Good Governance

1.  Creation of a Master Plan for the Justice System of Albania: 1997-2001

This project provided the Ministry of Justice with the necessary assistance to formulate a Master Plan for the years 1997 to 2001 to guide its development as well as that of courts, the prosecutors’ office and related agencies. The Master Plan outlines a vision of the justice system as a whole based upon the Rule of Law; indicates the legal framework for governmental actions in Albania; and sets out the goals and specific objectives of the Ministry of Justice, its components, the courts, the prosecutor’s office and related bodies. The Plan also indicates the present and anticipated resources of the Government to meet those goals as well as the international assistance that will be required.

The project aimed to strengthen the debt management monitoring and management capacity of the Government by providing support to the installation and operation of UNCTAD-designed Debt Management and Financial Analysis System (DMFAS) software in the External Debt Department of the Ministry of Finance, as well as the establishment of adequate information flows between the Central Bank, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. The system provides accurate and up-to-date records of external liabilities with timing, amounts, and terms of their debt servicing obligations, as well as projects the impact of external borrowing decisions on overall debt profile. It facilitates the analysis of the external debt burden, as well as future contractual obligations, the day to day management of foreign exchange transactions, and is useful in developing future borrowing strategies.

The newly created Foreign Debt Management Unit within the Ministry of Finance is successfully, established and functioning in compliance with IMF guidelines. This project has established the foundations for further Debt components (domestic debt, private debt, etc.) to be integrated within the system.

3.  Improvement of the National Library Services

The basis of this project is to help the National Library of Albania to strengthen its activities and improve the services it renders by increasing efficiency and user-friendliness through computerization of the departments. It is an approach to support the Government goals in the area of sustainable human development and to tackle the problem of information growth. This project has been jointly financed by UNDP, the SOROS Foundation, and the Government of Albania.