20 September 2023, Skopje, North Macedonia

ReSPA Director, Maja Handjiska-Trendafilova contributed to the high-level event on the occasion of the launching of the new PAR Strategy, hosted by the Ministry of Information Society and Administration of North Macedonia. Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski, Minister Azir Aliu, SIGMA Director Gregor Virant and Director Handjiska discussed the importance of proper implementation of the Strategy in the function of citizens’ needs.

Minister Azir Aliu outlined the key strategic vision with EU standards, and emphasized the significance of depoliticized and professional public administration that is efficient and accountable and that delivers high-quality and easily accessible services.  Minister also stressed the importance of completing the legal framework, as a basis for the work further of broader support and improved coordination of national activities among key partners and stakeholders, highlighting its crucial role in efficiently implementing the action plan.

Prime Minister Kovačevski underlined that the task of the government is to provide citizens with a quality life in line with EU standards, emphasizing that Strategy is one of the foundations of further development of society and bringing North Macedonia closer to the EU. The Premier Minister also thanked the EU, international institutions and ReSPA for their support, highlighting that with the strategy, the government has clear guidance on how to improve public services for citizens and the private sector, focusing on digitalization of processes and data exchange.

David Geer, EU Ambassador to North Macedonia, highlighted “We all know that PA reforms are crucial both for the further development of the country and towards its European Membership perspective. The Administration is essential to ensure that the country develops strategies and policies and implements them, playing the key role between governments and citizens in this process. Administration is also crucial for a successful accession process and here empowering professional forces to be able to manage, plan and realise all steps in the accession process is vital. In North Macedonia, we are witnessing progress that has been made, but there are still huge challenges ahead in human capacity, accountability and political factor which is still more important than merit. These challenges are among many countries across the world. EU is here to support Strategy but considerable work has to be done by civil servants and we are looking forward to seeing the results of implementation of the strategy”.

Gregor Virant, Head of SIGMA Programme underpinned SIGMA’s clear view of public institutions across the Western Balkans where counties are facing similar challenges in all areas, from HRMD, accountability, policy planning, etc.  “The strategy is solid paper but it is the beginning of the journey. Implementation will be hard work. The most important thing is political will and change of culture. Only when you start to believe in evidence-based policy, merit recruitment, etc. thing will start happening. And apart from it, you still need to train civil servants. Change of mentality takes time but is the most important. I believe that you Minister Aliu and your team have this attitude and will change things positively” underlined Virant.

Maja Handjiska-Trendafilova, ReSPA Director congratulated on the launch of the Strategy and praised the work and joint efforts between MISA officials and the ReSPA team, not only in developing this strategy but in delivering numerous activities. Handjiska underlined that with this Strategy, the long-term vision of PAR reform in North Macedonia towards modern, efficient, digital and green administration is well set and that the ReSPA team is proud to be a part of its development in a holistic manner, taking stock from the last strategy, continuing to work on its development and further development of the IT tool that will support digitized monitoring of its action plan and boost transparency.

“Our citizens and businesses deserve and expect more. Now. Almost Breakneck speed is needed given that our citizens, so – are increasingly restless and expect optimised service delivery and policy outcomes, ones that are centred on their needs. The saying goes Culture eats Strategy for breakfast. Even with the most brilliant, fault-proof strategies – it is the importance of ownership, the highest level of political commitment, the culture of meritocracy, accountability, openness and transparency, humanity, and humility, instilling and demonstrating the public service ethos, human-centricity, performance focus, collaborative mindsets - all these are at least, if not more important than the strategic framework. In this journey, a much more structured focus on human capacity in the public sector is needed - promoting lifelong capacity building and learning. ReSPAs instruments – both the direct on-demand ones, but also the regional ones – which are our flagships as we leverage on the regional approach that lends itself perfectly to exchanges and learning – are at your full disposal as we move into the key phase of implementation and delivery” underlined Handjiska-Trendafilova.