CORRECTED COPY: USAID GIFT PROJECTS IN CROATIA

UNCLAS ZAGREB 001101 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EB/CIP/TA: NFETCHKO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECPS EINT EAID PHUM HR SUBJECT: CORRECTED COPY: USAID GIFT PROJECTS IN CROATIA REF: A) STATE 142147, B) ZAGREB 01065 ¶1. This message updates and replaces Zagreb 01065. USAID in Croatia has three existing and one planned program, which contribute to the goals of Internet freedom in promoting access to and use of the Internet. ¶2. Project Name: Local Government Reform Program Recipient: Local and regional governments throughout Croatia Project Description: Using E-Government software, the project goal is to improve transparency between government officials and local citizens. The software, developed through USAID technical assistance, enables government officials to post city budget, meeting minutes and allows citizens to post questions of their local officials. Governments will soon use the program to advertise referenda and post forms on-line. The system increases accountability and transparency by giving citizens access to information and promotes interaction between citizens and their local leaders. IT component: USAID also funded software development FY 05 Funding: approximately $400,000 FY 06 Funding: approximately $400,000 Funding is estimated because the e-government component is only one part of the Local Government Reform Program. ¶3. Project Name: Legacy Project Recipients: NGOs involved in legal services, politics, commerce and consulting Project Description: The purpose of the Legacy Program is to provide institutional capacity development assistance to key organizations to enhance their ability to be legacies of U.S. assistance. These are organizations, institutions or people who will protect and build upon USAID investments and become advocates for Croatia's development as a market-oriented and democratic society. Whereas the majority of the Project focuses on the internal procedures, human capacity development and sustainability of the Legacy institutions, there are aspects of the Project that include improving access to information, increased communication abilities, the provision of computers and software, and training for IT professionals. IT Component: USAID donated 10 personal computers to the Legal Services Coalition, Osijek, a coalition of 10 NGOs involved in human rights advocacy and legal services. These computers will be used to set up a database that will provide a standardized tracking system of human rights violations in Croatia. The Serbian Democratic Forum (SDF),a member of the Legal Services Coalition, will receive two additional computers as well as technical assistance in information management under the project that will allow them to better communicate between the numerous offices in Croatia and with the general public. GONG, a political NGO that serves as an alternative voice in the political arena, received software and will receive IT literature. USAID has contracted with a U.S. vendor to establish a new portal and IT training for the Association of Management Consultants, an NGO, which acts as a coalition of consultants. USAID, along with the Croatian Ministry of Tourism, will help to build a reservation and payment system on line for OMH, a coalition of small and family-run hotels, which USAID helped to establish. FY05 Funding: $10,000 FY06 Funding: approximately $75,000 ¶4. Project Name: Independent Software Vendor Development Center Project Description: USAID and Microsoft Croatia, along with the Government of Croatia and the City of Varazdin, established an Independent Software Vendor Development Center located in Varazdin, Croatia. The Center will provide the infrastructure and resources to help software developers - in both small new companies and larger established companies - to create innovative new products and services, bring those products and services to market and build well-managed businesses around those innovative products and services. Large numbers of Croatian and international IT and software development experts will be brought in to work directly with Croatian software developers and companies. FY05 Funding: $500,000 FY06 Funding: $0 ¶5. USAID is negotiating with the city of Vukovar, HT (Croatia's Telecom Company),Microsoft, IBM and HABOR (Croatia's bank for reconstruction and development) to expand Internet access to the public and to make Vukovar, one of the most war-affected areas, a wireless city. The goal of the program is for everyone in Vukovar to have free access to the Internet. FY06 Funding: between $3 million and $4 million in total funding with partners. USAID contribution to be between $200,000 - $500,000. BRADTKE