Beyond Transition
THE NEWSLETTER ABOUT REFORMING ECONOMIES
The Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative/Open Society Institute (Soros)
The Local Government and Public Service Reform Inititive (LGI) is an international development and grant-giving organization within the Soros/Open Society network of foundations. Its mission is to promote democratic and effective government in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union by supporting research and operational activities in the fields of decentralization, public policy formation, and the reform of public administration systems.
LGI seeks to fulfill its mission by developing sustainable regional networks of institutions and professionals, supporting comparative and regionally applicable policy studies tackling local government issues, and delivering technical assistance to implementing agencies. It also provides assistance to Soros foundations in countries throughout the region, develops curricula and organization of training programs, and publishes books, studies, and discussion papers on decentralization, public administration, and good governance. LGI has also begun to support policy centers and think tanks in the region. Since 1999 LGI has focused more of its efforts on in-house policy analysis and research projects, with the intention of becoming a full-fledged think tank in the next few years.
LGI develops and funds in-depth policy studies, particularly those that are regional and comparative in scope. Activities in this field fall into several policy areas:
· Public administration and legislative reform.
· Government and governance issues of ethnic and multicultural policies; corruption, transparency, and ethics in public administration; public participation in government; and development of civil society.
· Municipal fiscal issues assisting transition economies carrying out reform of intergovernmental fiscal relations; improved financial good governance and increased financial autonomy of subnational governmental units.
· Public service management in urban services and social policy.
· Local economic and regional development, urban development.
LGI works closely with other international organizations, including the Council of Europe, the Department for International Development, USAID, UNDP, and the World Bank.
Under these cooperation agreements, LGI co-funds larger regional initiatives aimed at supporting reforms at the subnational level. The Local Government Information Network (LOGIN) and Fiscal Decentralization Initiatives (FDI) are two examples of this cooperation.
We hope that LGI’s contribution to Transition will support the policy dialogue on decentralization and public administration reform in transition economies. http://www.worldbank.org/html/prddr/trans/nd00jan01/pg31.htm
"LGI works closely with other international organizations, including the Council of Europe, the Department for International Development, USAID, UNDP, and the World Bank."
A pretty powerful group. I believe the Czars are probably hooked up with them. Didn't get to check them out too much due to time restrictions.
"It also provides assistance to Soros foundations in countries throughout the region..."
Soros' LGT assists Soros foundations...
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?