USAID helps Albania’s civil society capacity building, municipalities, justice

TIRANA, Aug 31 – In order to determine strategies and plans for assisting civil society organizations (CSOs) to develop their capacity to engage in effective monitoring and advocacy efforts, in particular related to the reforms supported by MCCA2, the Program conducted an advocacy capacity assessment in cooperation with the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC), a U.S. based organization.
The assessment involved structured in-depth interviews with representatives of 30 Albanian CSOs, based on the USAID Advocacy Index, and focused on the organizations’ involvement with advocacy campaigns or other advocacy-related work.
Individual reports, which included both findings and recommendations, were shared with the respective CSOs.
Based on the assessment results, MCCA2 is now working to consolidate an advocacy capacity development training assistance plan.
A new and improved online resource about MCCA2.
In June, MCCA2 launched its new stage II website at: www.mcata.org.al. Besides news and information about the Program, its publications – such as the quarterly newsletter, and multimedia content, it includes for the first time a blog feature. Through this blog, visitors can provide comments or ask questions. They can also subscribe to various content in the website, whether through RSS feeds or via e-mail.
Through the month of June, MCCA2 carried out rapid assessments of construction permitting procedures and municipal territorial planning capacities in ten municipalities.
The goal was to identify the four municipalities, besides Tirana, that MCCA2 will work with on a pilot basis to reform and streamline procedures involved in construction permitting through technical assistance and information technology solutions.
The selection will be based on several considerations, which include: updated urban master plans; GIS or geodesic applications to urban planning; municipality size in terms of population, geographic location, existing or legacy USAID or other donor projects, and; the presence and pro-activeness of local building associations and other civil society groups.
The contacts established during the assessment visits will be useful in promoting a continuous exchange of information as work for the development of the National Planning Register progresses.
MCCA2 formalized a cooperative agreement with the School of Magistrates to train judges and staff of future administrative courts, as well as to provide support in strengthening the existing course on administrative justice in the School’s core curriculum.
The project will prepare and deliver a total of ten training courses on a range of topics related to the concept and practice of administrative justice, organizational matters, as well as the application of IT solutions in court case management. Initial training courses, currently under development, will focus on court administration and administrative comparative law.