MONEY, MONEY, MONEY...
From the World Bank article -
“(LGI) is an international development and grant-giving organization within the Soros/Open Society network of foundations.”
“LGI co-funds larger regional initiatives...”
...........
Open Society Institute via Discover the Networks
Assets: $858,935,162 (2005)
Grants Received: $377,413,561 (2005)
Grants Awarded: $65,934,588 (2005)
Between 1998 and 2003, OSI received more than $30 million from U.S. government agencies. Various State Department documents indicate that OSI has been paid to run what the Department describes as “democratization programs” in a number of countries, including Uzbekistan, Burma, and regions of Central Asia.
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/funderProfile.asp?fndid=5181
Along With NPR, Soros Groups Get Millions in Taxpayer Funds -
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2622525/posts
Fiscal Decentralization Initiative (2003)
Jointly funded by USAID and the OECD, UNDP, Council of Europe, Soros Local Government Initiative, Danish Ministry of Interior, and Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Fiscal Decentralization Initiative (FDI) supports the development of task forces in CEE countries and implemented a wide range of capacity-building and policy-development programs in CEE and SEE to educate governments, think tanks, and academic leaders on the major issues of fiscal decentralization. [...]
http://www.state.gov/p/eur/rls/rpt/37004.htm
Whose checking the money? I wonder where we could get info on how much and from whom this very spooky guy is getting?
Local Government and Public Service Reform Institute -
LGI And Its Mission
July 19, 2010
One of the most challenging issues facing open society in the transition region of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, as well as the new countries covered by Open Society Institute, is effective, democratic governance. Established in 1997, LGI supports the OSI mission by working to promote democratic and effective local government and public administration, and by advancing policy analysis as a tool for decision making in public affairs. LGI supports governmental reform, in collaboration with its civil society partners, by monitoring and benchmarking government performance on the one hand and providing analytical and technical support to government on the other.
While LGI works primarily in the transition countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, it has now expanded its area of activity. Currently we support projects in Latin America, South East Asia and West Africa. In Peru we work with subnational governments to identify and mitigate the effects of the resource curse through increased transparency and improved participatory and social development planning. A similar project is under way in Indonesia’s newest oil field in North East Java. We implement these projects in a strategic partnership with the Revenue Watch Institute which has experience with resource curse issues at the national level. In West Africa we train 200 NGO activitst in policy advocacy while certifying a core group of trainers in a Training of Trainers scheme which will further serve the region’s capacity building needs. This project is in collaboration with the Open Society Institute West Africa.
Policy issues addressed by LGI
LGI’s policy agenda was established by matching demand (from civil society actors, government agencies, professional associations, national foundations and regional networks) with LGI resources. Its agenda can be summarized in five broad themes, which in turn are divided into specific areas of intervention:
1. Democratization and Decentralization: monitoring and reporting on good governance at sub-national levels; modernizing the public policy-making processes; transparency of public accounts (sub-national budget watch); codes of ethics in public service; public consultation and participation in decision-making.
2. Fiscal Management, Transparency and Accountability: transparent and equitable collection and distribution of public revenues; efficiency in the use of public funds; audit systems; decentralization of responsibility and the problem of unfunded mandates.
3. Delivery of Public Services and Urban Management: regulatory framework and equitable (formula) funding of health, public education, public transport, housing, social services; vulnerable populations and access to services; modern service management practices; participatory strategic planning; land management and urban renewal. The “marketization” of public services.
4. Management of Multi-Ethnic Communities: government policy frameworks for ethnic minorities; conflict prevention and mediation; changing majority attitudes; forging stronger leadership amongst elected and appointed Roma officials; minorities’ access to public services.
5. Local Economic Development: participatory strategic planning to promote improved business enabling environments.
Instruments of policy intervention
There are several ways in which LGI operates, all of them inspired by a commitment to capacity and institution building. LGI initiates comparative policy studies and disseminates the results to policy makers and academia, has initiated and gives support to several regional networks of institutions and professionals, uses its professional networks to provide technical assistance and consultancy for selected reform issues, and filters the accumulated knowledge into training and educational programs delivered with and through its networks. LGI’s publications and websites are read globally, by a large number of users.
LGI provides professional advice and matching funds to some 15 Soros national foundations to assist them in implementing Public Administration, Local Government, European Integration, and increasingly Public Policy programs. LGI works to build the capacity of policy centers and has recently helped to establish the Policy Association for an Open Society (PASOS), which now has 29 member institutions. Through a number of cooperative initiatives (like the Fiscal Decentralization Initiative) LGI influences the agenda of international donors.
2008/9 Strategic directions
Our fiscal transparency work now includes a program to improve the governmental audit process as a tool towards better use and oversight of public funds across the region. Poverty, especially with regard to vulnerable population groups, takes on a bigger role this year, with projects aimed at removing legislative and regulatory barriers to poverty reduction. An extra-legality project in Albania supports the public debate of proposed policies to resolve property rights and service delivery. A continued partnership with the Council of Europe sees LGI at the forefront of monitoring and promoting the democratization and decentralization agenda in 10 SEE states. Our active promotion of minority rights and inclusion in governmental decisions is also increasing in prominence through the expansion of the Managing Multi-Ethnic Communities program to Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Georgia. Our promotion of participatory strategic planning for economic development has shown quantifiable positive results in Albania and Kosovo, and has been extended to Mongolia. LGI continues its cooperation with the Department of Public Policy and the Center for Policy Studies at CEU to strengthen the research and teaching in decentralized governance.
http://lgi.osi.hu/documents.php?m_id=191&bid=7
“2. Fiscal Management, Transparency and Accountability”?
I couldn’t find it on the site...doesn’t mean it’s not there...somewhere...