Remarks at a Workshop on Decentralization and Public Service Delivery - Croatia and EU Comparative Experiences

January 23, 2006 - Thank you for inviting me to share my views. Let me begin by saying how important I believe this workshop will be. You each bring a diversity of views. Yet you share a common goal: to enrich and improve services to Croatian communities.

It seems to me that the primary goal for any democratic government is to improve the quality of its citizens' lives. But for government - at any level - to provide better service to its citizens and better solutions to their problems, there needs to be openness to doing things differently.

Why? The agenda is getting tougher - building infrastructure is easier than creating competitive businesses and world class educational systems. Old practices are not getting the job done - standardized, centralized directives and regulations have a place at the national and international level but often fall short as tools to solve local problems. Finally, modern communities need a vast array of social and economic services that go well beyond the technical or financial resources of any government in the world.

The Government of Croatia is addressing many of these issues and they are best to tell you about them. But there is a nagging question that overshadows all of us. It is a question about trust and cooperation. The question I invite you to tackle today is " what will it take to make local governments more attractive candidates for broad decentralized services? To get the ball rolling let me offer three suggestions:

First, local officials must be credible - and by that I mean accountable to their local citizens. The Prime Minister last week took the initiative to put local election results back into the hands of the local citizens and less susceptible to outside forces. I hope he will be equally forceful in leading the debate on the direct election of mayors too.

Second, local governments must be able to work in alliance with central and provincial government as a healthy and financially viable partner rather than as an outside interest group. This will be the meat of today's discussion so let me confine my point. Our experience in helping local governments increase revenues showed tremendous potential for effecting cost savings, accountability and transparency in these organizations.

Third, local governments must create appropriate alliances with business, non-profit and non-governmental organizations and agencies . If Croatia follows the path of other transition countries, the most dynamic improvement in local government is likely to come from new, collaborative arrangements between private citizens and local officials.

USAID is very proud of its association with the Croatian Government to improve local government. Our programs have been in place for almost ten years. I must tell you one of the most enjoyable parts of my job is seeing the results of these programs in the field. I am sure other speakers will tell you more about them today.

So, in closing, I am counting on you to be the group that developed the roadmap for decentralizing and improving services to local communities. As I said, it is largely a question of trust and cooperation. Good luck.

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