Improving the structure and the content of local websites has been in the spotlight of the USAID GAI project from the very beginning is being pursued throughout the entire project.

Websites are one of the most relevant tools for ensuring transparency, availability of data, documents, and information of public importance. Websites provide the latest and timely information to the public on local administration work and events in the local community. The presence of cities and municipalities in an online environment offers great opportunities for communication with citizens and enables citizen participation in decision-making through online polls, consultations, virtual public debates, and fora for the exchange of ideas, opinions, and suggestions. Good websites provide online delivery of local services, which significantly contributes to the efficiency and quality of these services.

GAI is providing technical assistance to all counterparts LSGs to improve their websites through annual websites assessment with recommendations, local website model, and a rulebook for website updates and maintenance. On this page, you can find a presentation for websites improvement, as well as recommended website structure and the content for local governments’ websites.

USAID GAI provided technical support to cities of Sombor, Šabac, and Kragujevac to explore opportunities and to establish Single Administrative Point (SAP). SAP is a relatively new concept for improving the efficiency of public services, introduced by the Law on General Administrative Procedures in 2016. SAPs merge several administrative procedures into one and enable citizens and businesses to more quickly obtain information and services connected to specific ‘life event’ or business transactions. SAP merges all procedures in one action, through which a group of rights/duties that are connected to one event can be exercised. In each LSG, it may be possible to identify and establish many separate SAPs. In addition to saving time and improving efficiency, SAPs also reduce the opportunities of corruption by reducing the number of direct contacts between citizens and local public servants, and by limiting the discretionary power of public servants.

A detailed presentation about SAP and the opportunities it allows is available here (in Serbian).

Here you can find presentations for so far conducted training for public procurement for local governments (in Serbian).

List of so far available presentations (others will be available upon each training).

Topic 1. Preparation of public procurement

Topic 2. Public procurement procedures – types, deadlines, elements, conditions

Topic 3. Special techniques for public procurements

Topic 4. Exceptions from the Public Procurement Law, procurements below the threshold from article 27 of the Law.

Topic 5. Procurement for social and other special services (services for social care)

Topic 6. Criteria for qualitative selection of bidders and methods of proving, using the “capacity of another”.

Topic 7. Contract award criteria

USAID GAI and the communications agency Executive Group successfully organized a two-day online training on the use of social media in local governments for a group of 12 municipalities that joined the Project this year.

The aim of the training is to get acquainted with the development of communication strategies and improve the use of social media in communication with citizens in the local community. Capacity development for efficient use of social media is becoming necessary for the efficient functioning of cities and municipalities, especially in terms of timely and transparent communication with various target groups, efficient service delivery, communication in crisis situations, and public participation in the decision-making process.

This is the third in a series of training on this topic, and the previous two were organized for the first and second group of partner municipalities in 2019 and 2020.

You can download presentations from this training here.