Photo Credit: USAID Albania   Citizens in Oshtimë can now afford to use water for gardening and other beautification projects. USAID’s democracy and governance program helped this community find a constructive way to build a dialogue with their elected officials.

Community Needs Met Through Citizen Dialogue

Civic participation turns up the pressure for municipal services in village community

In the rural village of Oshtimë, water is a precious commodity. For seventeen years the 129 families that live in this village relied on two water tanks, filled once a day to water crops, wash dishes, or clean their homes.

Two years ago, USAID visited Oshtimë to find out how one of its democracy pro-grams, NDI’s Civic Forum, could make citizens more active in the local budgetary process.

Most apparent were citizens’ deep dissatisfaction and pessimism with the democ-ratic process. “They came to our village when they wanted my vote, then they never came back,” said one Civic Forum member of electoral candidates. An-other member said, “The government says we need to pay another tax, but we don’t know what for.” There was little expectation that the USAID program would make inroads in improving civic participation in this community.

Yet, USAID’s Democracy and Governance in Albania Program continued to hold monthly Civic Forum meetings in the village, helping community members estab-lish priorities and write letters to city and commune officials. Turn-out in the 2007 local elections was high and a Civic Forum member from Oshtimë was elected as their representative.

This August these citizens received their water. In a meeting held in the commu-nity’s newly refurbished health clinic, several of the Civic Forum members USAID met two years ago expressed a far different sentiment.

“We can see the fruit of our efforts,” said Mr. Vrijon Rrapushi, owner of the village bar café. “Now, we can see that the commune has the role to support our needs and we take part in council meetings.”

Designed by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, Civic Fo-rum programs are step-by-step, grassroots initiatives designed to help citizens organize and participate in political activity. The program has organized over 80 groups and trained nearly 1,500 citizens throughout Albania.

For the citizens of Oshtimë, their Civic Forum experience has deepened their appreciation for and contribution to Albania’s democracy. According to Rrapushi, “Before, only 20 percent of families paid local taxes, now it’s almost 80 percent because we have better communication with the government and we know that a person is willing to organize and deliver better services to our community.” 

With one priority met, but many more to follow, the citizens of Oshtimë are now well-equipped to make democracy work for their community.