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Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
>> Regional Overview >> Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Overview Activity Data Sheet
PROGRAM: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Republics of Serbia and Montenegro)
TITLE & NUMBER: Increased Better Informed Citizens' Participation in Political and Economic Decision-Making, 169-021 and 170-021
STATUS: Continuing
PROPOSED FY 2001 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE:
Montenegro: $11,785,000 AEEB
Serbia: $39,150,000 AEEB
PROPOSED FY 2002 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $80,000,000 AEEB
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1997 ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2006Summary: This objective promotes citizen participation in the political process and public decision-making and a stronger, pluralistic, transparent democratic political culture. USAID's program emphasizes the establishment of local civic community implementation committees to rehabilitate civic life, local government capacity building, strengthening the rule of law, political party development, and strengthening nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), free labor unions and the independent media.
Program Categories include relief and economic rehabilitation, rule of law, local government management capacity and support organizations, political process, civil society and NGO strengthening, labor and independent media.
Key Results: The principal results for which near-term progress is expected are: (1) more citizens directly participating in decisions affecting their lives and the development of their community as indicated by the number of civic committees established; (2) more responsive and accountable local governments as indicated by improvements in financial management and budgeting, information technology systems, and communal services management; (3) improved rule of law as indicated by better trained and supported legal professionals; (4) improved political process as indicated by increased citizen involvement in political parties; (5) NGOs, independent labor organizations and media strengthened as indicated by the number of organizations legally registered or licensed under improved laws and regulations and financially self-sufficient.
Performance and Prospects: Performance in FY 2000 was extraordinary in Serbia. The dramatic Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) presidential and municipal elections on September 24, 2000 and the subsequent popular peaceful uprising on October 5, 2000, which defended Vojislav Kostunica's electoral victory, marginalized the Milosevic regime and started a process that after the December Republic of Serbia election installed the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) in a position of indisputable authority. These victories altered the political landscape and presented the international community with an opportunity to work with a democratically elected and reform minded governments of the FRY and Serbia.
The FRY and Serbian elections demonstrated the effectiveness of USAID's pre-election program of support for civil society development, independent media, and democratic party building. USAID worked effectively with U.S. and local NGO partners to provide interested democratic political parties with critical public opinion survey information concerning the average citizens' interests and priorities and with campaign training. Despite the lack of access to Serb territory, U.S. NGOs trained local electoral watchdog NGOs, activists groups, and independent labor movement in electoral monitoring and Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) activities. USAID assistance in developing and training volunteers to implement a system of exit polls gave the opposition the confidence to declare an electoral victory in spite of manipulated electoral reporting by the Milosevic regime. The credibility afforded to independent poll monitoring by the public was critical to public confidence that Kostunica had, in fact, won the election. USAID support of independent media networks also was key in supporting the Serbian peoples' struggle to ensure that the electoral process in Serbia resulted in empowering the true winner of the election. The willingness of the public to accept DOS and Kostunica as the winner of the presidential election also had much to do with the objective parallel vote monitoring conducted by other USAID-supported groups. The accurate and timely reporting of the presidential election exit poll surveys counteracted misinformation being broadcast by Milosevic controlled media. Resource city relationships with four key pro-democratic Serbia cities and cities in Ohio and countries bordering the FRY were arranged to counteract the Milosevic regime's attempts to coerce municipal leaders.
Planning for the transition of USAID's democratic and governance program from the Milosevic period to the new democratic FRY and Serbia, began before the September Kostunica victory. USAID and its partners had developed various scenarios, including plans that could be implemented immediately if Milosevic lost in September. Because of this forward planning, effective work was able to continue uninterrupted between the September 24 and December 23 elections resulting in free, fair and highly participatory parliamentary elections resulting in the DOS' majority victory.
Program development efforts to design activities that help citizens, newly elected officials, and the private sector to become actively involved in the new transparent democracy capable of representing the interest of all ethnic, social and religious groups accelerated after the electoral results became clear.
USAID is embarking on a Community Development Program to rehabilitate the foundations of civic life. Citizens will be able to directly participate in the decisions that affect their lives and the development of their communities. Civic community committees will be formed to represent and evaluate citizen interest through open and public processes. $674,922 in FY 2000 carryover funds, $27.1 million in FY 2001 AEEB funds, and $65.0 million in FY 2002 funds will be used to work with communities to identify activities such as schools, clinics, road-paving, agricultural feeder roads, water and wastewater systems, and solid waste management. NGO implementing partners will support associations for productive enterprises. The NGO implementing partners will be encouraged to link their programs and utilize other USAID and/or donor credit programs. The Community Development Program will be coordinated with USAID's municipal assistance (169-023) and humanitarian services and facilities (169-031) programs funded in FY 2001 as well as activities to increase the management capacity of local governments.
Assistance to bolster the transparency and management capacity of local governments will be provided under this objective in FY 2002 with $3 million in AEEB funds. This will expand the support to strengthen municipal management in the areas of financial management and budgeting, information technology systems, and communal service management financed in FY 2001 under the municipal assistance program (SO 2.3).
