2 years. It included the strengthening of infrastructure (internet access), capacity building for applied research, implementation of applied research and participation in conferences. The project would not have materialised without the generous support of many representatives from Local Government Units, Municipalities and Communes of Shkodra Region, and the people of Shkodra Region. The project has been of particular significance for the University since it provided material and academic support during a period of difficulties. These ranges from an ever increasing volume of students (around 6’000 at present) to a lack of teaching facilities at the Campus to frequent power cuts. The project allowed many lecturers to better understand the views about the decentralization process in Albania and enabled them to consider experiences from abroad and particularly explore the Swiss experience in this field through the cooperation with the International Research and Consulting Centre (IRCC) of the University of Fribourg. In this context, Prof. Lidija Basta Fleiner and Sarah Byrne of the IRCC provided a lecture in Shkodra University. The collaboration with the local institutions was very productive because of their direct involvement in the Advisory Board created for this project in order to give a support to the lecturers participating in this project. The representatives of the Municipality of Shkodra were very much interested to actively participate in this project because of the great problems and challenges which the Local Government Units are facing presently. The Development Office of the Municipality of Shkodra and the deputy Major were very supportive to the project and offered their collaboration in defining problems, discussing different approaches and support in data collection. The same holds true for the representatives of the Commune of Bushat. A more technical support was provided by the USAID regional officer, Mr. Fatlum Nurja who contributed manifold to the formulation of the papers and their critical review. As member of the board his contribution was crucial for the progress of most of the proposals. The role of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry was important especially at the beginning of the project when we needed to create a network of contacts with different stakeholders. Although the role of institution was less evident in the further steps of the project we could strongly rely in the support of Mr. Arben Haveri, secretary of the Chamber of Commerce of Shkodra. iv The collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) started from the very beginning of their new decentralisation project in Shkodra in 2006, implemented by the Swiss Foundation Intercooperation on behalf of SDC. After various contacts at the beginning between Intercooperation and the Faculty of Economics, the sporadic collaboration extended within an institutional framework. There is an interest by SDC to encourage capacity building of local public administration by collaborating with this Faculty, which now has a 2 years experience in this field and furthermore offers a postgraduate course in public administration. Two conferences, one at NADEL/ETH (Zurich) and one in Shkodra in spring 2007 had the title “Does decentralization support good governance?” It was the purpose of the work done by the lecturers to open a debate on the conditions under which the process of decentralization can be effective and productive in order to improve the quality of service provided by LGU and the quality of life of the citizens in general. We would like to thank and address our appreciation to Prof. Dr. Mahir Hoti, Rector of the University of Shkodra, one of the initiators of the project, Prof. Dr. Sadije Bushati, dean of the Faculty of Economics and head of the Advisory Board, Mrs. Voltana Ademi, former deputy major of the Municipality of Shkodra, Mr. Ritvan Sokoli, head of the Development Office (Municipality of Shkodra) and many others that supported us during the different phases of the project. Special thanks also go to Mr. Artan Hoxha (Institute for Contemporary Studies, Tirana), who contributed to the debate and this publication. Blendi Gerdoçi Dieter Zürcher Lecturer University of Shkodra Scientific collaborator and local coordinator of the project NADEL / ETH v vi Shkodra University and NADEL/ETH Decentralisation Research Project 2006/2007 Does decentralisation support good governance? Decentralisation in Albania: A top down perspective Artan Hoxha, Institute for Contemporary Studies, Tirana E-mail: [email protected] September 2007 Hoxha – Does decentralisation support good governance? 1. Key concepts Decentralization reform after 1999 belongs