ACTIVITY DATES: June 2006 - June 2009

IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS: Fund for Sustainable Development (FSD)

REGION(S): Karelia Republic, Khabarovskiy kray

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

CDSP is a Russia-wide project, with emphasis on the Russian Far East and North Caucasus regions, to enhance the role of civil society and public participation in decision-making processes at the regional and municipal levels.  Working in areas such as improvement of local resource management and local governance, public health, and energy efficiency, the project contributes to improving social, economic and environmental living conditions in Russian cities and settlements.  CDSP encourages the participation of a wide range of partners, including NGOs, municipal administrations and the business community.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:

Through CDSP, energy efficiency savings have been reinvested into community development social programs, as well as public advocacy and education campaigns.  FSD held four competitive grant rounds for NGOs and local communities, resulting in the implementation of 59 projects in 16 municipalities.

The Amur Initiative project, which was launched in remote settlements along the Amur River in Khabarovsk Kray, improved the quality of potable water supply systems affected by the 2006 spill of harmful chemical substances from China into the Amur River.

The project Consolidation of Civil Society in Community of Valaam Island (Republic of Karelia) helped coordinate efforts by civil authorities and clerical leaders (Valaam Monastery) in governing the local community.

ACTIVITY DATES: July 2007 - June 2009

IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS: Russian Microfinance Center (RMC)

REGION(S): Chitinskaya oblast, Kabardino-Balkariya Republic, Khabarovskiy kray, Khanty-Mansiyskiy autonomous okrug, Krasnodarskiy kray, Krasnoyarskiy kray, Nizhegorodskaya oblast, Primorskiy kray, Rostovskaya oblast, Sverdlovskaya oblast, Volgogradskaya oblast

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

This project supports cooperation between banks and microfinance institutions, and the development of branchless banking technologies using GSM banking and E-net banking capacities, in order to improve the distribution of financial services to start-up businesses, microfinance sector organizations, and a wide range of low income populations in Russia's regions, with a special focus on activities in the North Caucasus.

Microfinance is a key factor in the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which are essential for private sector development, poverty alleviation, and the creation of employment in Russia. However, the supply of financing is not meeting the demand-especially in rural and smaller urban areas, as well as the critical regions of the North Caucasus (NC) and the Russian Far East (RFE) where the formal financial system is underdeveloped. This project aims to build the capacity of the Russian Microfinance Center (RMC) and the National Partnership of Microfinance Market Stakeholders (NAMMS), and expand their reach in the NC and RFE regions to help create long-term job and income opportunities for people there, thus mitigating the possibility of conflict.

Through activities targeted at the RMC's network of 800 microfinance institutions (MFIs) and 85,000 entrepreneurs, the project will support the development of branchless banking; introduce new distant learning models and models to combat microfinance market abuse and money laundering; support financial literacy for SMEs and low-income households, with a special focus on the Southern Federal District and NC; and promote microfinance standards through publications, conferences and seminars.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:

RMC set up a NC regional office in Kabardino-Balkaria. Twenty-five credit cooperatives and funds for SME support in the NC have received training.

A new department on Perspective Financial Technologies was established in January 2008 at the Higher School of Privatization and Entrepreneurship (HSPE) to provide education in the area of microfinance, branchless banking, and financial literacy, as well as to conduct research into new financial technologies. The new department will reach Russian regions through HSPE branches in Perm Kray, Samara Oblast, Rostov Oblast, and St.-Petersburg.

RMC assisted the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation to develop recommendations for supporting regional programs of microfinance and credit cooperatives, and a project to support ratings of Russian MFIs was jointly launched with the Ministry of Economic Development. NAMMS and the Asia-Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA) agreed to collaborate on developing microfinance and the small business sector in Russia and the Asia-Pacific region.

In the past year, several national events were also organized: the 7^th National Conference on Microfinance in Russia: New Technologies of Success (St. Petersburg, 19-21 November 2008); the 6^th National Forum on Legal Affairs of Micro-finance (St.Petersburg, 19 November 2008); and the Russian Microentrepreneurship Awards, in association with Citigroup (St. Petersburg, 20 November 2008).

ACTIVITY DATES: September 2007 - September 2009

IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS: New Eurasia Foundation

REGION(S): Nizhegorodskaya oblast, Permskaya oblast, Tverskaya oblast

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

The Homeowners' Support project seeks to build active collaboration among main stakeholders groups involved in management of housing stock (homeowners, homeowners associations, management companies and service providers, and local authorities). 

New Eurasia Foundation will design, test, and disseminate housing management models, effective operating practices of homeowners associations, and housing management policies and procedures to create a favorable environment for the operation of homeowners associations. Model approaches to housing stock management will be integrated into local socioeconomic development processes, ensuring broad public participation.  A code of best housing practices will be developed and disseminated to all Russian municipalities, targeting local authorities, NGOs, management companies and service providers.

In addition, the project will foster the development of a professional community within the housing sphere training a cadre of housing professionals and activists, improving public awareness of citizen rights and responsibilities under housing laws. The project will promote the housing movement in Russia by coordinating joint efforts of the Russian National Association of Homeowners Associations, the Russian Tenants Association, and the Association of Management Companies.  Collaboration among government, businesses, and citizens will also be facilitated.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:

Three pilot municipalities - Tver, Nizhny Novgorod and Perm - were selected through a limited competition. 
HSP provides direct technical assistance and training to key stakeholder groups involved in the management of housing stock in the three pilot municipalities.  HSP also conducts complementary activities and events that engage representatives of target groups.

