CEF Annual report 2021

6 CEF ANNUAL REPORT 2021 CEF ANNUAL REPORT 2021 7
CHAIR OF THE CEF GOVERNING
BOARD’S WELCOME
DIRECTOR’S WELCOME
Dear colleagues,
Dear friends,
The year 2021 was an important
milestone for Slovenia and for the
CEF. Slovenia’s presidency of the CEF
Governing Board coincided with Slovenia’s
presidency of the Council of the European
Union (EU) and the 30 th anniversary of
national independence. It was also a
jubilee year for the CEF, that celebrated
its 20 th anniversary.
It is my pleasure to present you with
the CEF Annual Report, highlighting the
results that we together achieved in
2021. With each annual report comes
an opportunity to reflect on how we
have been progressing in our vision to
inspire public officials, both individuals
and teams, to shape institutional
governance that drives successful
economies and fair societies.
In 2001, the CEF started out as a small Slovenian institution;
today, it is an international organization based in
Slovenia. It was the Slovenian Ministry of Finance that,
in consultation with the International Monetary Fund
(IMF), decided to establish an institution with a mission
to share knowledge and experience in institution building
and capacity development in the area of public finance
in the Western Balkans. From its modest beginning
with only a handful of staff, the CEF has evolved
into a world-renowned center of knowledge in Southeast
Europe (SEE).
The Slovenian Ministry of Finance has been the largest
consistent donor to the CEF program right from the start.
Our close partnership in these twenty years has been an
opportunity to exchange best practices and knowledge
between the two institutions. Experience has shown that
strong and resilient partnerships are crucial for development
and growth. This goes also for the close cooperation
of the CEF with its regional members.
The strength of every partnership demonstrates itself
in challenging times. We have witnessed this in the last
two years: the CEF has proved to be a resilient and flexi-
ble partner, while ensuring knowledge to its partners. In
2021, the CEF outstandingly implemented its planned
program and delivered almost one hundred events over
the year. The efforts of the whole CEF team and its partners
towards a common goal in the changing global and
regional circumstances have been comprehensive.
Many challenges in SEE and beyond remain, and new
challenges and difficulties are arising every day. It is important
to make sure that the institutions in the region
and its people remain strong, resilient to change, and
adaptive to new circumstances. The mission of the CEF
is just that – to actively build through knowledge and
partnership.
Now that Slovenia’s mandate for the presidency of the
CEF Governing Board is coming to an end and Albania
will take over, allow me to thank the whole CEF community.
I wish Albania a successful presidency and many
accomplishments in achieving our mutual objectives in
the coming year.
Andrej Šircelj
Minister of Finance, Slovenia
In 2021, an important achievement was the confirmation
of our strategic direction until 2026. It reflects the CEF’s
20 years of experience and is based on our thorough understanding
of the opportunities and challenges of this
region. For the first time, we made the CEF’s value-added
explicit by developing our own methodology to support
public institutions in becoming and being learning organizations.
Our primary target audiences continue to be ministries
of finance, central banks and tax administrations.
Together, we collaborate with other public institutions, especially
line ministries. As experts in learning and knowledge
sharing on finance, we put people at the center of
our activities.
When it comes to the program implementation in 2021,
we continued to face similar challenges as the year before.
Nevertheless, we were able to successfully carry out our
plans and in total developed, designed and delivered 98
events, most of them still online. To remain agile and adapt
to circumstances, we invested in technologies to support
events in a hybrid format. We facilitated four hybrid events,
providing access to learning also to those unable to attend
events in person. Agility was also reflected in the way we
worked as a team: we continued to combine work from our
headquarters and telework. Accordingly, we adapted our
physical space that the team shares at our headquarters
in Ljubljana to be a role model for other institutions.
An annual overview is an opportunity to celebrate the
achievements of all who contributed to our continuous
progress. Our team joined forces with important stakeholders
of the CEF community: Governing Board and
Advisory Board members, CEF Coordinators, numerous
donors and partners, and affiliated international and regional
experts. Together we engaged 2,938 participants
to learn and share knowledge. In collaboration, we published
seven knowledge products to accentuate our learning
offer. My sincere appreciation goes to each member
of the CEF community. You again showcased your undermined
commitment to our mission and the belief in the
potential of people in SEE.
Looking ahead, we continue to have ambitious plans to
further develop in our role as a globally recognized knowledge
hub. As we implement our strategy, we will continue
to broaden our community and connect people to learn.
Our region is rich with vibrant cultures and people that
have amazing talents. It is on all of us to leverage from
this, seize the opportunities, and create ones ourselves.
Rather than remaining idle or even despairing, let’s all
keep in mind that we have a choice, as well as a commitment,
to the generations behind us to act.
Jana Repanšek
Director