Creating democratic institutions as the basis for economic development in Central and SouthEast Euro

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Creating democratic institutions as the basis for
economic development in Central and South-East
Europe An approach to capacity building by
LGI/OSI

• Adrian Ionescu
• Director of LGI/OSI

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• Who are OSI and LGI/OSI?
• Identify perceived barriers to economic
  development and business operation
• Programs to improve the policy environment
  PASOS Network
• How can the private sector contribute?

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Open Society Institute - OSI

• private operating and grantmaking foundation
• aims to shape public policy to promote democratic
  governance, human rights, and economic, legal,
  and social reform
• build alliances across borders and continents

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Local Government and Public Service Reform
Initiative (LGI)

• HTTP//LGI.OSI.HU

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MISSION of LGI/OSI

• To promote democratic and effective local
  government and public administration
• To foster development of public policy research
• Key words analysis, change and reform

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Barriers to Economic Development and Business
Operations
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Barriers to Economic Development and Business
Operations

• Poor government policies hindering business and
  local economic development
• Instability of the economic framework i.e.
  Changing legal framework, changing taxation
• Lack of understanding and experience with market
  economies, how business functions, and business
  needs to be competitive

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Barriers to Economic Development and Business
Operations

• Poor infrastructure transportation, utilities,
  communications
• Cumbersome regulatory framework - excessive
  red-tape licensing and permit process plus
• Lack of transparency
• Leading to corruption

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FOCUS OF OUR WORK

• Fiscal decentralization
• Public service management
• Local economic development
• Anti-corruption
• Multiethnic communities

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WHAT DO WE DO?

• Regional networks of institutions and
  professionals
• Policy analysis, formulation, dissemination
• Training, education and technical assistance
• Development of policy centers and think-tanks

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Regional Networks of Institutions and
Professionals

• LOGIN - http//www.logincee.org
• Best practices and info for professionals
• NISPAcee - http//www.nispa.sk
• Academic institutions network
• Regional Support Centers - http//www.fpdl.ro/regp
  rog.htm
• Training of trainers
• PASOS http//www.pasos.org
• Policy centers/think-tanks

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Policy studies and dissemination

• Legislative frameworks for decentralization
• Fiscal decentralization
• Transparency, participation
• Public services and management
• Management of multiethnic communities
• Local and regional development

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Training and education

• LGI led exec development courses
• Fiscal decentralization
• Urban management
• Management of multiethnic communities
• Local economic development
• By partners
• NISPA working groups - core courses
• RSC TOTs

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Public policy centers initiative

• Mentorship program
• Training Developing successful policy
  organizations (research/management)
• Joint cross-border projects and networking
• Database of experts
• ___________________________________
• ? PASOS

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WHERE DO WE WORK?

• CEE and SEE
• fSU and Mongolia

• Going global - Turkey, Indonesia, Guatemala, Peru

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OUR PARTNERS

• Soros Foundations (25 countries)
• World Bank Institute (FDI, LOGIN)
• UNDP
• USAID
• Council of Europe
• International Finance Corporation (LED in Bosnia
  and Indonesia)

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Strengthening policy centres to make 'open
society' work info_at_pasos.org
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Strengthening policy centres and policymaking

• Mission
• PASOS (Policy Association for an Open Society)
  promotes and protects open society values,
  including democracy, rule of law, good
  governance, respect for and protection of human
  rights, and economic and social development by
  supporting entities that foster public
  participation in public benefit matters.

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A network of policy centres

• PASOS supports the development and strengthens
  the outreach and impact of its 23 member policy
  centres in Central and Eastern Europe and Central
  Asia. PASOS builds upon the work undertaken by
  LGI/OSI (the Local Government and Public Service
  Reform Initiative of the Open Society Institute)
  since 1999 to upgrade the institutional
  capacities of the Open Society Institute-related
  policy centres which operated until 2004 within a
  network known as the Related Centres Network
  (RCN).
• PASOS was registered under Czech law on September
  16, 2004 as a Citizens Association, and the first
  General Assembly was held in Prague on December
  16-19, 2004. The headquarters is in Prague, where
  the PASOS Executive Director, Jeff Lovitt, set up
  an office in March 2005.
• The Chair, elected in December 2004, is Vita
  Terauda, Director of the Centre for Public Policy
  PROVIDUS, the PASOS member organisation in Riga,
  Latvia.

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Policy choices for decision-makers

• PASOS members provide policy advice to the
  region's decision-makers and international
  organisations on issues as diverse as
• human rights
• economic development
• legal reform
• management of governmental reforms
• social policy
• education
• health
• religion
• international co-operation
• small enterprise development
• public participation
• public sector management.

