North Macedonia’s aspirations to become a prosperous, self-reliant, and inclusive democratic society are hampered by challenges in local revenue generation and budget execution. As North Macedonia advances its European Union accession processes, it is focused on creating efficient and effective government institutions at the local and national levels. This includes the appropriate administrative capacity to adequately coordinate and ensure the correct calculation, collection, payment, and control of its own resources to be able to provide efficient service delivery for its citizens.

The Strengthening Resource Mobilization Activity (SRMA) assists all 81 municipalities of North Macedonia to raise and independently manage the resources necessary to fund services demanded by its citizens. SRMA facilitates participatory and sustainable transformation, assisting North Macedonia’s Local Self-Government Units to generate, access, and effectively manage the own-source and external revenues necessary to fund services and programs that benefit their citizens.

The activity works with Local Self-Government Units, the Government of North Macedonia, and key stakeholders to enhance the quality of municipal tax and fee collection systems and increase the Local Self-Government Units’ capacity to assess external resources from the national government, international organizations, and/or capital markets and banks. The activity also improves the Units’ ability to plan, manage, implement public sector revenues in compliance with the Government of North Macedonia’s regulations, and enhance the decentralization process.

SRMA works with Local Self-Government Units, the Government of North Macedonia, and key stakeholders to:

• Objective 1: Own-Source Revenues Increased, through enhancing the quality of municipal tax and fee collection systems.
• Objective II: Greater External Funding Accessed, through increasing the Local Self-Government Units’ capacity to access external resources from the national government, international organizations, and/or capital markets and banks.
• Objective III: Local governments’ Budget Execution Rate Increased, through improving the Local Self-Government Units’ ability to plan, manage, and implement public sector revenues in compliance with Government of North Macedonia regulations.
• Objective IV: Decentralization Process Enhanced, through activities that enhance and propel fiscal decentralization.