REPORT ON PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
Project title: "City Residents and Authorities Setting the Course for Cooperation. A Budget People Can Understand and Influence".
Period: September 1, 2000 - September 1, 2001 (1st year of project)
Grant number: 1000-1714
For the report period the following activities have been conducted to reach the project goals:
1. Public Participation.
1.1. The 6 Public Hearings on budget and budget process were carried out in project regions: 6 September 2000 in St. Petersburg (70 participants); 14 March 2001 in Petrozavodsk (45 participants);16 April 2001 in Velikije Luki (25 participants); 22 May 2001 in Samara (73 participants); 28 May 2001 in Pskov (11 participants); 31 May 2001 in Murmansk (22 participants).
1.2. Round tables on budget and budget process were carried out on 23 December 2000 in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (33 participants); on 5 June 2001 in Novosibirsk (30 participants).
1.3. The analytical report on the public participation forms evaluation was written, disseminated and posted on a Web-site.
1.4. The Model Normative Act on Public Hearings was written, disseminated and posted on a Web-site.
2. Applied Budget Analysis (ABA)
2.1 A classification of ABA made on the basis of program experience.
2.2. The recommendations how to conduct general budget and budget process analysis for regional experts written, posted on Web-site and disseminated. The concept of ABA elaborated.
2.3. The demand on ABA of regional structures of civil society and local government revealed.
2.4. The task on ABA to regional experts formed for to have the unified format of analytical works.
2.5. The results of ABA were disseminated to regional authorities and NGOs and formed in the collection of articles of experts "Applied Budget Analysis" within the series "Transparent Budget".
3. The Budget Process Transparency and Participation Assessment.
This assessment made in 8 regions of the project, the expert questionnaire at local level made in Murmansk, Petrozavodsk and Velikije Luki, at the regional level (subject of federation) - in St.Petersburg, Novosibirsk' Samara' Pskov and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk' oblast. Elaborated instrumentation includes: questionnaire list, methodic tools how to organize poll and how to assess data. In the questionnaire 80 experts took part (32% representatives of legislative branch, 23% - NGOs, 11% - journalists, 8% - scientists and high school teachers). More than 75% of experts over all regions assessed level of budget transparency as "medium" and level of public participation as "low".
4. The educational component.
1. In all regions of the project there were held 2 days training seminars (totally 7) for NGOs, representatives of local authorities, journalists: 13-14 October 2000 in Velikije Luki; 3-4 November 2000 in Yuzhno-Sakhalonsk; 15-16 December 2000 in Samara; 30-31 January 2001 in Murmansk; 24-25 February 2001 in Petrozavodsk; 5-6 March 2001 in Novosibirsk; 13-14 April 2001 in Pskov.
2. In St.Petersburg there were organized two 1 day workshops for local NGOs and local deputies on 20 October 2000 and 2 February 2001.
Totally 180 people took part at these seminars.
3. There were organized two strategic meetings of experts and regional coordinators on 22-23 July 2000 and 7 October 2000.
4. There were held two 5 days intensive training seminars for regional participants in St.Petersburg on 20-24 November 2000 and 19-23 March 2001 with total 40 participants.
5. The Web-site of project was developed (www.transparentbudget.da.ru), and the monthly issued electronic bulletin on budget work news disseminated to the target group.
Drafted by T.Vinogradova, Project Director.
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