{"id":4335,"date":"2025-09-11T21:22:29","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T19:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/2025\/09\/11\/energy_projects_md_uzb-copy\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T20:52:05","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T18:52:05","slug":"public_finance_and_cybersecurity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/2025\/09\/11\/public_finance_and_cybersecurity\/","title":{"rendered":"New Regional Projects on Public Finance and Cybersecurity"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3><strong><span class=\"EOP SCXW53137978 BCX0\" data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559740&quot;:257}\"><span class=\"TextRun SCXW68700731 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-GB\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW68700731 BCX0\">Two new regional initiatives launched in fall 2025 aim to strengthen local governance and cyber resilience across the Western Balkans and Moldova. <\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW68700731 BCX0\">These<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW68700731 BCX0\"> are the first regional projects under the <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCXW68700731 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-GB\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW68700731 BCX0\">Public and Private Finance for Development <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCXW68700731 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-GB\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW68700731 BCX0\">(PPFD).<\/span><\/span><span class=\"EOP SCXW68700731 BCX0\" data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559740&quot;:257}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3><!--more--><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Funded by the Slovak Ministry of Finance and implemented by UNDP, these initiatives represent a new step in fostering regional cooperation and knowledge-sharing. As Viktoria Rieger Mlynarcikova, UNDP Programme Specialist explains, <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cThese first regional initiatives show the ambition to go beyond national borders, bringing countries together in ways not previously pursued in our partnership. By sharing experiences and experimenting with new approaches, governments and local authorities can manage public resources more responsibly and safeguard critical infrastructure against risks that are increasingly global in nature.\u201d<\/span><\/i><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Smart Finance for Accountable Local Governance<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The Smart Finance for Accountable Local Governance project is designed to strengthen public audit practices focusing on SDG auditing at the local level, ensuring that public resources are used more efficiently and transparently. It connects ministries of finance, supreme audit institutions, anti-corruption bodies and municipalities from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia to exchange knowledge and develop a common approach to SDG-oriented auditing tailored to local governments.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4338\" style=\"width: 624px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4338\" class=\"wp-image-4338 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/RP-Auditing-kick-off-meeting-2-e1757621472712.png\" alt=\"Kick off meeting held online, September 2025\" width=\"614\" height=\"269\" srcset=\"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/RP-Auditing-kick-off-meeting-2-e1757621472712.png 614w, https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/RP-Auditing-kick-off-meeting-2-e1757621472712-300x131.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 614px) 100vw, 614px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-4338\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kick off meeting held online, September 2025<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Because nearly 70% of the Sustainable Development Goals are to be achieved at the local level, the initiative emphasizes the crucial role of municipalities. It also introduces new tools and practices to improve governance, accountability and corruption prevention. The project is aligned with the EU Reform Agenda and contributes to the Western Balkans Growth Plan.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Cybersecurity for a Resilient Digital Future<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The Cybersecurity for a Resilient Digital Future project addresses the growing challenge of protecting the energy sector and other critical infrastructure from cyber threats. Over the next two years, it will strengthen regional cybersecurity capacities, implement standards, mobilize private sector investment and scale innovative solutions.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The initiative fosters coordination among national cybersecurity agencies, energy ministries and private sector partners in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia, leveraging emerging technologies, including AI, to build a resilient and future-ready digital ecosystem.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Even at this early stage, the projects lay the groundwork for practical improvements that will enhance governance, strengthen accountability, and boost regional resilience.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sorry, this entry is only available in Slovak.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4337,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101,4,120,3,57,118,56],"tags":[99],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/regional-projects.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4335"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4335"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4341,"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4335\/revisions\/4341"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}