Strengthening Inter-municipal Cooperation in Montenegro

Supported by UNDP Office in Montenegro and in partnership with the Ministry of Interior and Public Administration, as well as with the Montenegro Community of Municipalities, on 25 and 26 October, 2010, two round tables were conducted (one in Podgorica and one in Bijelo Polje) having the topic “Strengthening Inter-municipal Cooperation in Montenegro”.

These round tables were attended by representatives of the Ministry of Interior and Public Administration of Montenegro, representatives of Montenegro Community of Municipalities, Mayors, Municipality Councils’ representatives, Municipality Administration representatives, as well as representatives of the international donors’ community present in the country.

These round tables were also attended by representatives from Macedonia, i.e. the Mayor of the Municipality of Bosilovo Mr. Ljupco Kolev, who gave a presentation on the topic “Experiences of the Municipalities of Bosilovo, Novo Selo and Vasilevo in Establishing and Implementing Inter-municipal Cooperation”, and the Head of UNDP IMC Programme Component Mr. Ilmiasan Dauti, who gave a presentation on the topic “Inter-municipal Cooperation - Macedonia Concept and Experience”.

In addition to the presentations, the publication entitled “Strengthening Inter-municipal Cooperation in Montenegro” was promoted at the event, which was developed in partnership between the Ministry of Interior and Public Administration of Montenegro, UNDP Office in Montenegro and UNDP Office in Macedonia.

During the discussions at the event it was concluded that IMC could be recognized as a useful mechanism for joint implementation of municipality competencies, that it was necessary to promote successful IMC experiences in the region and wider, and that it was necessary to strengthen municipality capacities for IMC establishment and implementation using pilot-projects in priority areas.   Also, it was pointed out that Macedonia’s experience in the area of IMC was very relevant and could be of great use to the Montenegro Municipalities. Hence, further joint steps were identified where Macedonia can contribute in IMC promotion in Montenegro, such as sharing good experiences and lessons learned by Macedonia’s Municipalities through a study visit to Macedonia, as well as through training on IMC concept and experiences for Montenegro Municipality Administrations.