USAID Serbia and Montenegro
Opportunity Bank (Serbia) loans created 5,000+ new jobs and ensured 40,000+ existing jobs were kept. Only lender for vulnerable people who have little access to credit. | Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) (Serbia): Civil Society activities have brought together 14 major companies and an array of NGOs to establish culture of CSR. | Preparedness Planning (Serbia): USAID works with all levels of government to improve disaster risk reduction, trained 675 responders from 50 Municipalities on disaster management. | Civil Society Grants (Serbia): USAID assisted 160 Civil Society organizations with $5.2 million in 2.5yrs to better represent the needs of ordinary people & become more influential partners with businesses and government in the democratic process. | Media (Serbia): USAID media assistance has contributed to more independent, professional and financially viable media outlets and media associations. The regulatory environment now better supports the development of e-media; 2,000+ media professionals trained. | Court Reform (Serbia): U.S. assistance helped increase independence and the professional skills of judges, magistrates and prosecutors; provided legal assistance to victims of war crimes and human rights abuses. | Local governments (Serbia): Through work with a wide geographic spread of municipalities, local governments are now more responsive: 30+ Citizen Assistance Centers, E-government in 80+ Municipalities. | Youth (Serbia): Junior Achievement in 90 schools in 2009. USAID supports efforts of the Ministry of Youth/Sports to better prepare youth for post-graduation work opportunities. | Agribusiness (Serbia): Serbian companies assisted made $16.7m in registered sales in 2008. Recent trade shows expected to bring over $17m in contracts. | Local Economic growth (Serbia): Municipalities in USAID’s Municipal Economic Growth Activity attracted over 800m Euro in investments and created over 11,000 jobs in two years by becoming more business friendly; 270 new businesses opened; 26 Local Economic Development offices set up to actively attract investments. | Commercial Courts (Serbia) have become more efficient and transparent with Case Management Systems in all 16 courts and the High Commercial Court. Case backlogs cut drastically. | Compete Project (Serbia): Helping to bring Serbian companies back into world market – leading directly to $20.5m in 2008 exports. Helping to introduce International Industry standards that allow companies to compete in the global marketplace. Attracted major film productions and millions in investments. | Support to companies (Serbia) in vulnerable areas increased their competitiveness. 2008 sales at trade/shows fairs for assisted companies up 42%. | Economic systems (Serbia): Helped introduce: VAT; private pensions; investment funds; sound insurance industry, bankruptcy and enforcement and modern payment systems. |
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    Civil Society Advocacy Initiative (CSAI)

    The Civil Society Advocacy Initiative (CSAI) seeks to support Serbian civil society in its ability to influence public policy, serve as government watchdogs, and conduct sustained advocacy campaigns on a wide variety of reform issues. CSAI nurtures a healthy and vibrant civil society by focusing on the sector’s capacity to successfully advocate at local and national levels, and to secure a legal and regulatory environment that fosters the long-term financial and operational sustainability of NGOs.

    Project components include:

    • Promoting civil society advocacy through grants, training and technical support to Serbian NGOs to develop institutional capacity and the ability to promote causes of relevance to Serbian citizens.
    • Strengthening the non-governmental sector by helping NGO coalitions to improve the legal and regulatory framework and operate with maximum leeway in the current environment.

        Key results to date:

        • Provision of legal and policy reforms (national and local) on election legislation, promotion of government transparency and accountability, environment, youth, vulnerable populations and other issues;
        • Launch of the first ever Business Leaders Forum with members from 14 leading Serbian companies to encourage increased corporate social responsibility and philanthropy;
        • Support in the establishment of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and 70+ Youth offices around the country, as well as adoption of a National Youth Strategy;
        • Establishment of the VIRTUS Corporate Philanthropy Excellence Award recognizing outstanding companies in the area of corporate social responsibility while forging sustainable partnerships between CSOs and businesses;
        • Training over 500 CSO representatives and activists in advocacy related topics;
        • Support to 54 local grassroots advocacy initiatives on 74 advocacy campaigns that build a culture of democracy by engaging citizens to advocate among other things for revitalization of local school yards and playgrounds, cleaning up of rivers and illegal dumps, employment for people with disabilities, recycling, and greater visibility and human rights for all communities.

            The project is implemented by the Institute for Sustainable Communities: www.iscserbia.org

            The project assisted 160 CSOs including implementing partners as a part of the five-year program funded by USAID, which works in cooperation with the following local and international organizations: