The representatives of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the donor of the UNDP project Strengthening the Oversight Role and Transparency of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, reminded that the purpose of the project is to establish and develop the capacities of the National Assembly Support Staff relating to oversight, improvement of the National Assembly’s public outreach and inclusion of the citizens in its work, with a special focus on the oversight and control mechanisms and implementation of successful public information mechanisms in municipal assemblies. One of the goals is also to establish an efficient system to monitor the public spending of budget funds by the MPs.

On the behalf of the National Assembly’s delegation, Deputy Secretary General Mladen Mladenovic spoke of the realisation of the project stressing that the National Assembly had, for the first time, achieved some success in regaining the Serbian citizens’ trust in the institution. He also emphasised the importance of the cooperation between the National Assembly and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, especially in the course of Serbia’s talks with the European Union.

The Director of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Isabel Perich stressed that the project is very important for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation which would continue to offer its support to the National Assembly. She gave a positive assessment of the National Assembly’s work in 2013 and everything accomplished so far as part of project Strengthening the Oversight Role and Transparency of the National Assembly.

The meeting was attended by the highest representatives of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and United Nations Development Programme.