Decentralization of authority and responsibility is an emerging trend in many parts of the world—notably in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Africa. Responding to the need for technical knowledge and skills at the local level, ICMA has developed substantial expertise working with municipalities as they absorb new responsibilities for governance and service delivery.

ICMA is now bringing that expertise to Kosovo as a partner in the Democratic and Effective Municipalities Initiative (DEMI), funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).  ICMA has implemented other programs in the region—in Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, and Macedonia.

The overall goals of the DEMI program are to support the implementation of decentralization and to promote good governance in Kosovo’s municipalities, with a focus on Serb-majority municipalities. Its specific objectives are to: 

• Strengthen municipal administrations by developing the skills of leaders to set direction, provide management oversight, and involve citizens in local priority setting
• Empower municipal assemblies to provide better oversight of municipal administrations, represent the interests of their constituents, and legislate effectively
• Engage citizens in municipal governance
• Improve service delivery by building the capacity of technical staff
• Promote local economic development by creating an environment conducive to investment and economic growth.

As a subcontractor to the Urban Institute (UI), ICMA’s share of the award is $1.9 million over three years. Other program partners are Crimson Capital, Training Resource Group, and PA Government Systems. During the course of the program, ICMA will

• Conduct assessments and fact-finding interviews to identify gaps in leadership, management, organizational performance, and service delivery
• Create a measurement tool to collect baseline data on organizational functioning, which is expected to evolve into a nationwide comparative performance benchmarking system
• Facilitate coaching opportunities as well as training and development programs—tailored to each municipality by local implementing partners—to address the needs that are identified
• Prepare local government trainers so that they can implement training and development programs nationally
• Support municipal assemblies by providing a self-assessment tool, supporting the development of plans for improvement, and assisting in the development of an advanced seminar series for assembly members
• Assist municipalities in updating and implementing local economic development plans
• Facilitate peer-to-peer partnerships between Kosovo municipalities and U.S. counterparts, using the ICMA CityLinks model. 

Overall, the DEMI program seeks to develop local capacity to sustain improvements in governance and service delivery—by creating systems and building skills that can be carried forward as decentralization progresses.