22 Sep Kosovo Democratic and Effective Municipalities Initiative (DEMI)
The Democratic and Effective Municipalities Initiative (DEMI) was a three-year program implemented by US Government mission in Kosovo with two fundamental objectives: 1) to promote good governance in Kosovo’s municipalities, where better skilled, more transparent, and responsive local officials and more engaged citizens work together to improve services and create more prosperous communities; and 2) to support the implementation of decentralization as envisioned in the Ahtisaari Plan and enshrined in the Kosovo constitution. To conduct the DEMI evaluation, ME&A assembled a team of one international specialist and one local expert The main purpose of the evaluation was to provide US Government mission in Kosovo with an objective external assessment of the management and performance of DEMI’s activities from August 9, 2010 to October 31, 2012. The objective of the mid-term evaluation was to: 1) determine the impact of DEMI and whether the project is meeting its intended objectives and outcomes; and 2) provide US Government mission in Kosovo with the tools to effectively utilize lessons learned in future governance project design. To conduct this mid-term evaluation, the ME&A team reviewed pertinent background documents relating to decentralization and municipal government as well as other relevant materials provided before and during the assessment by US Government mission in Kosovo. The in-country work consisted of interviews and meetings over a span of two weeks in December 2012. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 54 key informants and stakeholders from US Government missions, the Government of Kosovo (GoK), municipal officials, and donors in Prishtinë/Priština. The evaluation team visited 10 DEMI partner municipalities of which 5 were Serb majority municipalities.