The mayor of Malisheve/Malishevo, Isni Kilaj, and a representative of UN-Habitat’s Municipal Spatial Planning Support Programme (MuSPP), Ishaku Maitumbi, exchanged the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at a ceremony held in  the municipal assembly hall of the of Malishevë/Malishevo municipality, on Thursday, February 23, 2012. The MoU defines the cooperation between municipality and the support that MuSPP will give in the preparation of the Municipal Development Plan. As stated by Mr. Kilaj, the MDP document is one of the main priorities of the municipality in next two years. This plan will be the main guiding document for the future development of the municipality. The Mayor reconfirmed his strong commitment and support to this task. On behalf of UN-Habitat and MUSPP, Mr. Maitumbi pointed out that UN-Habitat has already appointed a designated officer who will work together with municipal staff and provide on the job assistance throughout the MDP process. Mr. Maitumbi committed support and expertise of UN-Habitat’s professionals based in the Programme’s office in Prishtina.  

Following the ceremony an introductory presentation was made by the MuSPP staff. The presentation covered the issues of the legislative process and legal requirements as well as the stages of the preparation of a MDP document. The “in-house” approach will be used by UN-Habitat and the municipality while drafting the MDP. This approach has proved to be very successful in other MuSPP partner municipalities, Junik and Hani I Elezit, and is being applied in Mamusha, Gracanica and Partesh. The approach provides for strong public participation in the MDP development process and places particular attention to its inclusive and gender-sensitive character. Representative from different interest groups including high-ranking municipal officials, civil society, media and citizens were present at this meeting.

The first phase of the MDP document has already started and a visioning workshop will be the next major step to follow.