U.S. Government Supports Regional Workshop on Fiscal Equalization
On November 19 and 20, the Fiscal Decentralization Initiative, in cooperation with the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities, will hold a two-day regional policy workshop on local government finance reform and fiscal equalization. The workshop will take place at the Sava Centar in Belgrade. It will begin at 9:00 a.m. on November 19 with a keynote address by Roderick Moore, Charge d'Affaires ad interim at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade.
The workshop will bring together key policy makers in central governments, primarily from Ministries of Finance, and key local government officials, primarily representatives of municipal associations, to discuss ways for ensuring that all local governments, particularly those with less resources, have the revenues they need to provide citizens with quality public services. Sound fiscal equalization policies are essential not only for the success of local governments, but are important for building and maintaining national unity, ensuring the fair treatment of poor and disenfranchised groups including ethnic minorities, and for promoting balanced economic and social development.
The Government of the United States believes that the creation of strong local governments in Southeastern Europe is not only critical for the success of democracy, but is important for both economic development and regional stability. U.S. Government support focuses on strengthening local governments to help improve their capacity to provide services to their citizens, promote local economic development, and increase the ability to shape the regulatory environment in which they operate.
Participants in the workshop will include local and national government officials from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia and Montenegro, and Slovenia, representing one of the first times government officials from all post-Yugoslav countries have gathered in Belgrade for substantive policy discussions. The workshop will lay the foundation for a number of further regional forums on key policy issues effecting local governments throughout the region.
The Fiscal Decentralization Initiative is a joint project of USAID, the World Bank, the Open Society Institute, the Council of Europe, and UNDP designed to promote regional and international exchanges of best practices in the area of intergovernmental financial reform and decentralization. The Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities is the national association for local government in Serbia.
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