Viable models of housing management that include participation by homeowners associations are being piloted in the selected localities.  The models define approaches to creating homeowners' associations, guidelines for apartment building maintenance and management, specifics of contractual relations with management companies and public utilities providers, and procedures for capital assets renovation and modernization.

The project also assists local self-government bodies in the pilot municipalities by establishing housing consultation centers and providing them with institutional support.  These centers are helping to establish good working relationships between local authorities and housing NGOs at the local level, and they will continue to provide services after the project is completed.

ACTIVITY DATES: September 2001 - September 2009

IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS: Institute for Urban Economics (IUE)

REGION(S): Amurskaya oblast, Khabarovskiy kray, Moskovskaya oblast, Permskaya oblast, Primorskiy kray, Rostovskaya oblast, Severnaya Osetiya-Alaniya Republic, Vologodskaya oblast

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

This project strengthens local self-governance through improved coordination within local communities and enhances local decision-making skills by improving local government's capacity to develop and manage financial, human, and physical resources.  The project increases the awareness and willingness of local governments to operate transparently and in sustained partnership with their communities.  Activities develop and introduce effective and efficient models of public participation for decision making, public private partnerships, local economic development, social service delivery, and a robust private housing economy.  Local government administrators and community leaders are provided with the skills and tools to increase efficiency, equity, and effectiveness in the development and delivery of social and communal services.  

In implementing this project, IUE partners with the Federal Agency on Construction, Housing and Communal Services (ROSSTROI), Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Ministry of Finance, Ministry for Regional Development, municipal associations, regional and municipal administrations, business organizations, and local NGOs.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:

IUE experts participated substantively in the work of key federal level commissions on delineation of powers and responsibilities between federal, regional and local governments. Overall, 150 federal acts that have been enacted were drafted with IUE assistance. Sixty six municipalities in 38 regions adopted new social and economic reforms models and policies and IUE experts were deeply involved in developing a package of 27 laws on affordable housing, of which 25 were adopted.

Thirty five models of efficient municipal governance developed by IUE experts are either ready for replication or at the stage of pilot testing. IUE regularly updates its Code of Best Practice in municipal governance, comprising rules and procedures that represent the most progressive solutions to economic and social problems at the local level.

Numerous trainings have resulted in:

• More than 170 government and NGO leaders trained on local- and federal-level policy skills development;
• Over 22,000 local, federal and regional administrators and NGO leaders trained in specific skills of municipal management;
• More than 380 regional and municipal employees from SFD regions received advanced training;
• 10 public hearings in support of independent local governance and emerging civil society conducted;
• 124 radio/105 TV presentations on federal and regional channels and 2797 mass-media articles and interviews produced.
  

ACTIVITY DATES: September 2007 - September 2010

IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS: Foundation for Russian American Economic Cooperation (FRAEC)

REGION(S): Amurskaya oblast, Irkutskaya oblast, Kamchatskaya oblast, Khabarovskiy kray, Primorskiy kray, Sakhalinskaya oblast

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

The U.S.-Russian Far East (RFE) Municipal Partnership Program builds on the momentum of local self-governance reform in Russia and uses international and domestic best practices in municipal governance.  The program seeks to transform local self-governance in the RFE into a viable component of open and participatory society by supporting new and existing city-to-city partnerships between motivated U.S. cities in Washington and Alaska and cities in the RFE.  The program develops and disseminates social and economic development practices, and works to institutionalize public administration skills among current and future government officials.

The Partnership Program aims to accomplish the following objectives:

• Increase policy development capacity among local and regional officials responsible for local governance, promoting decision-making that is consensus oriented, transparent, equitable, and based upon the rule of law;
• Bolster citizen participation in local self-governance and provide communities with skills and practices to manage their resources more effectively;
• Strengthen the capacity of local government in the RFE to effectively manage financial, human, and physical resources to improve their cities and the lives of their citizens; and
• Advance best practices in effective, equitable, and efficient delivery of public services to establish the practice of local public service management in the RFE regions.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:

FRAEC conducted an assessment of the previous Alaska-RFE CityLinks Program, implemented by International City/County Management Association (ICMA), and proposed three partnerships for continued support: Ussuriisk-Wasilla, Bolshoy Kamen-Kenai, and Nevelsk-Anchorage.  The follow-on support targets joint economic development projects.

Through an open competition, FRAEC then identified 11 RFE municipalities for participation in a new U.S.-RFE city-to-city partnerships designed to introduce modern social and economic development models and practices.  The selected municipalities include: Khabarovsky municipal raion, Sovetskaya Gavan, Elizovo, Slavyanka, Ussuriisk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Artem, Voszhaevsky, Belogorsky, Paratunskoe, and Ussolsky.  FRAEC then selected cities in Washington State and Alaska to partner with these RFE municipalities on joint projects to improve their cities.

Together with two Russian partners - the Institute for Urban Economics in Moscow and the Far East Center for Social Innovation in Khabarovsk - FRAEC has trained hundreds of municipal employees, provided consultations to municipal leaders on citizen engagement and social and economic development.