USAID will continue to support activities to institutionalize the rule of law and respect for human rights with $3.0 million in FY 2001 AEEB funds and $2.0 million in FY 2002 AEEB funds. Support will continue for lawyers, judges, and law student NGOs, activists, and newly elected government officials who are committed to those principles. New and fair Public Information, University, Independent Judiciary, NGO and Amnesty laws have been, or are in the process of being, passed. Collaborative efforts of legal and civil society NGOs, law schools, the public and the new government in the formulation of a wide variety of new laws and regulations which promote democratic, human rights, and judiciary reform will be facilitated.
Political process support will continue with $1.8 million in FY 2000 carryover funds, $1.9 million in FY 2001 AEEB funds, and $4.0 million in FY 2002 AEEB funds. The skills of newly elected officials in transparent, accountable and effective legislative and governance administration will be developed. Training in parliamentary management skills in building and maintaining voting coalitions will be provided so that the large number of laws which must be passed to correct the legal damage caused by the Milosevic regime can be put in place. Basic party management training will be continued for new party officials who replaced party officials who now hold government offices. Technical assistance and training will be provided to accelerate the return to a decentralized municipal government system and to facilitate contacts and feedback with the citizenry. Support will be continued to further develop electoral watchdog NGOs and the activist groups.
Continuing support for the growth and improvement of civil society organizations dedicated to human rights, civil action and free labor development will be provided with $3,650,000 in FY 2001 AEEB funds, and $3.0 million in FY 2002 AEEB funds. Support will be provided for NGOs to conduct cross-border, joint-action projects that build links and support the efforts of democratic-minded leaders, and that encourage regional exchanges to enable Serbian activists to learn from peers in Central and Eastern Europe and the United States. Direct material assistance will be provided to local NGOs for equipment, training and other support to bolster their self-sustainability prospects. NGO resource centers will be established to improve NGO management practices. Information access and linkage or rural villages to the rest of the country and the outside world will be improved through expansion of small Internet facilities. Support will continue for the strengthening of the FRY's independent, democratic trade unions.
Consolidation of the gains made in the establishment of an independent electronic and print media will be supported with $2.5 million in FY 2001 AEEB funds and $2.0 million in FY 2002 AEEB funds. Technical assistance will be provided to help establish a network of independent electronic media stations and adjust to the market realities of the new demand driven economy.
In order to assure advantage can be taken of every opportunity to advance participation in political and economic decision making, USAID will fund a small grants program with $1.0 in FY 2001 AEEB funds and $1.0 million in FY 2002 AEEB funds.
Beneficiaries: All ethnic, social and religious groups will benefit from the activities supported under this Strategic Objective. At the local level, citizens and civic community committee members will benefit from directly participating in the decisions that affect their lives and the development of their communities and from the infrastructure investments which are made in response to their decisions. Municipal, parliament and ministry officials will benefit from training and improved management and support systems.
Possible Adjustments to Plans: Until the people of the FRY voted out the authoritarian Milosevic regime and diplomatic relations were reestablished, USAID's strategy for democracy and governance assistance had to carried out in that context and from outside the FRY. With a new more inclusive and representative government in place, USAID is developing a new strategy for the 2001 to 2005 period which will be finalized in the coming months. Although the FRY and the Republic of Serbia made startling progress toward a transparent and representative democracy, the prospects for medium-term cohesiveness of the loosely-knit 18 party Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) are questionable. Their candidate, Vojislav Kostunica, received a bare majority of the vote and Milosevic received 37% of the vote and the DOS relies on a coalition with a party previously closely identified with the old regime to govern at the Federal level. Challenges remain from those wanting to return to prior practices or to use bullets rather than ballots to resolve real and/or perceived injustices. The results of the Republic of Montenegro's April 22 Parliamentary elections and possible referendum for complete independence also will be factored into that strategy.
Other Donor Programs: USAID and the Department of State, especially in the area of Public Diplomacy, have an extensive strategy and program to support democracy and governance. The European Union provides some support to media and NGO strengthening. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) provides some support on rule of law issues and local government. The Soros Fund for an Open Society supports NGO capacity building. The European Agency for Reconstruction and other international financial institutions such as the World Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as bilateral donors such as Canada, Italy and other European nations are likely to support municipal level investments with which the USAID-supported Community Development Program will coordinate.
Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: Freedom House (FH) and the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS) were the principal USAID partners in NGO and free labor development. The International Republican Institute (IRI) and National Democratic Institute (NDI) were USAID's principal partners for political process support along with the Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe (IDEE) and the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Rule of law was supported through the American Bar Association's Central and East European Law Institute (ABA-CEELI). Independent media was supported through the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX). The International City and County Management Association (ICMA) helped arrange resource city relationships with four key Serbia cities with other cities. USAID's partners supported the activities of indigenous organizations such as the student movement OTPOR, Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID), Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), Yugoslav Telecottage Association, Yugoslav Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, and smaller NGOs.
