Thursday, June 29, 2017

Over 120 employees of Local Government Units attended and were certified at the end of the training program organized by the Academy of Political Studies in cooperation with the Albanian School of Public Administration (ASPA) in the period 2016-2017. The programme aimed to further increase the knowledge and leadership skills of these professionals through various training activities. Participants came from a wide range of municipalities and this diversity helped to facilitate constructive dialogs during the programme.   The thematic of the training titled "Foster knowledge on the functioning and decision-making in local government" was taught through modules in six two-day courses, namely:  

•  Territorial reform and its implications;
•  Local Governance and Public Policies;
•  Funds of the European Union;
• Governance and communication.

 Upon completion of these modules, each participant was provided with a training certificate recognized by the Albanian School of Public Administration. In addition, this dedicated programme for LGU's political staff (mayors, deputy mayors, mayor's cabinet, and key local government administrators) was complementary to the training and tests conducted by ASPA for civil servants part of the local administration.

Participants praised this capacity-building program as necessary and expressed an interest in further training, in order to address the many legislative challenges and new competences transmitted to LGUs as a result of the new democratic reforms.

This fruitful cooperation between the Academy and the School of Public Administration is expected to continue under the generous support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). With their support, the Academy and ASPA will continue to develop and implement new training programs for local government leaders.