Pristina (September 20, 2004) – Five municipalities -- Gjakovë/Djakovica, Gjilan/Gnjilane, Podujevë/Podujevo, Shterpce/Strpce and Suharekë/Suvareka – will officially join a new local government program on Wednesday, September 22, by signing memoranda of understanding agreeing to host a project expert at a ceremony at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) office. The mayors of the five municipalities will sign the agreements along with Mr. Thomas Mefford, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia of USAID. Washington , DC . The ceremony and remarks will start at 9:00 a.m. at USAID, Ismail Qemali #1, Pristina; media are invited to attend. Also speaking at the event will be Mr. Jakup Krasniqi, Kosovo's Minister of Public Services; Philip Goldberg, Chief of Mission, U.S. Office Pristina; and Ken Yamashita, USAID/Kosovo Mission Director.

These memoranda mark the official start of the Local Government Initiative (LGI), a program supported by the American people through USAID. These five municipalities will then host a full-time senior municipal advisor/expert who will assist municipal officials in improving and strengthening municipal management and leadership. “This is a program that will help our municipalities meet needs for improvement that we ourselves will define. The experts will provide each municipality with an extra pair of skilled hands to advance the quality of life for our citizens,” says Mr. Lutfi Haziri, Mayor of Gjilan and President of the Association of Kosovo Municipalities. “All of us are committed to help share the lessons learned during this program with our neighboring municipalities. This way the whole municipal community will benefit from the program.”

LGI is a three-year program to assist and strengthen local governments' abilities to do their work and provide better services to citizens. Municipalities' selection as host municipalities was based on their interest in hosting an expert, the focused objectives of the municipality and a readiness to improve the functioning of their administrations. The Local Government Initiative is implemented by RTI International, an organization that has managed programs to strengthen local government in several eastern European countries.