Support to Serbian municipalities - SCTM and SALAR partnership

The project managed to achieve its goals in both components: 1) hands on support to local self-governments (LSGs) provided through Municipal Support Packages (MSPs) and 2) overall support to local governments. Within component 1, in the area of environmental protection, a total of three MSPs (Uice, Nova Varo and Kula) have been implemented in the area of waste management. The implementation modality has been characterized by an approach towards inclusiveness and dialogue with a larger group of stakeholders in order to get understanding and input from a broader group of citizens and better adapt waste management to different groups in society. Dialogue with larger groups of stakeholders has taken place, which means a larger group of citizens are involved in decision making and are aware of what is happening in their community. Gender training have been carried out in the three MSPs as well as a workshop with different stakeholders with focus on gender equality and HR perspectives linked to waste management. Serbia's Program for Circular Economy 20222024 highlights the initiative for five local self-governments (LSGs) to develop local road maps for circular economy. Krusevac is one of the municipalities receiving support through this Project for drafting its road map. This drafting process follows the Methodology adopted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, with active contributions and comments from the SCTM as well as Swedish circular economy experts and waste and water officers from Göteborg municipality. Regarding the area of sustainable urban mobility plans (SUMP) initial meetings were held in April 2024 across all three LSGs aimed to introduce the action plan for developing SUMP within the support package: Vranje, Bajina Basta, Svilajnac). These meetings provided insights into the current traffic conditions in each LSG, with a specific emphasis on sustainable urban mobility. Within the thematic area of Disaster risk reduction, two MSPs (Smederevska Palanka and Petrovac na Mlavi) were finalized in April 2024. action plan to the municipality`s top management and to establish the LSGs project implementation team. After the establishment of the implementation teams in the LSGs, the SCTM expert team worked on the preparation of the Situation analyses with a focus on the functional and organizational setup of the municipal Emergency Headquarters, risk communication tools, and connection with the urban planning documentation. Both LSGs developed the Risk Assessment, Protection and Rescue plans and Disaster risk reduction plans. These documents were developed in a manner that emphasizes the importance of transparency and inclusiveness in the key segments of the development process, such as communications and consultation processes. To achieve the principles of transparency and inclusiveness in the development process two workshops were held in these two municipalities with the vulnerable groups on the topic of importance of them being part of the DRR system and the planning documentation. In the area of gender equality, the MSPs for Kanjiza and Vranje have been completed. The packages included legal support for the harmonization of mechanisms for gender equality (GE council, Commission for GE and a person for GE) in accordance with the Law on Gender Equality, which meant analysing existing mechanisms as well as restructuring/forming them. Additionally, a local action plan for gender equality was prepared for both LSGs, with significant consultation processes within the community during its preparation. Kanjiza ratified the CEMR Declaration during the project implementation, while Vranje had done it in the previous project year. This declaration underscores the commitment of LSGs to advance gender equality in their communities. By ratifying this declaration, LSGs signal their dedication to promoting policies and programs that foster gender equality and empower marginalized groups. In addition, Kanjiza and Vranje adopted a local action plan for gender equality. Kanjiza has twice received the award for implementation of the gender action plan, including funding from the provincial government. The success of Kanjiza can largely be connected to the project support in producing the action plan that was made in the MSP, where the LSG managed to apply a very participative approach. As was planned with the project support, Vranje and Kanjiza have prepared two documents, obligatory by Law on GE Risk Management for Gender Equality Violations and Risk Management for Gender Equality Violations. Work on gender budgeting in Vranje and Kanjiza has been a success. Both of the LSGs have implemented gender budgeting goals and indicators in five budget programs. In the thematic area of local economic development, focusing on Women's Entrepreneurship, two Municipal Support Packages (MSPs) were initiated in January 2023 (in Ni and Presevo), and technical assistance was finalised in March 2024. The structure of Local Employment Plans in Ni and Presevo, including the vision/desired change, general and specific program goals, analysis of options for achieving the goals, and measures for achieving the goals, has been defined. Action plans for their implementation have also been prepared in accordance with the Law on the Planning System and the Law on Employment and Unemployment Insurance. Consultations were organized within the local administration and with the broader public to gather input before finalizing the plans. The Local Economic Development (LED) Programs were prepared/ restructured to clearly support women's entrepreneurship. Initial analyses included interpreting the structures of economic entities, their share in revenue/profit/total, employment trends, import/export, available resources, and development potential. Within component 2, two training programs or e learning modules were developed and provided to all municipalities (members of the SCTM) a webinar on waste management from construction and demolition (thematic area Environment) and webinar on crisis communication in DRR (thematic area Disaster risk reduction). In addition to methodology for developing a Local Waste Management Plan (LWMP) developed in the previous year, an analysis of the capacities of local authorities to support social entrepreneurship began in May 2024. This analysis is conducted within the framework of the new Law on Social Entrepreneurship and explores ways to support LSGs in fostering an inclusive economy. The analysis incorporates national data, best practices, focus groups with local authorities, and a questionnaire for LSGs. The initial report indicates a need to support LSGs in developing local policies in this area. It also highlights the necessity of understanding social entrepreneurship as a model for employment and for supporting marginalized groups. There is a demand for capacity building, increased access to finance, and enhanced financial resources in this sector. To strengthen LSGs' capacities in building a Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) system, a Guideline for conducting civil protection exercises in schools has been developed. This Guideline outlines procedures for children to perform evacuation drills in the event of an earthquake or other emergencies. The aim is to emphasize the importance of preventive actions and engage the youngest population in safety practices. An online training session was organized on the topic of annual reporting for gender equality mechanisms, which is a legal requirement under the Gender Equality Law. During the training, the model for gender equality reports was presented, and discussions were held on the collection of gender sensitive data. The training also provided an opportunity for experience sharing, as this obligation applies to all local self-government bodies. An SCTM LED Network meeting held in April 2024 was used as a platform to promote work done in Ni and Presevo with the purpose of explaining how LSGs can support women's entrepreneurship. It was also a place to present what has been achieved in these two LSGs in the sense of adjusting local policies to promote women entrepreneurship (the two LSGs were supported in the development/adjustment of two important documents an Employment Plan that includes measures to support women's entrepreneurship, and integration of support for women led businesses into the Program for Local Economic Development (LED).

The project will support Serbian Local Self-Governments (LSGs) to become more accountable and effective in delivering inclusive and higher quality services to all men, women, boys and girls in their constituencies, based on the principles of gender equality and the human rights-based approach. Partners intend to implement the same approach that was assessed as adequate and successful in the previous phase: 1) work with selected towns municipalities through MSPs (including municipal administrations, local public utility companies, inhabitants, civil society organizations (CSOs), academia) in order to strengthen their governance, strategic and operational management capacities as well as their ability to deliver improved, inclusive and sustainable public services. 2) building on experiences from earlier MSPs and making use of SCTMs networks and committees, the project will implement certain capacity development initiatives to increase capacities, awareness and understanding among a large number of LSGs. 3) The project will work towards more effective evidence-based advocacy and strategic dialogue with the national level based on LSGs needs, experiences and conditions in the four thematic areas.