Decentralisation and Municipal Support (DEMOS)

DEMOS is currently in its extension phase (2026-2027) building on the successes achieved since the start of the project in 2014. The project is co-financed by the European Union in Kosovo, Switzerland, and Sweden, and is implemented by Helvetas.

Municipal Performance

The Municipal Performance Grant (MPG) is gradually being taken over by the Ministry of Local Government Administration (MLGA). The grant is transparent and open to the public, allowing citizens and civil society to access data and hold municipalities accountable.

DEMOS III supports this transition by strengthening the capacities of MLGA to fully manage the grant. This contributes to the government’s goal of improving municipal performance and increasing financial and institutional support.

Local Accountability

DEMOS links municipal funding with citizen participation. When municipalities perform better and invest in visible projects, citizens are more encouraged to engage in decision-making.

Through public meetings, debates, and digital platforms, citizens can express their priorities and monitor how municipalities perform. Civil society and media play an important role in overseeing this process and ensuring accountability.

DEMOS III continues to support municipalities in improving citizen engagement and strengthening accountability mechanisms.

Policy Development 

has complement the government programme in advancing policies and legal framework for local government. Activities focus on policies that are currently in the programme such as the Law on Local Government Finance and anticipated grant for capital investments. It also complements the actions set in the first objective of the Strategy on Local Self‐Government (2016-2026) that foresees drafting policies and changing legal basis for financing of municipalities for the purpose of developing sustainable financial system. Technical Assistance is provided to the Government and the Assembly of Kosovo to conduct detailed analyses, develop policy options, provide advice and coordination with relevant stakeholders to develop better policies and improved governance.

DEMOS supports all the municipalities in Kosovo to bring about systemic change that promotes good governance and better service delivery that leads to positive impact on citizens’ lives. The flagship intervention is the introduction of Performance Grants. The better the performance, the higher the grant.

The grant system is now managed by the Ministry of Local Government Administration (MLGA), with DEMOS backstopping, and is based on the national Performance Management System (PMS) for municipalities.
In addition, DEMOS offers technical assistance to municipal staff empowering them to deliver better results and also supports the central government in the development of policies for a more conducive framework for decentralised governance.

• Total grant: 46.04 M 
• Number of Projects Financed: 268
• Number of Citizens Benefited: 740 K

DEMOS places great emphasis on its strong partnership with key institutions to amplify the impact and longevity of our interventions.

Strengthening underrepresented voices

What use is a park bench that people with walking disabilities can't reach? Who wants to walk on a busy street without a sidewalk? And who should benefit from the infrastructure in towns and villages, if not those who inhabit them?

Municipalities often prioritize things that don’t align with citizens’ biggest needs. For citizen’s voices to be heard, they must be able to participate in the community.

The DEMOS project works with local governments, ministries and other stakeholders to provide support in three key areas:

1. Strengthening local democracy by involving citizens more in decision-making. The inclusion of women and marginalized groups is a priority.

2. Improving financial management and transparency, thereby strengthening accountability to citizen. Decisions on how public money is spent should be based on more sound data.

3. Improving delivery of services to citizens.

Effective laws, policies and reform programs

Performance-based grants are at the heart of this project. DEMOS supports communities based on their performance: The better communities do in this regard, the higher the annual grant they receive from the project. The entire cycle — from data collection, assessment, allocation and management of funds to final reporting and auditing — is integrated into Kosovo's government systems.

To ensure that nothing stands in the way of effective decentralized governance, Helvetas supports the central government in conducting detailed analyses, developing policy options, offering policy advice, and coordinating with relevant stakeholders.

The project has expanded geographically to cover all 38 municipalities of Kosovo. In this (third) phase, these processes are gradually being transferred from Helvetas to the ministry responsible for local government.