the former Yugoslav Republic of MACEDONIA

Skopje, 6 June 2012: Organized by the Ministry of Finance and UNDP, the National Forum on Fiscal Decentralization brought together over a hundred representatives from central and local government with experts from the international community to exchange ideas on the next steps to be taken in the country’s programme of fiscal decentralization.

 “All but one of the country’s municipalities have entered the second phase of fiscal decentralization since 2012 and the revenues of the municipalities are now four times greater than they were in 2005”, said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Zoran Stavrevski.

“Exchanging ideas and discussing further reforms in the area of fiscal decentralization is important. It will allow everyone involved to reach agreement and speak with one voice”, Koce Trajanovski, President of the Association of Local Self-Governments and Mayor of Skopje stated.

“Throughout the world, UNDP anticipates great benefits from decentralization,” explained Deirdre Boyd, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative. “We believe this process can result in broader and deeper democracy and serve as an engine for local development and overall economic growth. Decentralization can help us address inequalities and marginalization and ensure that all citizens, irrespective of where they live, have equitable access to social services and opportunities.”

Experts from the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies of Georgia State University presented key findings from a collection of studies entitled Fiscal Decentralization for Local Development. These findings highlight the progress achieved so far and provide recommendations on how best to address the remaining challenges in the area of fiscal decentralization. Produced with the technical and expert support of UNDP, this collection of studies is the result of numerous workshops, training sessions, consultations and meetings between the Ministry of Finance and other ministries, national institutions and municipalities, as well as the Association of Local Self-Governments.

“The country has made impressive progress with decentralization,” announced Professor Martinez-Vasquez, Director of the International Center for Public Policy at Georgia State University, “though not at the same pace in all dimensions. This is a good time to evaluate the entire picture and to take rebalancing steps focusing on equity and performance. In our studies we propose and evaluate a number of specific steps that could be taken in the short- and medium-term.”

The Forum was organized within the framework of the joint project Social Services for Social Development and Cohesion. Implemented by the Ministry of Finance and UNDP, this project aims to ensure the development of a more responsive and effective system of local social service delivery that addresses the needs of the most vulnerable groups of the population.