A Joint Effort of the Department of Strategy and Donor Coordination and The

DONOR DIALOGUE

Monthly E-briefing - May 2007

ISSUE No. 7

A Joint Effort of the Department of Strategy and Donor Coordination and the

Donor Technical Secretariat

Government-Donor Round Table:

The Government will hold a Donor Round Table on the 29 May 2007. The agenda will be finalized and sent out to all donors shortly in advance of the Roundtable meeting itself.

National Strategy on Development and Integration (NSDI) and Sector and Crosscutting Strategies Consultation Process:

More strategies have been reaching their final drafting stages in the last few weeks, including those on agriculture, health, transport, water, and tourism as well as organised crime and anti-corruption crosscutting strategies.

The consultation process will be extended through the organisation of a series of public television debates, where groups of strategies will be discussed under a common theme. The release of the draft national strategy, which is now completed following the incorporation of comments from across Government, has subsequently been deferred until this public consultation exercise has concluded in July.

Strategy for Business and Investments Development:

On 7 May 2007, the Ministry of Economy together with DSDC organized a Donor Consultation meeting on the draft "Business and Investments Development Strategy". The aim was to inform the donor community about the Strategy. Minister Ruli opened the meeting unfolding the main aims of the strategy and stressing the important role of donor contributions during the implementation phase which was followed by a presentation of the strategy document itself. Donors present at the meeting made a series of comments and expressed commitment and willingness to support during the strategy implementation phase.

To read the draft strategy, please click here.

INTEGRATED PLANNING SYSTEM (IPS)

Integrated Planning System (IPS) Support Group:

The IPS Support Group held its fourth meeting on 20 April 2007 with the participation of donors involved in the process and Government representatives. Its aim was to present the results of the IPS project implementation in the period January-April 2007 and to review the current status of Trust Fund. The meeting also gave an update of the NSDI process.

For more information on the meeting, please click here.

SECTOR RELATED ACTIVITIES

Austria published a new Cooperation Strategy:

The Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) has prepared a new country programme for the period 2007–2009. The document sets out the aims and the areas that the ADC will support. The ADC will focus on promoting Albania’s tourism potential. The development of tourism requires a sound basis and to prepare this basis, the ADC will focus on two areas: water, waste water, environment and vocational education. Good governance and gender constitute cross-cutting issues in the Austrian programme. By supporting projects and programmes in these ADC aims at supporting Albania in the pursuit to attain its development goals. The ADC will continue to focus on Northern Albania.

Promoting the introduction of European standards and the integration of Albania into the EU are the strategic goals of the ADC in Albania. Further information on the ADC can be retrieved from the Office for Technical Cooperation of the Austrian Embassy in Tirana.

ONE UN Initiative:

The One UN in Albania was launched in Tirana 14 May by Prime Minister Sali Berisha and Kemal Derviş, Chair of the UN Development Group and UNDP Administrator. They met with national and international development partners and the media to launch the One UN initiative, which will enhance development results and overall UN responsiveness. Albania is one of eight countries piloting the One UN initiative, which brings UN Agencies together – with one programme, one budget and one leader. UN Agencies are working closely with Government and donors on developing a One UN Programme in Albania that responds to national priorities. For more information, please click here.

Albania and Switzerland Renewed the Agreement on Technical, Financial and Humanitarian Cooperation, on 11 May 2007:

The renewed agreement between Albania and Switzerland on technical, financial and humanitarian cooperation was signed by Minister of Finance, Ridvan Bode and the Swiss Ambassador in Tirana, H.E. Erich Pircher, on 11 May 2007. Under this agreement, the Swiss Cooperation Office in Tirana will plan, implement and supervise projects focusing primarily on democratisation and decentralisation, development of the private sector, basic infrastructure and social services.

Gender

The Austrian-funded Equity in Governance (EiG) project has now started and is being implemented by the Gender Alliance for Development Centre (GADC) in co-operation with the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (MoLSAEO). The aim of the 4-year project is to provide support to state as well as non-state actors to jointly engage in gender-sensitive processes of governance at central and local levels. Efforts will include the strengthening and operationalisation of gender structures; assistance for the development and implementation of new gender-specific laws and strategies (Gender Equality Law, National Strategy on Gender, National Action Plan on Gender); and the building the capacity of citizen groups to engage in gender-monitoring of related activities. For more information you can email Equity in Governance Office at:

The Swiss Cooperation Office in Albania organized in Vlora, from 10 to 11 May 2007, a two day workshop on promoting gender equality. Representatives from the MoLSAEO, the UNDP and the UNIFEM regional office and from the Austrian Development Cooperation together with representatives from civil society organisation and partners of Swiss Cooperation participated. The workshop aimed at exchanging experiences in promoting gender equality and allowed to discuss challenges and potentials with regard to gender equality and to promote a new project of Swiss Cooperation in Albania on mainstreaming gender equality. The new project aims at cooperating with other donors and civil society groups, linking its efforts to the future National Strategy and Action plan on Gender Equality.

