OECD/SIGMA report presented, Pirdeni: Evidence of Albania's progressive journey, positioning it as a regional leader in several sectors
The Minister of State for Public Administration and Anti-Corruption, in collaboration with OECD/SIGMA, organized the event "Transforming the Public Sector: Fundamentals of Public Administration Reform in Albania".
During the event, the findings of the OECD/SIGMA monitoring report were presented, where Albania stands out as a regional leader in most of the measured indicators, confirming its progress in public administration.
The event was attended by the Prime Minister of Albania, Mr. Edi Rama, the Head of the OECD SIGMA Program, Mr. Gregor Virant, as well as senior government representatives and international partners.
Albania's regional leadership according to SIGMA
The Minister of State for Public Administration and Anti-Corruption, Ms. Adea Pirdeni, emphasized that SIGMA's data on the assessment pillars clearly confirm Albania's tangible progress in public administration reform.
"More than a technical analysis, this report presents an honest picture of Albania's progress, but also its challenges, and is concrete evidence of the maturity of our administration towards European standards. Today, we have an administration that is not only measurable, but performs significantly, where, as will be explained in more detail by SIGMA colleagues, Albania solidly maintains leadership in the region in many indicators," said Minister Pirdeni.
The analysis of SIGMA's monitoring report is evidence of Albania's progressive journey in public administration reform, positioning it as a regional leader in several key sectors and areas, including public finance management, digital governance, human resource management, and policy development.
"SIGMA also assesses that recruitment in the Albanian public administration is carried out based on merit and transparency, and that the increase in salaries has made the civil service more attractive. The management of the civil service and the attractiveness of employment in the public administration are also positively assessed, also in terms of the implementation of the salary reform, bringing the average salary in the administration to 968 euros now, almost double the level of 2013, as well as the implementation of a targeted flexibility package at work. Finally, these efforts have been supplemented by the guarantee of dignified working environments, through the complete reorientation of the use of state land in order to construct new building complexes for the public administration," said Minister Pirdeni.
The new strategy 2024-2030 and legal changes
Minister Pirdeni announced that the Cross-Sectoral Strategy for Public Administration Reform 2024-2030 is in the public consultation phase.
"Earlier this week, we published for public consultation the Public Administration Reform Strategy, the product of more than a year and a half of work with colleagues and partners to concretize with steps and actions the implementation of European standards in Albania, according to the commitments we made within the framework of the negotiation process through the Roadmap for Public Administration Reform," said Minister Pirdeni.
The SIGMA report provides an overview of the progress of the Albanian public administration to date, but also a clear map with recommendations for the next steps. The Minister of State for Public Administration and Anti-Corruption Pirdeni announced important changes to the law on civil servants and public administration.
"We will submit within March for public consultation amendments to two draft laws drafted with the assistance of the EU4GG project, namely: Law No. 152/2013 "On the Civil Servant" and Law No. 90/2012 "On the Organization and Functioning of the State Administration. Where not only the functioning of the administrative apparatus has been reconceptualized, the optimization of work processes in the administration has been optimized, as well as more structured control and monitoring of the way an institution, not just a public official, performs," said Pirdeni.
Advances in transparency and digitalization
Regarding the field of evaluation for the digitalization and provision of public services, public administration has advanced significantly in this direction. According to SIGMA, the integration of registers and the interoperability of systems represent a major achievement, simplifying procedures and reducing the administrative burden.
"The transformation of public services is more than just a reform - it is a tangible reality based first and foremost on standards, standards that will be raised to another level within this year through the e-Albania virtual assistant and e-Albania 2.0," said Minister Pirdeni.
SIGMA and the European Commission's assessment
The findings of the SIGMA report are the main source of the European Commission's assessment in the area of Public Administration in the annual Progress Reports. The penultimate assessment for Albania was carried out in 2021. SIGMA is a joint initiative of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the EU.
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