Selected Performance Measures: All but one of the targets, repeal of the university law, under this Strategic Objective have been or will be met in FY 2001. Current indicators and targets which were developed in the context of an autocratic regime controlling the FRY and Serbian governments and a reformist government in Montenegro will be updated and or modified under the new strategy which is being developed.
FY 2002 Performance Table
Selected Performance Measures: Increased, Better Informed Citizens' Participation in Political and Economic Decision-Making, 169-021
Indicator FY97 (Actual) FY98 (Actual) FY99 (Actual) FY00 (Actual) FY01 (Plan) FY02 (Plan) Indicator 1: Election reform law passed N/A N/A No Yes N/A N/A Indicator 2: Credible free and open elections N/A N/A No Yes Yes N/A Indicator 3: Repeal of the public information law N/A N/A No No Yes N/A Indicator 4: Repeal of the university law N/A N/A No No No Yes Indicator 5: New NGO legislation N/A N/A No No Yes N/A Indicator 6: NGOs freely active throughout the country N/A N/A No No Yes N/A Indicator 7: Independent media associations formed to promote and to protect freedom of expression N/A N/A No No Yes N/A Indicator Information:
Indicator Level (S)or(IR) Unit of Measure Source Indicator Description Indicator 1: IR Yes-No Political and civil society NGO reports Law that permits representative participation in free and fair elections. Indicator 2: IR Yes-No NGO election monitors, independent media and Election Commission Credible free and open elections. Indicator 3: IR Yes-No Political and civil society NGO reports Passage of a law that allows the general publics' access to objective information from independent media, that prevents unreasonable government censorship of the media or search and seizure practices, and that allows citizens access to their personal files in government offices. Indicator 4: IR Yes-No Political and civil society NGO reports Law protecting staff and students from government coercion. Indicator 5: IR Yes-No Political and civil society NGO reports Law protecting NGO rights to be established and operate freely. Indicator 6: IR Yes-No Political and civil society NGO reports NGO operations not inhibited by government coercion Indicator 7: IR Yes-No Political and civil society NGO reports News coverage by independent medial not inhibited by government coercion. U.S. Financing
(In thousands of dollars)
Increased Better Informed Citizens' Participation in Political and Economic Decision-Making, 170-021
Obligations Expenditures Unliquidated Through September 30, 1999 0 DA 0 DA 0 DA 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 ESF 0 ESF 0 ESF 1,131 SEED 151 SEED 980 SEED 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 DFA 0 DFA 0 DFA Fiscal Year 2000 0 DA 0 DA 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 ESF 0 ESF 1,012 SEED 1,992 SEED 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 DFA 0 DFA Through September 30, 2000 0 DA 0 DA 0 DA 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 ESF 0 ESF 0 ESF 2,143 SEED 2,143 SEED 0 SEED 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 DFA 0 DFA 0 DFA Prior Year Unobligated Funds 0 DA 0 CSD 0 ESF 1,538 SEED 0 FSA 0 DFA Planned Fiscal Year 2001 NOA 0 DA 0 CSD 0 ESF 11,785 SEED 0 FSA 0 DFA Total Planned Fiscal Year 2001 0 DA 0 CSD 0 ESF 13,323 SEED 0 FSA 0 DFA Future Obligations Est. Total Cost Proposed Fiscal Year 2002 NOA 0 DA 0 DA 0 DA 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 ESF 0 ESF 0 ESF 80,000 SEED 1/ 0 SEED 95,466 SEED 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 DFA 0 DFA 0 DFA 1/ Total Budget breakout for Serbia and Montenegro to be determined.
Increased Better Informed Citizens' Participation in Political and Economic Decision-Making, 169-021
Obligations Expenditures Unliquidated Through September 30, 1999 0 DA 0 DA 0 DA 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 CSD 228 ESF 220 ESF 8 ESF 14,294 SEED 6,210 SEED 8,084 SEED 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 DFA 0 DFA 0 DFA Fiscal Year 2000 0 DA 0 DA 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 ESF 0 ESF 21,025 SEED 8,456 SEED 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 DFA 0 DFA Through September 30, 2000 0 DA 0 DA 0 DA 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 CSD 228 ESF 220 ESF 8 ESF 35,319 SEED 14,666 SEED 20,653 SEED 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 DFA 0 DFA 0 DFA Prior Year Unobligated Funds 0 DA 0 CSD 0 ESF 2,549 SEED 0 FSA 0 DFA Planned Fiscal Year 2001 NOA 0 DA 0 CSD 0 ESF 39,150 SEED 0 FSA 0 DFA Total Planned Fiscal Year 2001 0 DA 0 CSD 0 ESF 41,699 SEED 0 FSA 0 DFA Future Obligations Est. Total Cost Proposed Fiscal Year 2002 NOA 0 DA 0 DA 0 DA 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 ESF 0 ESF 228 ESF 80,000 SEED 1/ 0 SEED 157,018 SEED 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 DFA 0 DFA 0 DFA 1/ Total Budget breakout for Serbia and Montenegro to be determined.
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Last Updated on: May 29, 2002 |
