Project Proposal

LOCAL DEVELOPMENT ALLIANCES

Author and coordinator:: dr Gordana Matković

Immediate objective

Establishing and operationalisation of Local Development Alliances (LDAs) in a number of selected municipalities included in this project.

Short term objectives

creation of awareness regarding the need for self-organising
self-organising in order to find solutions for local development and humanitarian problems
democratisation and building of local civil society institutions and their involvement in the decision making process
initiating different programmes and projects leading to development changes, the improvement of local governance, refugee integration , women's participation, environmental issues, etc.
involvement in humanitarian assistance distribution in order to improve efficiency and avoid potential misuse
bridging the limitations present at the institutional level

Long term objective

Enhancing local development and building the civil society

Project description

Brief description:

The main idea of the project is to support overall local development through the establishment of the Local Development Alliances in selected municipalities in the Republics of Serbia and Montenegro.

It is hoped that the project will serve as a prototype for wide-spread replication throughout Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and other countries in the region..

Local Development Alliances will gather different actors in local communities for cooperation in enhancing local development.

The LDAs will be composed of representatives of:

various NGOs,
local authorities,
SMEs
the media,
refugees,
agricultural cooperatives,
academic institutions,
prominent individuals from the local community
individual experts

The actors who in the initial phase will represent already adequately organised groups in a given community will act as the core of LDAs offering assistance and at a later stage assist other communities in establishing their own LDAs.

The substance of the LDAs activities will include:

I Local communities - facing problems

Identifying and articulating local problems (through local public debates, media, round table meetings with the participation of other local communities and experts);
Establishing priorities (most urgent problems)
Searching for solutions
Formulating projects and programs
Fund raising and monitoring (program and financial)

II Local communities - development potentials

Identifying of the local capacities
The design and management of data bases with relevant information on the local community;
Promotion of the local communities (elaboration brochures on individual municipalities, presentations on the NET);
Promoting cultural activities intrinsic to each individual community to promote dialogue, friendly relations and social cohesion.

II Local communities - humanitarian needs and assistance

Identifying most urgent humanitarian needs and vulnerable groups (local population, refuges and displaced persons) entitled to humanitarian aid
Establishing contacts with humanitarian organisations and fund raising
Determining criteria for distribution of assistance
Monitoring of humanitarian aid distribution

III Local communities – development and strengthening of civil society

Overview of the state of the existing NGO sector
Ensuring basic working conditions for NGOs (PCs, fax machines, meeting premises, necessary authorisations, permits, etc.) - all these would result in a decrease of NGO operation costs, the emergence of new NGOs and in the enhancement of NGO development;
Assistance in establishing new NGOs (instructions for registration, useful information, contacts etc.)
Promoting the civil society concept (media, round table discussions, forums)

IV Local communities – LDA cooperation, networking and promotion

Assisting the establishment of LDAs in other local communities and their networking;
Communication and contacts with other LDAs;
Promoting the LDA concept and activities through local and national media.
Identifying potentially vulnerable groups, helping them become organised and perceiving their problems as a group;

Development of Regional Linkages

The primary focus of this Project is the building-up of Local Development Alliances at the municipality level. As they become established there will be numerous advantages in linking up with others in the region for exchange of information and experience, possible pooling of certain types of activities and other forms of cooperation. In the first phase linking with traditional economic and cultural partners, for example linking municipalities in Vojvodina with those in Romania).

Criteria for selection of municipalities in which LDAs will be established

Municipalities will be selected from regions at different levels of development according to the following criteria:

large concentration of vulnerable groups, refugee and internally displaced population;
potential for development of the municipality;
present state of NGO development
already on-going initiatives of citizens for local development
population of different ethnic origin
readiness of local authorities to support and take part

Background and Justification

In Yugoslavia, and probably in some of the countries in the region, at this time there is an absence of the institutional framework needed to engage local communities in solving matters of interest to the community and to employ a common effort to promote social and economic development of the local community. This requires the organisation of new social and economic structures of civil society which presently do not exist. To demonstrate the kind of institutional framework that is needed, and how to create it, is the basic idea behind this project.

Expected End-of-Project Situation

At the end of Project it is expected that the situation will be as follows:

Local Development Alliances (LDAs); will have been established and will be cooperating with one another in municipalities.

As a result of their various activities and close cooperation with one another the following results are expected:

The social and economic problems affecting the community will have been analysed in detail and priorities for action identified;
Specific social and economic projects will be under implementation, and others in the design stage. These projects will be determined by the LDA members in accordance with their perceived priorities.
Dialogue among the various ethnic and social groups that comprise the local population will have produced greater mutual understanding and social harmony;

One of the most important results expected from the project is that it will serve as a prototype and catalyst for replication of similar initiatives in other municipalities throughout the country and/or region. To assist in this, study tours to the project area will be organised for community leaders and other promotional activities mounted as the project proceeds and concrete results are realised.

Duration for implementation : depending on each project

Project Beneficiaries

As the results expected from the project that have been described in the preceding section are actually realized the main beneficiaries of the project will be:

The general population of the community at large who will find themselves living in a municipality where social and economic change for the better is taking place.
Vulnerable population will be identified and better taken care of
Refugees and displaced persons living in the target municipalities whose integration into the local community and economy will have been accelerated;
Individuals and groups who have an aspiration to establish an NGO will be assisted in doing so

In addition to the above, the municipal authorities will benefit in that they will have been provided with strong allies to support and cooperate with them in carrying out their responsibilities, towards the residents of the municipality.

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