The State Audit Office, in cooperation with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) organized panel discussion on the topic "Municipalities' own revenues for providing quality services to citizens during pandemic".
The event is a result of the signed Memorandum of Understanding and the successful cooperation of SAO and WFD in the country.
The discussion was mainly focused on presenting information from the public opinion survey on the quality of municipal services in pandemic conditions, as well as on exchange of opinions and information related to the efficient operation of municipalities in pandemic conditions and provision of quality services for the citizens.
Marina Blazevska, Assistant Auditor General gave presentation on the topic “Municipalities' own revenues for providing quality services to citizens during the pandemic”, Ivana Ivanovic and Jelena Cetkovic Janeva from the Team Institute presented the analysis of the public survey on the satisfaction of citizens with the quality of municipal services during the pandemic, and Professor Borče Trenovski, from the Faculty of Economics in Skopje, presented his viewpoint on the panel topic.
Auditor General Maksim Acevski pointed out that municipalities must act responsibly and take additional activities for increasing the quality of services they offer for the benefit of the citizens.
Mr. Acevski also said that the research points to the need for LSGUs to take additional measures and activities to increase the quality of services in relation to urban planning, environmental protection, and other areas under their jurisdiction.
Citizens expect transparency, accountability and responsible governance, reliability in providing services, continuity and quality of service, availability of services and protection of service users by the municipalities.
It was agreed by event attendees that the cooperation between SAO and competent institutions, as well as with civil NGOs should continue and be further strengthened through various forms of cooperation.
The event was attended by Deputy Minister of Local Self-Government Mr. Zoran Dimitrovski, as well as by representatives of international and national organizations, state institutions, embassies and non-governmental civil organizations.