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23 members in 17 countries

• Institute for Contemporary Studies (ICS), Albania
• Centre for Economic Development (CED), Bulgaria
• European Institute (EI), Bulgaria
• International Center for Minority Studies and
  Intercultural Relations (IMIR), Bulgaria
• EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, Czech
  Republic
• PRAXIS, Centre for Policy Studies, Estonia
• Institute for Policy Studies, Georgia
• Centre for Policy Studies, CEU (CPS), Hungary
• Public Policy Research Center (PPRC), Kazakhstan
• Centre for Public Policy Providus, Latvia
• EuroBalkan Institute (Institute Euro-Balkan
  Center for Public Administration and Public
  Policy), Republic of Macedonia

• Institute of Public Policy (IPP), Moldova
• Institute for Development and Social Initiatives
  (IDIS) 'Viitorul', Moldova
• Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), Poland
• Center for Rural Assistance, Romania
• Center for Economic Policies, Romania
• Institute of Public Policy (IPP-Romania), Romania
• STRATEGIA - St Petersburg Center for Humanities
  and Political Studies, Russian Federation
• Center for Legal Support to Local Government,
  Russian Federation
• Institute for Public Affairs (IVO), Slovakia
• Peace Institute, Institute for Contemporary
  Social and Political Studies, Slovenia
• LGI Development, United Kingdom
• International Centre for Policy Studies (ICPS),
  Ukraine

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Working with governments and intergovernmental
organisations

• The network of PASOS members have provided input
  to projects sponsored by the EU, UNDP, DFID, OSI
  and a host of international foundations and
  national governments.
• Full contact details of PASOS members can be
  found at
• www.pasos.org/members

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Strategic Goals

• To achieve concerted policy impact in building
  open society.
• To promote and support research and analytical
  capacity of entities formulating public interest
  policy.
• To have a continuous say in key issues of
  international relations, the future of the
  regions, and social transformation.
• To assist decision-making processes of public
  interests by providing information to
  decision-makers and the general public.
• To foster co-operation among PASOS members and
  other entities formulating public interest policy.

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Core activities

• Organising conferences, seminars, workshops,
  joint working groups
• Supporting joint projects between entities
  formulating public policy
• Providing training in matters of public policy
• Disseminating information relevant to the
  activities of the goals of PASOS, including
  publishing activities
• Developing appropriate standards for public
  policy research.

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Areas of expertise

• PASOS members are engaged in the following
• four main areas of work
• Governance and democracy
• Economic policy and development
• Social policy and education
• EU integration and the European Neighbourhood
  Policy

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Bridging the gap between knowledge and
policymaking

• Moving from talk the talk to walk the walk
• PASOS sets out to address the challenge of
• Combining sound research and policy analysis, and
  
• advocacy work to influence decision-makers so
  that effective policies are adopted and
  implemented

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Setting policy standards

• The 23 members of PASOS formalised their
  co-operation to strengthen their impact in the
  policymaking arena in the
• following ways
• Setting standards for policymaking
• Strengthening comparative research
• Knowledge-sharing (good practice, expertise)
• Improved advocacy (agenda-setting at national
  and international level)
• Identify policies applicable elsewhere and
  promote them

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New juncture in transition

• PASOS members includes policy centres in seven
  new EU member-states, and we now face a juncture
  where the lessons of transition - successes and
  failures - can be learned, and the conclusions
  applied elsewhere, e.g. in
• the Caucasus,
• Ukraine,
• Balkans,
• Central Asia.
• PASOS will be seeking to provide training and
  twinning opportunities to strengthen policy
  centres in these regions, and to strengthen the
  policymaking skills of public officials.

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Working at the EU level

• PASOS members, having emerged from authoritarian
  rule to undergo economic and social transition,
  bring new perspectives to policymaking in the EU,
  in particular
• External relations and European Neighbourhood
  Policy
• Future EU enlargement
• EU donor/development aid policies.

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Policy Centres meeting

• Combined with this year's PASOS General Assembly,
  PASOS is
• launching a Policy Centres directory, a
  publication summarising the main activities and
  expertise of each PASOS member
• organising a Policy Centres meeting in Brussels
  on 3-4 November 2006, entitled New Thinking for
  an enlarged EU and the Neighbourhood.
• The event will include
• Where is the Eastern Thinking in EU
  Policymaking?, a public debate at the Residence
  Palace, Brussels, at 16.00-18.00 on 3 November
  2005
• Shifting Policy Perspectives in an Enlarged EU
  and Beyond, a meeting of policy centres,
  organised at the Hotel Crowne Plaza Brussels
  Europa from 09.00-18.00 on 4 November 2005

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How can private sector contribute? How can PP
cooperate to foster change?
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How can private sector contribute? How can PP
cooperate to foster change?

• PPP public private partnerships
• Document and analyze impact of reforms
• Lobby (?) based on serious analysis
• Sponsor
• research, analysis, formulation of policy
  recommendations,
• Training education
• Participate in Local strategy developent
  processes

build alliances across borders and continents
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HOW TO CONTACT US?

• Address Nador utca 11, 1051 Budapest, Hungary
• Tel [phone]
• Fax [phone]
• Email lgprog_at_osi.hu
• Internet HTTP//lgi.osi.hu