Towards a results-based monitoring system in public administration in Kosovo

Halili, Ruzhdi (author)

Purpose: This article aims to analyse the effectiveness of the monitoring system for sector strategies, with particular attention to public administration reform in Kosovo. It seeks to determine whether the monitoring system serves its purpose in measuring performance and the achievement of the results envisaged in sector strategies, thereby supporting evidence-based decision-making, the measurement of institutional performance, and related processes. Design/methodology/approach: The study employs a qualitative research methodology, combining document analysis of monitoring and evaluation reports published by Kosovo institutions during 2024 and 2025, public administration reform strategies, and sector strategies related to the published monitoring and evaluation reports. This method is complemented by the authors’ non-participatory observation and by secondary literature from various international organisations, particularly the OECD, the World Bank and UNDP, as well as from civil society and other domestic stakeholders shaping results-based monitoring in Kosovo. Findings: The study reveals that Kosovo’s public administration has undertaken formal steps to institutionalise a results-based monitoring system in public sector planning, including strategic planning requirements, reporting procedures and general reporting practices. However, challenges remain regarding the quality of the results-based monitoring system and its components, including objectives, indicators, targets and related elements. Reporting, particularly the annual reporting system, is in place and practised. However, most of the analysed reports contain information primarily at the output-indicator level, while some report at the outcome level. Reporting, monitoring and evaluation at the impact level remain overly ambitious. The study also provides evidence that monitoring continues to rely heavily on administrative data, that the use of diversified information-collection methods is limited, and that civil society involvement remains restricted. Academic contribution to the field: The article contributes to the body of literature on public sector monitoring systems, particularly in newly established and transitional public administrations. It provides a country- specific analysis of Kosovo and enriches the comparative regional literature on monitoring and evaluation systems in the Western Balkan countries. The article also links theoretical perspectives with the practical implications of monitoring frameworks in public sector reforms. Originality/significance/value: The article focuses on the analysis of documents that present the monitoring framework in the context of public administration reforms and the country’s European integration process. It is valuable for public administration institutions, policy-makers in Kosovo, civil society stakeholders, donors and development partners, as well as scholars interested in public administration reforms, particularly monitoring systems in public administration.

• Language: English
• Keywords: results-based monitoring, RBM, evaluation, Kosovo, public administration reform, strategic planning, sector strategies
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FU - Faculty of Administration
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 283-319
• Numbering: Vol. 24, iss. 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-184156
• UDC: 35:005.584.1(497.115)
• ISSN on article: 2591-2240
• DOI: 10.17573/cepar.2026.1.10
• COBISS.SI-ID: 281667331
• Publication date in RUL: 01.07.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Central European public administration review
• Shortened title: CEPAR
• Publisher: Fakulteta za upravo
• ISSN: 2591-2240
• COBISS.SI-ID: 293849600

Licences

• License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
• Description: This Creative Commons license is very similar to the regular Attribution license, but requires the release of all derivative works under this same license.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: K rezultatsko usmerjenemu sistemu spremljanja v javni upravi na Kosovu

Abstract

Namen članka je analizirati učinkovitost sistema spremljanja sektorskih strategij, s posebnim poudarkom na reformi javne uprave na Kosovu. Avtor ugotavlja, ali sistem spremljanja izpolnjuje svoj namen pri merjenju uspešnosti in doseganja rezultatov, predvidenih v sektorskih strategijah, ter s tem podpira odločanje na podlagi dokazov, merjenje institucionalne uspešnosti in z njimi povezane procese. Zasnova/metodologija/pristop: študija temelji na kvalitativni raziskovalni metodologiji, ki združuje analizo dokumentov, in sicer poročil o spremljanju in vrednotenju, ki so jih kosovske institucije objavile v letih 2024 in 2025, strategij reforme javne uprave ter sektorskih strategij, povezanih z objavljenimi poročili o spremljanju in vrednotenju. Ta pristop dopolnjujejo neparticipativno opazovanje avtorjev in sekundarna literatura različnih mednarodnih organizacij, zlasti Organizacije za gospodarsko sodelovanje in razvoj (OECD), Svetovne banke in Programa Združenih narodov za razvoj (UNDP), pa tudi civilne družbe ter drugih domačih deležnikov, ki sooblikujejo rezultatsko usmerjeno spremljanje na Kosovu. Ugotovitve: študija kaže, da je kosovska javna uprava sprejela formalne korake za institucionalizacijo rezultatsko usmerjenega sistema spremljanja v okviru načrtovanja javnega sektorja, vključno z zahtevami strateškega načrtovanja, postopki poročanja in splošnimi poročevalskimi praksami. Kljub temu ostajajo izzivi, povezani s kakovostjo rezultatsko usmerjenega sistema spremljanja in njegovih sestavnih delov, vključno s cilji, kazalniki, ciljnimi vrednostmi in sorodnimi elementi. Poročanje, zlasti sistem letnega poročanja, je vzpostavljeno in se uporablja v praksi. Vendar večina analiziranih poročil vsebuje informacije predvsem na ravni kazalnikov izložkov, nekatera pa poročajo na ravni rezultatov. Poročanje, spremljanje in vrednotenje na ravni vpliva ostajajo preveč ambiciozni. Avtor prav tako ugotavlja, da spremljanje še vedno pretežno temelji na administrativnih podatkih, da je uporaba raznolikih metod zbiranja informacij omejena ter da vključevanje civilne družbe ostaja skromno. Akademski prispevek k področju: članek prispeva k literaturi o sistemih spremljanja v javnem sektorju, zlasti v novoustanovljenih in tranzicijskih javnih upravah. Za Kosovo prinaša specifično nacionalno analizo ter dopolnjuje primerjalno regionalno literaturo o sistemih spremljanja in vrednotenja v državah Zahodnega Balkana. Hkrati povezuje teoretična izhodišča s praktičnimi implikacijami okvirov spremljanja v reformah javnega sektorja. Izvirnost/pomen/vrednost: članek se osredotoča na analizo dokumentov, ki so okvir spremljanja v kontekstu reform javne uprave in procesa evropske integracije države. Pomemben je za institucije javne uprave, oblikovalce politik na Kosovu, deležnike civilne družbe, donatorje in ra-zvojne partnerje ter raziskovalce, ki se ukvarjajo z reformami javne uprave, zlasti s sistemi spremljanja v javni upravi.

• Keywords: rezultatsko usmerjeno spremljanje, RBM, vrednotenje, Kosovo, reforma javne uprave, strateško načrtovanje, sektorske strategije