Economy

USAID/Albania and the Government of Albania Collaborate to Support the Junior Achievement Enterprise Education Program:

On May 8, the USAID signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Education and Sciences (MoES) to implement USAID’s Junior Achievement Enterprise Education Program in schools in districts of Tirana and Durrës. The two-year, $360,000 project implemented by a local NGO, Junior Achievement Albania, will introduce enterprise and economic education to local youth through partnerships between local businesses and schools.

USAID Albania assists in the Organization of Conference “Albanian Foreign Trade and the Competitiveness Challenge”:

In April, the Albanian Centre for International Trade (ACIT), a joint project of USAID and the Institute of Contemporary Studies (ISB), released the 2006 Albania Foreign Trade Report. The report provided an analysis of Albania’s foreign trade performance in 2006. Following the release, the ACIT organized a conference that was attended by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Energy and around 70 officials representing government agencies, private businesses, media, and international organizations. Participants discussed the barriers to exports and the need to improve the country’s overall trade competitiveness.

For the full report, please visit:

Environment

USAID/Albania Helps Promote Clean Environment for the Albanian Capital:

On May 19, the USAID, in partnership with the Municipality of Tirana and the U.S. county of Catawba, North Carolina, will host a recycling event in Tirana to launch a campaign to promote recycling. The project is assisting the Municipality in developing educational and environmental programmes designed to decrease street and sidewalk litter, to promote waste reduction and recycling, and to reduce the city’s waste stream to the nearby Sharra landfill.

Millennium Challenge Albania Threshold Agreement

Albania’s MCC Threshold Agreement Achieves Major Bench Mark in Improvement of Business Environment:

On 3 May 2007, the Albanian Assembly passed the law on business registration that streamlines the registration process, and establishes a Tirana-based National Registration Centre (NRC), a "one-stop-shop" for business registration, and the complementary "service window" network in 29 cities. The law is a necessary step in the implementation of the $13.85 million Millennium Challenge Albania Threshold Programme to reform tax administration, public procurement, and business registration through IT solutions and legislative reforms. In the coming months the project will finalize renovation of facilities to house the NRC in Tirana and procurement of IT equipment to allow for efficient registration, online access, and connectivity to the 29 city service windows and procurement/tax authorities.

For more information visit or contact the project at

Regional Development

On 20 April 2007, the Shkoder Municipality hosted the presentation of the IMPACT project, a regional initiative funded by Regione Toscana that involves several local communities throughout the Balkans. The implementing agency is the Italian NGO UCODEP. The project aims to strengthen the capacities of eight municipalities in the Balkans in territorial promotion and valorization. The aim is to attract overseas investments and overseas tourism. Participants at the conference included officials from the Municipality, the Prefecture, the local Chamber of Commerce, and the Regional Office for the Local Economic Development, the Local Economic Development Agency TEULEDA and the Italian Consulate.

On 3 May 2007, a primary school in Valias hosted the inauguration of the Community Centre ‘Minatoret e Vegjel’, established within the project “Intervention in favour of children under threat of school abandonment in the areas of Romanat and Valias”, financed by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and implemented by the Italian NGO CIES, in collaboration with the Albanian NGO Useful to Albanian Women (UAW).

The project aims to reintroduce children into school with the involvement of families and teachers. The activities include schooling support, recreational activities, seminar and information activities on children rights and social activities for families. In addition to the Community Centre inaugurated in Valias, another similar shelter has been built and started operations in Romanat. All activities are made possible by the work of a team of teachers and social assistants from both neighbouring schools and the local NGO partner. The inauguration was held at the presence of the Head of the Office of the Italian Development Cooperation Office in Tirana, Mr. Flavio Lovisolo, and the Mayor of Kamza, Mr. Xhelal Mziu.

Social Inclusion

On 2 May 2007, UN Volunteers and the UNDP approved a project that will assist the poorest minority communities in three of Albania's highest minority populated regions - Tirana, Elbasan and Fier. The project, Empowering the Vulnerable Communities of Albania, will work at the local level by facilitating minority access to social services – civil registration for example – by promoting participatory planning for local infrastructure development in marginalized communities, and by enhancing Roma and Egyptian employability in partnership with government and civil society. The two-year project will be implemented in partnership with several UN Agencies (UNFPA, UNICEF, WHO) and with non-governmental organizations (Red Cross and Terre des Hommes).

