The project aims at supporting the implementation of the Local Government Reform in Cyprus and strengthening the capacity of local authorities to provide good democratic governance and high quality services to their citizens, according to European standards. It will assist Cypriot authorities to: 

• Improve the national capacity to deliver sustainable training and capacity-building services to the local authorities;
• Ensure that local authorities have access to expertise related to good governance issues.

The Council of Europe’s Centre of Expertise for Good Governance will steer the implementation of the project in coordination with the main beneficiary and donor – the Ministry of Interior of Cyprus, as well as with other Cypriot implementing partner institutions and relevant stakeholders.

The Centre of Expertise will also ensure the overall implementation of the project in cooperation with the national implementing partners. In particular:

• The Centre of Expertise will provide the international expertise and ensure compliance with the relevant European standards. It will also share the best European practice in local governance in cooperation with the inter-governmental European Committee on Democracy and Governance.
• The Cypriot implementing partners will ensure the local expertise necessary for contextualising the recommendations and capacity-building tools. They will also take care of logistical arrangements, when needed.

In particular, the project will contribute through:

• Provision of Policy Advice and organisation of a Peer Review containing concrete recommendations to the Cypriot authorities on the implementation of the Reform.
• Update of the Training Needs Analysis and the National Training and Capacity Building Strategy which were developed in 2018 with the support of the Council of Europe.
• Development of training curricula, materials and tools, and training of trainers with the aim of establishing a pool of local experts that will ensure local ownership and sustainability of the project results. 
• Supporting the local authorities in improving the delivery of public services to their citizens, by implementing the following capacity-building tools of the Centre of Expertise for Good Governance:
  • Leadership Academy Programme – to build institutional leadership skills within the local authorities.
  • Public Ethics Benchmarking - to develop a national benchmark on public ethics at local level;
  • Inter-Municipal Cooperation – to strengthen the capacity of Municipalities and Communities to share resources towards the achievement of common goals;
  • Strategic Municipal Planning, Performance Management, Risk Management and Internal Audit, and Resilience Building Strategies – to improve local authorities’ ability to efficiently plan their future with a long-term and sustainable vision, and monitor the progress they are making in the process;
  • European Label of Governance Excellence - to promote compliance with the 12 Principles of Good Democratic

• The Ministry of Interior of Cyprus;
• The Unions of Cyprus Municipalities and Communities;
• Cypriot municipalities and communities, their staff and institutional structures;
• Other public authorities such as the Cyprus Academy of Public Administration;

The project is funded by the Government of Cyprus (under the Recovery and Resilience Facility) and implemented by the Council of Europe’s Centre of Expertise for Good Governance

The total budget of the project is € 840 000 EUR

The project will run from 1 January 2023 to 30 June 2025