Implementation of the Public Administration Reform Strategy in Montenegro

Slovak experts’ mission to Montenegro

The project "Implementation of the Public Administration Reform strategy in Montenegro” has been running since September 2011 and is implemented by NISPAcee, within the UNDP–Government of Slovakia programme on Promotion of the Slovak Transitional Experience and Human Capital in ODA.

Within the project a Slovak experts’ mission to Montenegro was organised on March 5-9, 2012. The purpose of the planned mission was to gain awareness of local conditions, to provide consultations on the adaptation and reforms of Public Administration and to discuss the draft of the manual containing selected Slovak experiences from public administration reform in Slovakia. These should be used as inspiration for the running of PA reform in Montenegro.

Taking part in the mission were the Slovak leading project expert Ms. Jana Oremová, project PA and legal experts Mr. Juraj Nemec and Mr. Boris Balog and project manager Ms. Elena Žáková. The entire mission was co-organised by The Human Resources Management Authority and UNDP Montenegro.

The Slovak delegation met high-level representatives of the relevant governmental institutions in Montenegro and, of course, members of the specific Montenegrin government Task Force-Coordination Committee for implementation of the PAR Strategy, who had already participated in the previous project phase – a study tour to Slovakia.

The mission began with a first meeting at the Ministry of Interior. The project experts were welcomed by Mr. Ivan Brajović, Minister of Interior and His Excellency František Lipka, Ambassador of the Slovak Republic. During this meeting, the experts and members of the Coordination Committee discussed the following with the Minister: co-operation, the joint project and the goal and usefulness of the developed manual.

Work on the manual continued at the next meeting held with the Human Resources Management Authority, where the experts were hosted by Ms. Svetlana Vuković, Director and Ms. Jadranka Djurković, Deputy Director. The project team discussed and commented on all the chapters of the draft manual. They agreed to summarise all comments within two weeks, after which the team of experts will develop the final version.

On March 7, 2012, a seminar was held on "Public Administration Reform in Slovakia – selected experiences” at the Regional School of Public administration ReSPA in Danilovgrad. It was moderated by Mr. Mladen Jovovic, Deputy Minister, MoI and Mr. Veselin Vukcevic, Deputy Minister, MoI. More than 30 participants took part– those responsible for PA reform in Montenegro - representatives of state bodies such as the line ministries, public administration bodies, the Parliament of Montenegro, General Secretariat of the Government, representatives of local self-government and the Union of Municipalities. Ms. Jana Oremováintroduced the project, and described the manual and its structure. She also led the presentations on the Slovak Ministry of Interior, Municipal police, One-stop shops and Education of civil servants and state officials. Mr. Boris Balog explained the PA reform in Slovakia today and, in addition, presented the Slovak experiences with regard to the Committee on PA, Government office, Assessment of Selected Effects and the Portal of legal norms. Mr. Juraj Nemec presented various experiences regarding the Provision of public services and Fiscal decentralisation.

During the meetings that followed, the project team members visited the Municipality of Danilovgrad, where they were hosted by Mr. Branislav Đuranović, Mayor of the Municipality of Danilovgrad, together with his advisors and colleagues.

The team also visited the Ministry of Finance , where they were welcomed by Mr. Damir Rasketic Secretary of the Ministry of Finance,

and the The Union of Municipalities, where they were welcomed by Mr. Rajko Golubović, Secretary of the Union of Municipalities.

The experts introduced the draft manual and discussed the topics and experiences which were of interest and of use to each institution. All of the representatives of the institutions visited appreciated the work of the project experts, welcomed their experiences on PA reform in Slovakia and emphasised their interest for future co-operation not only within this particular project, but also in the future with other NISPAcee activities.