I2UD is pleased to share its deliverables from the ECA Sustainable Cities – Social Accountability and Sustainability Audit in five Balkan-region cities. The objective of the project was to gauge the level of accountability of local governments towards vulnerable groups in the cities of Durrës (Albania), Banja Luka and Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Pristina (Kosovo), and Skopje (Macedonia). Local field teams met with groups that were vulnerable (e.g., the elderly, unemployed, persons with disabilities) or marginalized (e.g., Roma communities, youth) in order to understand their experiences, the difficulties they have connecting with government, and their ideas for solutions. The project culminated in March 2013 with a Regional Dissemination workshop in Skopje, Macedonia, in order for city leaders, national authorities, and vulnerable groups from the region to trade experiences, ideas, and solutions. The Assessments was undertaken in collaboration with Co-Plan Institute for Habitat Development (Tirana, Albania) and sponsored by the World Bank as part of the World Bank-Austria Partnership Program for Strengthening Local Governments in southeastern European countries and the ECA Sustainable Cities Initiatives.
You can find City Notes and Synthesis Reports for each of the five cities in the study published here.
For presentations and workshop materials from the concluding Regional Workshop, click here.
For more information, see the World Bank Sustainable Cities site or www.seecities.eu.