IP3 with the support of the PLGP/USAID, provided intensive technical support to successfully implement One Stop Shop for local administrative services.

The USAID Local Planning and Local Government Project (PLGP), in cooperation with the Institute of Public and Private Policies (IP3), has assisted the Municipality of Korca, Berat and Fier in the implementation of One Stop Shop Center and drafting the Manual of Administrative Procedure in each municipality and their administrative units. All three manuals resulted a success model by helping municipalities to deliver efficient services of the same quality and standard across the entire territory of the new Municipality.

After the implementation of Administrative and Territorial Reform, municipalities in Albania are expanded significantly not only in geographic size, but also in population and complexity of municipal operation. The new municipalities face many challenges, but the main challenge is the delivery of services effectively and efficiently in urban and rural areas. The new municipalities would like to make it possible for every citizen to access services with the same quality despite the distance from the municipality.

They consider high quality service delivery to the citizens as one of their first and foremost tasks. An effective way to fulfill this task is the establishment of a One Stop Shop Center for local public services for the entire municipality, including rural and urban areas. 

One Stop Shop Center serves not only to the citizens but also to municipal staff to facilitate their procedures, to monitor their daily work and to measure their performance.

Results of One Stop Shop:

The key to efficient functioning of the administration and One Stop Shop Center is the Manual of Administrative Procedures which describes in detail every administrative service and the entire process of work that is being pursued for these services.

Manual is an important instrument that serves not only to the citizens and businesses to access all the information necessary for each administrative service, but also to municipal staff in facilitating administrative procedures and performing their daily work. All three manuals resulted in a success model by assisting municipalities in providing efficient services and with the same quality and standard across the entire territory of the new Municipality following the implementation of the Administrative Territorial Reform.

As part of the experience gained in working with these 3 municipalities, IP3 also with the support of the USAID Local Planning and Local Government Project (PLGP) has prepared a handbook to provide some guidance to all the municipalities of Albania in drafting a Manual of Administrative Procedures and basic principles of one-stop-shop implementation. This guide will serve as a comprehensive guide and a reference for all municipalities, helping them in delivering better services, unifying them, improving daily work and increasing local capacity.

This guide is the first of its kind in Albania and offers a new vision of service delivery. The experiences, practices and models outlined in the guide can serve as a good reference for designing a manual model of procedures and can serve to create a new culture of work in local government by increasing its capacities.