The enforcement of good governance and improvement of management in local government units are main focuses of development interventions in this work field. DED supports the organizational and human resource development processes to foster transparency for the local population and to promote their participation.

DED aims to improve the organizational, managerial and technical skills of partners, mainly in municipalities. Basic managerial skills such as policy development, planning, budgeting and office management are focused on.

Technical assistants from DED work together with the relevant actors in the field of decentralization. In a common effort, they contribute to the changes in administrative units inherent to new citizen-orientated approaches in local government.

The enhancement of a democratic environment by these approaches will be successful only if concrete changes in local government’s procedures and behaviors will happen. Furthermore, an active involvement of the population and the organizations of the civil society are another factor for a sustainable development.