Transport

The Albanian General Directorate of Roads has signed two contracts in the framework of projects financed by the Italian Development Cooperation. The first concerns the supervision of works of the Levan-Vlore road and the second covers the engineering and the supervision of works for the Shkoder-Hani Hotit Road.

IN-COUNTRY MISSIONS

Ambassador Michael Linhart, Managing Director of the Austrian Development Agency, visited Albania from 14 till 16 May 2007. In the course of this visit the new country programme of the Austrian Development Cooperation 2007-2009 was presented. Ambassador Linhart also met with representatives of the Government, the international community and civil society as well as other project partners.

Ms. D. Brooks, the new DfID (UK) Balkans Programme Manager made her first visit from 24 to 28 April 2007. She was accompanied by Peter Rundell, the Head of Western Balkans Team. During the visit they met with key players on donor issues within the Government, international agencies and civil society. They also welcomed the chance to visit Puka and Shkodra to understand the wider national context.

In April, an Italian expert from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs General Directorate for Development Cooperation (MAE/DGCS) visited to support the progress of activities on the programme "Establishment of a Service Centre and of a Telecommunication Network for the University System", aimed at facilitating the exchange of knowledge and information among Albanian Universities. The expert established a partnership with the MoES. He also met with some Professors from INIMA Institute and Tirana Polytechnic University in order to discuss the best way to implement the network.

A World Bank (WB) Consultation Mission for the Agriculture Services Project (ASP) and Agriculture & Competitiveness Economic Sector Work (ESW) is taking place from 17 to 25 May 2007. The aim is to assess progress towards achieving the project’s development objectives; to initiate the evaluation of the project outcomes & impacts and to conclude the reallocation of project funds. The aim of the Agriculture and Competitiveness ESW mission is to consult with Government counterparts and key stakeholders on the first full draft.

A WB Mission on Joint Portfolio Performance Review (JPPR) is visiting from 14 to 18 May 2007 to review the link of the project development objectives with the Country Assistance Strategy aims and outcomes; the impact of Monitoring & Evaluation systems in the projects implementation & the need for sustainable capacity building within Government structures; the impact of the application of the principles of the Governance Filter on all the new projects; and progress in building up capacities for project implementation within the public administration.

A WB Supervision Mission for the Natural Resources Development Project is in country from 10 to 18 May 2007. The aim is: to review all aspects of Project Implementation; to assess progress on the actions agreed during the October 2006 supervision mission; to review progress on the implementation of communal forests and pastures management plans and to review progress on the implementation of the micro –catchments management plans.

A WB Identification and Concept Mission is visiting Albania from 7 to 16 May 2007 to perform an Investment Climate Assessment. The study will build on the ongoing Business Environment Reform & Institutional Strengthening and Access to Credit studies Project. The aim of the mission is to identify the focus of the study in consultation with national authorities, international donors and other relevant stakeholders.

A WB Supervision Mission for the Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Clean-up Project took place from 9 to 13 May 2007. The mission reviewed the progress of the Southern Coastal Development Plan formulation; the progress of the coastal village conservation and development programme, the progress of the Porto-Romano Clean-up and the other components of the project and issues related to the demolitions in the Southern Coast.

A WB Mission on the Carbon Finance Opportunities in Albania visited the country from 9 to 12 May 2007. The goal of the mission was to continue discussions initiated during the workshop with potential project developers; and to provide them with technical support to understand the potential carbon finance opportunity in their identified projects.

A WB Supervision Mission for the Road Maintenance Project took place from 8 to12 May 2007 in order to confirm the final status of the Project, including goods, works and supervision contracts; to update the project performance indicators for inclusion in the final Implementation Status Report and to contribute to the FY2007 Programmatic Public Expenditure and Institutional Review.

A WB Supervision Mission for the Education Excellence and Equity Project visited from 6 to 11 May 2007 to review progress of project implementation and to help the MoES with the preparation of the semi-annual review meeting held during 10-11 May 2007.

A WB Supervision Mission for the Pilot Fishery Development Project took place from 7 to11 May 2007. The mission’s aim was to work with the project management unit and the Ministry of Environment, as well as other relevant institutions to assess implementation progress to date; to agree on the finalization of the reallocation of remaining funds with Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Finance.

A WB Pre-Implementation Mission for the Land Administration & Management Project (LAMP) took place from 30 April to 4 May 2007. The aim was to review the pre-implementation activities of the project to ensure the start of the project once the loan become effective.

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