Governance

This project (700.000 EUR value) is part of an action under the IPA II Civil Society Facility to improve the level and quality of participation of civil society organisations throughout policy-making processes in Montenegro. The primary goal is to help create, develop, and sustain a common platform for communication between government and civil society, improving various frameworks through which civil society organisations can cooperate with the public sector and become more involved in decision-making.

Across a span of 44 months, WYG’s project staff of over 20 helped the Montenegrin government improve its legislative strategy for NGO development, as well as creating an internet platform and hiring, training, and mentoring two experts to monitor implementation. Extensive study and analysis led to meetings with key stakeholders and the design and implementation of a training programme for EU civil society fund management, with WYG providing assistance in recruitment and internal procedures and rules. WYG’s team also reviewed key legislation, providing recommendations for amendments and drafting by-laws for public funding standards for CSOs, resulting in more dynamic, integrated, transparent cooperation between public administration and civil society in Montenegro.

A part the Civil Society Facility, this project is intended to help the Kosovar government strengthen participatory democracy and EU integration by empowering civil society organisations to participate in decision-making and stimulate a healthy legal, financial, and media environment, as well as to build an efficient public financial support system for CSOs, which have historically struggled to access funds in Kosovo.
Partnering with CESO CI Internacional S.A., WYG helped build government capacities to design and implement a strategy for cooperation with civil society, including improved standards, monitoring, reporting, and legal frameworks. WYG’s staff formulated and implemented training programmes, as well as providing assistance to local government staff in developing a new public CSO database and a central government platform for public consultations, resulting in improved government capacities in providing public funding to civil society. Project value was 684.000 EUR

The EU office in Kosovo enacted this project to help improve public policymaking, make government decision-making more effective, and align Kosovo’s development planning with the EU integration agenda. Working with the Prime Minister’s Office of Strategic Planning (OSP), our team supported WYG International to deliver an overarching national development policy framework and integrated planning system. More than 20 key experts and staff also developed an integrated planning system with IT-supported monitoring and reporting, and training and mentoring was provided to the PM’s office and the European integration coordination offices of Kosovo’s ministries to aid in the system’s implementation. Capacity and organisational improvements to the OSP were also suggested, and training and mentoring was provided to OSP and ministry staff to increase institutional policy management capacities.

The overall objective was to contribute to the effective use of European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF) in the Republic of Croatia.

The specific objective of the Project was enhancing the administrative capacity of all Authorities and Bodies involved in ESIF and provide active assistance to Operational Programme Regional Competitiveness 2007-2013 delivery and Operational Programme Competitiveness and Cohesion 2014-2020 preparations and delivery start.

Project components were:

1. Management and Control Systems;
2. Preparation and Implementation of the Programme;
3. Monitoring, Forecasting and Financial Management;
4. Information and publicity

WYG was implementing a project to support the Kosovo government in improving the quality and efficiency of education and training services through the integration of ICT technology into the teaching and learning process, thereby improving employability and lifelong learning skills for the population of Kosovo. This goal was achieved through more specific objectives which included:

• advance the implementation of the recommendations and policy proposals developed by the MEST and the IT Pilot Project,
• provide further training in ICT and e-learning to teachers and educational sector staff, in order to facilitate and promote the use of e-learning in classrooms,
• support the implementation of the new Kosovo curriculum through capacity building of local stakeholders in e-content development and use of e-learning materials,
• build the capacity of both women and men amongst teachers, school directors and other education stakeholders in the user of e-learning platforms and storage systems,
• implement measures to notably increase the use of ICT, e-content and e-learning material by girls and boys in education with particular attention to take up and usage by girls who are often disadvantaged in terms of access to ICT and education in Kosovo, notably in secondary school education

Serbia’s Ministry of Finance awarded the tender for this project to improve the regulatory and administrative business environment in Serbia to a NIRAS led consortium including WYG in 2017. Their goal was to improve transparency in administrative procedures and establish a system to ensure they remain streamlined and up-to-date, as well as to support reform in numerous areas ranging from building permits and inspection oversight to labour legislation and tax issues.

Consortium staff and partners supported the Ministry of Finance in developing a streamlined unified public register of administrative procedures, including training for on-site staff on how to select and optimise procedures. Numerous studies were included on a range of topics from e-government services and tax burdens to unified building permit procedures, with a focus on identifying problems businesses encounter in interactions with government. Project also provided the Ministry with mechanisms to monitor the impact of new regulations, as well as designing workshops, handbooks, and guidelines for businesses to help familiarise them with new legal frameworks.

The purpose of this project was twofold. Firstly, the project provided assistance to the Croatian authorities in preparation of the operational programme (OP) for the programming period 2014–2020 which is an extensive assistance from initial analysis to development of the final OP. Secondly, the project assisted Croatian authorities in preparation of a number of strategically selected infrastructure projects and national projects identified under the Structural Funds RCOP pipeline.

Project outputs:

• Draft OP 2014-2020 versions produced
• OP 2014-2020 objectives quantified and monitoring and evaluation indicators selected
• Fully mature project documentation (feasibility studies, cost-benefit analysis, environment assessment, etc.) and tender documentation for the selected infrastructure and national projects prepared, so as to make them fully compliant with the national and EU, as well as ERDF co-financing requirements
• Assistance provided to the beneficiaries/applicants of the selected projects in setting up their internal technical units, where needed.
• TNA prepared, coaching and at least 2 two-day hands-on training on the preparation, implementation and management of national and infrastructure projects provided to the designated beneficiaries/applicants of the selected project.

Project value: 2.230.000 EUR

The EU IPA’s Cross-Border Cooperation programmes are designed to improve EU integration through regional cooperation and good relations between neighbouring countries. This technical assistance project was designed to help raise awareness of the CBC programme and strengthen capacities to implement it at all levels in Kosovo. As part of consortium, Project team organised study visits to relevant countries for beneficiaries, delivered comprehensive training on CBC programme management, and organised conferences and workshops at the local and national level. The project team also provided support to regional stakeholders in preparing and implementing high quality CBC projects through informative workshops on key aspects of the CBC programme and procedures. Finally, we also disseminated promotional materials to improve the visibility of CBC initiatives and grant schemes in active cooperation with stakeholders.