The Local Government Training Program in BH has so far been completed by 4, 500 officials, 1, 600 of them are from Republika Srpska.
During the Second Annual Conference “Good Training – Better Governance” held in Banja Luka, the Minister for Public Administration and Local Self-Government in Republika Srpska, Lejla Resic, said that this training is aimed at making employees more efficient and available to citizens.
The Ministry of Administration and Local Self-Government of Srpska partnered with the Swedish Development Agency SIDA and the United Nations Development Program on this project.
Director of SIDA in BH Pele Person, said that the agency has invested 2.2 million dollars into this program. He added that from the total number of employees who received training, 800 of them were mayors and councilors in local parliaments.
Person’s expressed hope that the project will become self-sustaining after SIDA ceases to finance it.
Secretary-General of the Alliance of Municipalities and Cities of Republika Srpska, Aco Pantic, said that since the last election the organization coordinated 44 training programs for approximately 600 councilors, given that the Alliance is responsible for training newly elected municipal officials in accordance with the Strategy for the Development of Training in the Local Government for the period 2011 – 2015.
Chief of the Regional UNDP office in Banja Luka, Goran Vukmir, added that steps towards sustainability have been made. He added that the ministry and local authorities took over a large part of obligations relating to the planning and execution of training.
