World Bank and Kosovo Sign Agreement To Support Digital Governance for Service Delivery
WASHINGTON —The Minister of Finance of the Republic of Kosovo, Hekuran Murati, and the World Bank Country Manager for Kosovo and North Macedonia, Massimiliano Paolucci, signed today a Financing Agreement for the Kosovo Strengthening Digital Governance for Service Delivery Project, which aims to improve the quality of and user access to selected public administrative services.
The approved financial support for the five-year project is a concessional credit of $20 million, from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank Group. It has a maturity of 25 years and a 5-year grace period. The project will be implemented by the Agency for Information Society.
Kosovo has achieved some important milestones in terms of digital reforms, including one of the highest levels of connectivity in Europe, but advances have not been sufficiently translated into improved service delivery for citizens and businesses.
“Developing the digital governance institutional architecture and strengthening the government network infrastructure and shared platforms are key foundations to support the digital transformation of government and public services, which will contribute to improving the lives of the people of Kosovo,” said Massimiliano Paolucci, World Bank Country Manager for Kosovo and North Macedonia. “The successful digitalization of services and their take-up will boost Kosovo’s efforts to combat corruption, improve women empowerment and fight climate change”.
The proposed project aims to support the government’s efforts to lay out solid foundations in terms of digital infrastructure, institutions and skills as priority enabling conditions needed for a citizen-centric delivery of services under a life events approach. The project will support improvements to the interoperability of government systems, disaster recovery/business continuity solutions, and shared platforms. It will support the expansion of government e-services through an upgraded e-Kosova and pilot an innovative approach to proactive citizen-centric service delivery organized around life events.