The project, amounting to US$ 16 million, was aimed at supporting the decentralisation and strengthening of management and administrative capacities of local self-government units to facilitate their taking over new, decentralised powers in preparations for Croatia's accession to the EU.
The Mayor of Rijeka and president of the Federation of Cities and Municipalities and the Association of Cities, Vojko Obersnel, said the project had helped establish cooperation with more than 300 Croatian cities and municipalities.
We have established a stable federation of cities, in which decisions are made on the basis of expert analysis and in the interest of local self-government units, Obersnel said.
The Secretary of the Central State Office for Administration, Antun Palaric, said the project had set a framework for the procedure of direct election of mayors and that a bill on that matter had passed a second reading in the parliament.
The bill contained a controversial provision on referendum as a method to recall a directly elected mayor, Palaric said.
Commenting on debates on whether persons under 18 should be granted the right to vote, Palaric said that the Croatian public was not familiar with recommendations from the Council of Europe to consider introducing voting rights for persons under the age of 18, noting that in Austria the voting age was lowered to 16.
USAID Mission chief Bill Jeffers presented Palaric and Obersnel with awards for their contribution to the development of local self-government units.
USAID is the chief organisation of the US government for assistance to countries undergoing economic and democratic reforms and it is active in more than 100 countries.
The Urban Institute is a Washington-based advisory and research NGO which implements USAID projects.