TIRANE- 13 February 2007 – The Albanian Government, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Netherlands Organization for Development (SNV) have agreed to strengthen their partnership in order to promote broad participation of civil society and other actors in the preparation of the National Strategy for Development and Integration (NSDI) and its sector and cross-cutting strategies.

The representatives of both organizations signed last Tuesday the so-called Activity Agreement 4, the second project in the framework of cooperation established between SNV and UNDP at global level during 2005 World Summit in New York.

"With this agreement UNDP-SNV will assist the Government of Albania to make national development strategies more inclusive and participatory, involving government, civil society and private sector stakeholders, at both national and decentralised levels," said UNDP Resident Representative Ms. Gülden Türköz-Cosslett at the signing ceremony held in UNDP offices in Tirana.

“SNV and other development organizations can assist in developing the national capacities needed for these development processes,” said Dirk Elsen, SNV Chair of the Board of Directors. “But sometimes we plan too much and we do too little. My wish is to focus more on the implementation of these strategies rather than on the policies in letter. In this aspect, strengthening the capacities at local level is very important."

The above project will be carried out for 18 months starting in February 2007. Albania has prepared one single national development strategy, with a horizon of 7 years from 2007 to 2013. This strategy integrates the country’s aim for Euro-Atlantic Integration, the implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union and the MDG targets at national and sub-national levels.

The project foresees several components, such as: 

• Support to the Department for Strategy and Donor Coordination (DSDC) of the Council of Ministers to facilitate a participatory process in order to prepare national, sector and cross-cutting strategies. The support will be given to sector and cross cutting advisory groups established by ministries in order to make sure that the feedback of local authorities and other actors are included. It will also involve consultative meetings with parliamentary commissions. The donor community will also contribute with their inputs throughout the process. It will also make sure that these strategies are aligned with SAA and other European Partnership documents, the Millennium Declaration, the Millennium Development Goals and others. 
• Strengthening the capacity of regional councils and their association to participate effectively in the formulation of sector and cross cutting strategies. 
• Support the Government to draft and implement a long-term regional development strategy.

Earlier on the day, SNV Chair of Board of Directors, Dirk Elsen, accompanied by the Dutch Ambassador in Albania and Deputy Head of Mission, had a meeting with the Albanian Prime Minister, H.E Sali Berisha. On the behalf of the Albanian government, Mr Berisha expressed his gratitude to SNV work in Albania, especially related to the fact that SNV is working in different districts rather than only in the capital. “We consider the cooperation with SNV as fruitful one and we want to continue it. We will do our best to sign the Country Agreement as soon as possible”, - Mr Berisha said. On the other side, Mr. Elsen said that Albania with its outstanding results in the development of communal forestry could serve as an example for other countries in the Balkans.