Croatia

>> Regional Overview >> Croatia Overview

Activity Data Sheet PROGRAM: Croatia TITLE & NUMBER: More Effective Citizen Participation and Improved Governance, 160-021 STATUS: Continuing PROPOSED FY 2001 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $10,550,000 AEEB PROPOSED FY 2002 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $9,550,000 AEEB INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1995 ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2006 Summary: USAID's goal in Croatia is to help the country make a successful transition to a democratic society and a market economy and, in so doing, serve as a cornerstone for stability in the region. In order to achieve this goal, governance at all levels must become more transparent, efficient and responsive to citizens' needs. Citizens must maintain a high level of participation in enacting change and improving their communities. Finally, independent media organizations must hold all levels of government accountable, while providing citizens with the balanced information they need to participate effectively in a democratic society. Additional assistance will be provided at the central level to introduce and shore-up reform as needs and partners are identified, with much of the national support linking to local development. Program Categories include civil society/NGO strengthening, support for independent media, political process support, fiscal and administrative decentralization, local government management capacity, and support for rule of law. Key Results: The Mission expects to achieve progress toward the following results in the near term: (1) More Effective Citizen Participation in Political and Economic Decision-Making; (2) Sustainable and Balanced Commercial Media; and (3) More Efficient and Responsive Governance Systems. Performance and Prospects: With USAID assistance, Croatian civil society organizations (CSOs) have become stronger and more effective in campaigning and advocating policy changes. CSOs played a pivotal role in the opposition election victories in January/February 2000. Civil society's next major challenge is to facilitate democratic and economic reforms by helping ordinary citizens to understand their rights and responsibilities in a democratic society as well as engaging citizens in improving their communities. During FY 2000, USAID assisted in revising the legislative framework for CSOs. Three independent training organizations and three resource centers for CSOs were established. However, the enabling environment for CSOs is not yet sufficient to make these gains sustainable. USAID civil society assistance in FY 2001 will: 1) build CSO financial and organizational capacity, strengthen the "infrastructure" of resource organizations, and promote indigenous philanthropy at the national and local level; and 2) provide small grants to grassroots CSOs to carry out projects that benefit local communities. This new program will encourage partnerships with businesses and government by requiring matching contributions. In FY 2001, USAID proposes to obligate $3.1 million for assistance to CSOs. USAID helps the independent media sector strengthen broadcasters' and journalists' associations, improve journalism standards, and introduce business management for commercial print and broadcast media. ProMedia II will provide business consulting and business-planning seminars for media outlets and will introduce competent management practices for commercial ventures in the media sector. The Croatian Journalists' Association will provide journalists with training to increase the quality and balance of news reporting. A code of ethics for journalists consonant with Croatia's new political culture will be developed. In FY 2001, USAID proposes to obligate $0.9 million for the media program. Since 1994, USAID and other international donors have actively supported democratic political processes by providing training and technical assistance to democratic political parties regarding political party strengthening, coalition building, polling, and communications. In FY 2001, through the National Democratic Institute (NDI), USAID will continue to provide political party strengthening at the local level to help parties prepare for local elections to be held in May 2001. An NDI sub-grant to GONG, Croatia's election monitoring NGO, will support citizen monitoring of local elections scheduled for May 2001 and increase citizen access to Parliament. Through the International Republican Institute (IRI), USAID provides communications training for the GOC ministry spokespersons, as well as focus group work and political polling, to help GOC officials better understand their constituents' concerns. In FY 2001, USAID proposes to obligate $1.9 million to strengthen political processes. In May 2000, USAID initiated a new activity, the Local Government Reform Program (LGRP). Implemented by the Urban Institute, the LGRP aims to develop best practices in local government finance and administration in at least four target municipalities. The program will also provide assistance to the GOC in developing a policy framework for local government reform that addresses administrative decentralization. Previous assistance in local government reform was provided through a modest but successful two-year program in selected war-affected municipalities of Croatia. In FY 2001, USAID proposes to obligate $1.5 million for the LGRP. Prior to the 2000 elections, the bulk of USAID's assistance in establishing the rule of law was provided by the American Bar Association/Central and East European Law Institute (ABA/CEELI) in partnership with the Association of Croatian Judges (ACJ) in the form of workshops, symposia, and seminars to increase the professional capacity of the judiciary. In FY 2001, ABA/CEELI will continue to work with the ACJ to increase its professional capacity and may expand its program to include clinical legal education. In FY 2000, USAID