Netherlands assists Albanian local government

PESHKOPI, March 30 – The Netherlands will grant 4.6 million euro ($6.1 million) for a program aiming to improve the local governance in the region of Diber, in eastern Albania, a Dutch aid agency said on Thursday.
“This is a unique commitment between three parties to build a sustainable system for regional development,” Dutch aid agency SNV said after signing an agreement on the program with the Regional Council of Diber and the Dutch embassy.
“The overall objective of this program is to promote socio-economic development of the Diber region by strengthening local government structures by assisting municipalities and communes to implement their strategic development plans and building the capacities in the regional administration, communes and municipalities,” SNV said.
The program will be fully financed by the Dutch government. Of the total funding, 3.6 million euro are earmarked for investment projects that will be selected from proposals of the municipalities and communes of the region, and 500,000 euro for capacity development of the regional administrative bodies. The remainder will go for SNV expertise on capacity building of local governments units through qualified advisors.
The three-year program will be launched in April.
SNV is a government-funded agency that provides advisory services to nearly 1,800 local organizations in more than 30 developing countries to support their fight against poverty. It started operations in Albania in 1993.