BACID II – Capacity Building in Ländern des Westbalkans und der Republik Moldau



Contract partner: Österreichischer Städtebund Country: Europa, regional/länderübergreifend Funding amount: € 957.500,00 Project start: 01.04.2018 End: 31.07.2021

Short Description:

Overall goal


Based on the experiences and results of the previous project the overall objective of the BACID II programme is the socio-economic development of the countries of the Western Balkans Region and the Republic of Moldova through the development of effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels (referring to Sustainable Development Goal 16). By providing support to public administration reforms in the whole region, public service delivery will become more effective and sectors in the non-EU countries will be enabled to introduce EU standards and principles of good governance supported by regional cooperation.


Expected results


Expected results are:

- Actors in the region gained practical know-how in good governance and community services in adoption of EU standards in public service delivery.

- Public administrations in the region have improved the implementation of good governance principles as pre-conditions for European Integration.

- Local governments in the region are positioned as viable partners in European Integration.


Target group / Beneficiaries


The project covers the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia) and the Republic of Moldova. The target groups are approximately 600 public and municipal servants and officials, employees of 9 local government associations and 2 regional networks as the local project partners (ReSPA and NALAS), a minimum of 25 scientific institutions and businesses, as well as civil society organisations. Approximately 1500 people will directly benefit from the project. Ultimately, all public institutions and local governments in the region, their decision-makers and employees, will indirectly benefit from the project through improved public services and improved quality of life for all citizens in the countries of the Western Balkans.


Activities


Activities include:

- Preparation and launch of the BACID Grant Scheme through which beneficiaries gain know-how in good governance through transfer of Austrian experiences.

- Practical capacity building with Regional School of Public Administration of the Western Balkans (ReSPA) and its members on quality management.

- Fostering partnerships for modernisation of public administration within the Danube Governance Hub through the organization of cross-sectoral forums on good governance, the establishment and maintenance of strategic partnerships within the Danube Governance Hub, and the organization of the Danube Governance Hub Conference on good governance.

- Support to the SEE local governments in decentralisation through assistance in further developing the Regional Decentralisation Observatory, the elaboration of annual Fiscal Decentralisation Reports, and the elaboration of the report and model platform for municipal budget transparency in the region.

- Support to local governments in EU integration through the assistance to Network of associations of local authorities of South East Europe (NALAS) and local governments’ access to EU funding, the support of NALAS participation in EU related local government networks and initiatives, etc.


Context


A well-functioning public administration is necessary for democratic governance and accountability. The quality of administration also directly impacts governments’ ability to provide public services, to prevent and fight corruption and to foster competitiveness and growth. There is still major dissatisfaction with government performance in terms of transparency, responsiveness, control, and impartiality in the Western Balkans. As EU candidate, EU potential candidate or EU neighboring countries, the countries covered by the project must integrate EU standards in all areas of public policies, including rule of law, economic governance and public administration reform. Through support to good governance and strengthened regional cooperation, the project is in line with the requirements set by the EU Enlargement Policy (as well as EU Neighbourhood Policy) on public administration reforms (PAR) in the pre-accession and institution-building in the context of EU accession. The project is in line with the South-East Europe 2020 Strategy of the Regional Cooperation Council.

project number 8325-00/2018
source of funding OEZA
sector Staatsführung & Zivilgesellschaft, allgemein
tied
modality Project-type interventions
marker Democracy: 2
  • Policy marker: are used to identify, assess and facilitate the monitoring of activities in support of policy objectives concerning gender equality, aid to environment, participatory development/good governance, trade development and reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health. Activities targeting the objectives of the Rio Conventions include the identification of biodiversity, climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, and desertification.
    • 1= policy is a significant objective of the activity
    • 2= policy is the principal objective of the activity
  • Donor/ source of funding: The ADA is not only implementing projects and programmes of the Austrian Development Cooperation , but also projects funded from other sources and donors such as
    • AKF - Foreign Disaster Fund of the Austrian federal government
    • BMLFUW - Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water
    • EU - Funds of the European Commission
    • Others - various other donors are listed in ADA’s annual business report.
  • Type of Aid – Aid modalities: classifies transfers from the donor to the first recipient of funds such as budget support, core contributions and pooled programmes and funds to CSOs and multilateral organisations, project-type interventions, experts and other technical assistance, scholarships and student costs in donor countries, debt relief, administrative costs and other in-donor expenditures.
  • Purpose/ sector code: classifies the specific area of the recipient’s economic or social structure, funded by a bilateral contribution.
  • Tied/Untied: Untied aid is defined as loans and grants whose proceeds are fully and freely available to finance procurement from all OECD countries and substantially all developing countries. Transactions are considered tied unless the donor has, at the time of the aid offer, clearly specified a range of countries eligible for procurement which meets the tests for “untied” aid.