USAID/OTI Serbia and Montenegro Program Description
FY2002 Budget - $8,500,000
The Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) began its Serbia and Montenegro Program in July 1997 with the initial objectives of curbing hard-line attitudes and perceptions, maximizing the availability of objective information, and promoting peaceful democratic change throughout the country. Following the overthrow of the Milosevic regime, OTI launched the Democratic Transition Initiative (DTI) to consolidate the political gains achieved in the elections of 2000. DTI's strategy in 2002 is to work at both the local and republic levels to engage citizens and promote activities that will increase the pace of reform. DTI's efforts target key sectors of reform including the judiciary, economy, local self-governance, anti-corruption, and minority rights promotion. DTI also seeks to increase awareness and knowledge of human rights issues, expand the dialogue on truth and responsibility, and support electoral activities. DTI has offices in Belgrade, Nis, Kragujevac, and Podgorica. OTI's implementing partner in Serbia and Montenegro is Creative Associates International, Incorporated. Since October 2000, DTI has approved 591 grants worth more than $13.2 million.
Program activities include:
Pace of Reform: DTI works with a broad coalition of NGOs and media outlets to push for quicker implementation of reforms and to enhance citizens' knowledge of what the reforms mean and how the reforms will affect them. To do this, DTI is developing integrated media and NGO campaigns for the prioritized five sectors of reform, while also supporting an umbrella campaign to link key reforms to an over-arching vision for the future direction of Serbia and Montenegro. DTI also provides support to the Republic and local governments for activities promoting information about reform efforts, and uses media campaigns and NGO-sponsored activities to increase awareness of human rights issues and transparent electoral processes. As of June 2002, DTI has approved 179 pace of reform grants, worth more than $3.3 million.
Community Improvement Projects: In 2001, community improvement projects (CIPs) constituted the bulk of DTI programming. DTI targeted select municipalities, using community-identified projects such as the rehabilitation of schools and health clinics, and the repair of electrical and water systems, to promote citizen participation and give standing to democratically-elected local officials. From November 2000 through May 2002, DTI initiated 177 projects worth more than $5 million, which was matched by an additional $5.2 million from other sources. USAID has initiated a longer-term program for community development, the Community Revitalization through Democratic Action (CRDA), to continue activities in 77% of the municipalities where DTI initiated projects. DTI still implements targeted CIPs in regions where CRDA does not have a presence.
Southern Serbia Programming: In December 2000, armed ethnic Albanians in the Southern Serbia launched attacks on the Serbian military and demanded the right to join Kosovo. In response, DTI began rapid identification and implementation of community improvement projects to ease tensions and allow ethnic Serb and Albanian negotiators time to resolve the conflict peacefully. In 2001, OTI initiated a total of 46 grants in 28 Southern Serbia communities worth an estimated $1.6 million, of which 600,000 USD was provided by the USAID/E&E Bureau's SEED budget.
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