Self-Representation of Local Governments

DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES Guided by administrative policies and systems inherited from the former regime, Bulgaria’s local level democracy is working to carve out a niche within the new political order. Local governments are seeking to gain control over their administrative and fiscal destiny, to equip themselves to make responsible choices about their future, and to act on these choices effectively and accountably. Central to these aspirations is the issue that local institutions are poorly equipped and lack the authority to discharge their responsibilities and have few opportunities to establish the tools to create a sound municipal finance base in support of local infrastructure development and provision of services. USAID works with the only nationally representative association of municipalities to help it advocate more effectively municipal interests at the national level.

USAID INVOLVEMENT USAID is unique in Bulgaria in its approach to local governance issues with USAID’s practice of nurturing indigenous NGOs during the initial years of assistance. These organizations currently drive the decentralization reform effort in the country. USAID provides a direct grant to the most representative local government support organization, the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria (NAMRB), to influence the policy environment and help municipal administrations acquire new skills. The NAMRB has established itself as the strongest network of municipalities and the primary voice to lobby central government, advancing local government legislative agenda, and assisting member-municipalities in improving their administrative and policy-making capacity.

GOAL USAID’s goal is to develop a strong, independent and financially self-sufficient national voice of all Bulgarian municipalities.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION The key activities under the technical assistance include support for the fiscal decentralization in Bulgaria, promotion of wide public understanding and support of local government reform and decentralization, strengthening the administrative and policy-making capacity of local governments, and institutional strengthening and sustainable development of the Association. The majority of those activities are implemented in cooperation with other USAID projects and grantees, such as the Local Government Initiative and the Foundation for Local Government Reform.

• Fiscal Decentralization in Bulgaria. USAID supports NAMRB to develop and submit to the Parliament draft legislative acts/amendments and draft implementing regulations on issues related to local government strengthening. Priority legislative amendments include: the Constitution; the Municipal Budgets Act; the Municipal Debt Act; a new Local Government and Local Administration Act. NAMRB provides training to improve the capacity of local government authorities in the preparation and adoption of enabling legislation. Under the grant NAMRB selects and disseminates best municipal practices in financial management and trains municipal councilors and experts on applying new authorities and responsibilities assigned to municipalities under the fiscal decentralization program.

• Public Awareness and Support of Local Government Reform and Decentralization. NAMRB organizes discussions, roundtables, conferences, training seminars to ensure wide public understanding and support of local government reform and decentralization. The topics include, local government decentralization, local government taxing powers, internal control, etc.

• Strengthening the administrative and policy-making capacity of local governments. NAMRB provides training to newly elected mayors and chairs of municipal councils. It implements training activities in the following priority areas: municipal finance, urban development, public works management, cadastre and project development. USAID supports also the development and dissemination of a bi-weekly NAMRB Information Newsletter.

• Institutional strengthening and sustainable development of the Association. USAID seeks to support the development of NAMRB’s internal by-laws, policies, and operating procedures which will sustain its development beyond USAID graduation.

SUCCESS STORY Defending the municipalities’ interest in the Program “From Social Assistance to Employment” implemented by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, aimed at building working skills of long-term unemployed and their inclusion in the labor market. At the end of 2004 the Ministry, without preliminary notification and in breach with the adopted criteria, drastically decreased the number of funded municipal projects, despite the fact that they were already approved at first stage. Thanks to the efforts of NAMRB targeted at carrying out a wide media campaign, organization of meetings with partners, trade unions and several rounds of negotiations with the Minster and her team – by the end of January 2005, additional 120 municipal project were approved, thus providing employment to more than 3000 persons.

^{Last updated: 27 February 2007}