Swiss Ambassador visits Durrës Municipality

On February 12th, 2016, the Swiss Ambassador, Mr. Christoph Graf, paid a visit to Durrës Municipality to closely assess the progress of the Swiss support through dldp in the implementation of projects in this new partner LGU.

The Ambassador first visited the project site in Sukth. He met with the administrators of Katund i Ri and Sukth administrative units. Together with dldp experts, they explained the process of project identification and introduced the project for the rehabilitation of the bridge that will connect Jubë and Rrushkull villages. 

The visit continued in the Municipality, where Mr. Graf was welcomed by the Mayor of Durrës, Mr.VangjushDako. During the meeting, Mr.Dako explained the local governance context and presented opportunities and challenges expected in the future.

Dldp has built on the Functional Area Programme (FAP) for Municipality of Durrës, furthering in two directions: 

1. Selection of one of the projects for support from DLDP’s grant fund scheme, and

2. Transformation of the FAP document into a Territorial Strategy document, in collaboration with the Ministry of Urban Development and National Agency for Territory Planning, in concordance with the legal framework on territorial and strategic planning.

During this process the municipality organised a public hearing event for the Territorial Strategy document and the Ambassador was invited to participate. The event put together municipal council members, citizens, businesses and local organisations for a dialogue about priorities and investments foreseen for the newly-expanded municipality. Mr. Graf referred to the public hearing as one of the useful instruments that can increase such a dialogue and that allows citizens to express their views and concerns.

The Mayor was also present at the hearing and spoke about the future development plans of his Municipality. The territorial strategy and a list of projects was presented by experts and then discussed with the participants in the form of questions and comments. Swiss expertise supported the first draft of the strategy which was then adopted by the Municipality of Durrës.

Dldp is using public hearings as an instrument that could be implemented well in the aftermath of the territorial and administrative reform with larger municipalities and new challenges. DLDP has accumulated a good experience in establishing platforms for dialogue and communication between local authorities and citizens.

At the end, the Swiss Ambassador had a meeting with Women Councillors of Durrës Municipality and with the representatives of Women in Politics Network. Discussions were focused in the difficulties women face in politics today.