launched the Municipal Court Improvement Project (MCIP) in order to help Croatia address systematic inefficiencies in court administration that resulted in huge case backlogs. This activity, implemented by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) in partnership with the Croatian Ministry of Justice (MOJ), will accelerate civil case processing in the Zagreb Municipal Court and assist the MOJ to introduce reforms that will promote fair and efficient disposition of civil cases. In FY 2001, USAID proposes to obligate $2.05 million for the rule of law. In FY 2001, USAID proposes to obligate $1.1 million for a targeted training program and program support for all activities under this strategic objective (SO). Assistance to national governance institutions (parliament, government, and the judiciary) may be expanded in FY 2002 as needs and partners are identified. USAID will continue to support sustainable and balanced commercial media in Croatia under its 2001 - 2005 strategy. Media assistance to strengthen the legislative framework for independent media may increase, and may add a focus on guaranteeing freedom of access to information. Beneficiaries: Direct beneficiaries of NGO activities include over one thousand organizations that advocate on behalf of women, environmental and social issues, and the human rights of minority populations and the disabled. Beneficiaries also include citizens who receive health and social services from these NGOs. Direct beneficiaries of media activities include over thirty-five media outlets that have received business consulting services and approximately 500 members of the Croatian Journalists' Association, who have received advanced training and improved access to legal services and professional development opportunities. Seven television stations provide approximately 3,600,000 viewers with daily access to fair and unbiased news coverage. In the area of improved governance, direct beneficiaries include the parliamentarians and government spokespersons that have received professional training, as well as Croatian voters, who enjoyed free and fair national elections thanks to election monitoring efforts. Judicial sector beneficiaries include 1,000 Croatian judges, and over one million Croatian citizens served by the Zagreb Municipal Court. Beneficiaries of local government reform efforts will include local officials and 800,000 citizens in the cities of Rijeka, Osijek, Varazdin, and Crikvenica. Possible Adjustments to Plans: If the central government or the parliament express interest in receiving assistance, USAID will consider redirecting some funds from civil society development or support for independent media. If the GOC enacts legislation that adversely affects independent broadcast media, a university partnership to improve the teaching of journalism and to boost professional standards may be considered. Other Donor Programs: Although the European Union and individual bilateral donors actively support democratic development, most major donors are still in the process of defining their strategic priorities for work in Croatia following the elections. These strategic priorities will likely reflect a greater emphasis on assistance to government institutions and a sharp deadline in civil society institutions. Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: USAID implements its democracy activities primarily through U.S.-based NGOs and contractors, including the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX), the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute, the International Center for Nonprofit Law, the STAR Project of World Learning, the American Bar Association/Central and East European Law Initiative, The Urban Institute, and the National Center for State Courts and Academy of Educational Development (AED). The implementers of the successor programs will be determined through competitive procurement. FY 2002 Performance Table Selected Performance Measures: More Effective Citizen Participation and Improved Governance, 160-021 Indicator FY97 (Actual) FY98 (Actual) FY99 (Actual) FY00 (Actual) FY01 (Plan) FY02 (Plan) Indicator 1: Freedom House combined average rating 4.0 (PF) 4.0 (PF) 4.0 (PF) 4.0 (PF) NA* NA* Indicator 2: Freedom House press freedom rating 63 (NF) 63 (NF) 63 (NF) 63 (NF) NA* NA* Indicator 3: Overall strength/development of the NGO sector 4.6 4.4 5.0 4.3 NA* NA* Indicator 4:             Indicator Information: Indicator Level (S)or(IR) Unit of Measure Source Indicator Description Indicator 1: IR Scale 1 to 7 (1 = Free, 7 = Not Free) Freedom House, The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties, 1999-2000 Laws, regulations, political pressure/controls and repressive actions Indicator 2: IR Freedom House scale of press freedom Freedom House Report Scores from 1-30 correspond to Free (F): from 31-60, Partly Free (PF); and from 61-75, Not Free (NF) Indicator 3: IR The Sustainability Index is a composite score based on qualitative analysis of the entire NGO sector in seven areas: legal environment, service provision, infrastructure, organizational capacity, financial viability, advocacy skills, public image of NGOs USAID NGO Sustainability Index A score of 1 corresponds to strong progress towards sustainable NGO development. 7 is the lowest rating, corresponding to erosion or no change since the end of the former socialist era. Indicator 4: IR       *Note: USAID/Croatia recently received approval for a new five-year strategic plan which redefines SO 2.1 and will therefore require new measurements and indicators in the reporting cycle. A Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP) is currently under development which will propose new SO and IR level indicators. U.S. Financing (In thousands of dollars)

:  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  What's New : FOIA Requests : Privacy Policy : Email This Page : Plug-ins : FAQs : Help Desk : Contact Us : Site Map Last Updated on: May 29, 2002