USAID Administrator Mark Green Visits Kosovo Governance Project

November 14, 2019

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Mark Green recently visited the Municipality of Pristina Procurement Office in Kosovo, to discuss developments in procurement and transparency. Green learned about recent reforms in local governance and improvements that have made procurement systems more transparent and increased accountability. Among these reforms: opening up public contracts, the full adoption of electronic procurement, and more cooperation with civil society.

Touring the office are, from left, Zekë Bardhaj, Procurement Director, Municipality of Pristina; Shpend Ahmeti, Mayor, Municipality of Pristina; and Mark Green, Administrator, USAID. Photo courtesy: USAID.

All these achievements were supported by a DAI-implemented project, the Transparent, Effective, and Accountable Municipalities (TEAM) activity. Green particularly appreciated the municipality’s commitment and the project’s work to improve processes safeguarding public funds.

At the meeting, the Mayor of Pristina, Shpend Ahmeti, highlighted the impact and the support of USAID-funded TEAM. “We thank once again the TEAM project with whom we are working on a daily basis to establish systems to protect public money,” he wrote on social media.

Green also visited the upgraded municipal archive and an office for bid opening and evaluation, an investment co-financed by the Municipality of Pristina and USAID TEAM. The new archiving system will help municipal procurement officers secure and access procurement records, enhancing the municipality’s ability to manage its documents and reducing the possibility that individuals could inappropriately access and tamper with procurement records. Similarly, new cameras installed in the procurement and archive offices increase the level of security for vital municipal records. New equipment for bid evaluation and bid opening helps the municipality to modernize and professionalize these key procurement processes.

Photo courtesy: USAID.

TEAM supports the Government of Kosovo to modernize public procurement and limit municipal vulnerability to corruption. By strengthening procurement processes and controls at the municipal level, the project helps local governments safeguard public funds and deliver better public services to citizens. It works in partnership with municipalities, central government institutions, independent agencies, and civil society to achieve breakthrough change in procurement transparency and accountability.