Wednesday 3 March 2010 marked the end of a remarkable partnership between SNV, the Embas- sy of the Netherlands in Albania and Diber County coun- cil in the North-east of the country. Over the last three years at least 100,000 people have directly benefited though 49 projects made possible from the programme. Albanian Deputy Minister of Interior Ferdinand Poni said the ‘Support programme for strengthening local govern- ance in Dibër Qark’ was a perfect example of how de- centralisation delivers real impact in local communities. The Albanian Government supported the projects with a 20% contribution of the VAT element of the costs. Uniquely, every commune and municipality in Dibër county developed a Strategic Plan, which underpinned each project proposal. This ensured that every project had financial and political support, and was sustainable. Dibër County Council hope to find further funding to con- tinue the development, and enable the strategic plans of each locality to reach their final objectives. Most of the early projects focused on infrastructure, as local com- munities developed the structures that provide a foun- dation for future growth. The partnership is an excellent example of the Paris Declaration in practice—all the major players worked together to realise the benefits of decentralisation. Funds from local and central governments worked in partner- ship together with capacity development services from SNV, and the €4.1 million project fund provided by the Embassy of Netherlands. Each project attracted a con- tribution of 30-40% from the local community, Local ownership was central to the success of the pro- gramme. Citizens took decisions that directly impacted their communities and livelihoods. It was truly a citizen- ship process—not benefitting the agenda of the donor but fully realising the hopes and aspirations of local communities and individual citizens. This is especially important in Diber where over 78% of the population live in rural communities and are normally some distance from the decision-making processes that directly impact their lives. There was a genuine focus of understanding actual needs of men women and children in the community and making sure results were targeted to real needs. Lives actually were improved. SNV spent substantial time helping communities to talk together and develop the level of trust and cooperation that made the process work, not just locally but county- wide. This is probably unique in Albania. There has been considerable interest in the Albanian Government about how this model for decentralization can be replicated throughout Albania. It has proved that the process works and produces real deliverables that have a direct impact on the lives of ordinary citizens. The trust fund was a catalyst for a partnership that gen- erated trust and understanding, enabling the strengths of all the parties in the programme to be harnessed to- gether in an innovative use of the investment. This was truly innovation in investment.—a networked, market driven approach to local service delivery that has in- spired and provided a model for future sustainable de- velopment. It demonstrates how innovative partnerships can leverage substantial benefits.