Maria Gaidar, Washington DC, 09/13/2011

1. Local Initiative Support Project Maria Gaidar, Washington DC, 09/13/2011

2. Kirov region Kirov region – one of the largest regions in Russia, located in the North Eastof the European part of the country Area - 74,564 square miles Population – 1,4 million Gross Regional Product - one of the lowest among Russian regions There is no oil and mineral gas resources

3. Strategic partnership March 2009 – the World Bank and the Kirov region signed a memorandum of strategic partnership for reconstruction and development through 2015 One of the main areas for possible cooperation was design and implementation of Local Initiative Support Project (LISP) for rural and urban settlements of Kirov region

4. Goals of LISP Activate the dialogue between the population and authorities at all levels Identify and address the issues chosen by people themselves in local meeting through democratic procedures Improve performance and capacity of local municipal authorities Improve efficiency and transparency in budget allocation Empower local communities Reduce dependency attitudes and create positive social practice Create and maintain jobs

5. LISP in the Kirov region LISP The government of the Kirov region provides subsidies (no more than $50,000 per project) to local settlements to finance competitively selected small micro projects, initiated by the residents and co-financed by settlements, participants and businesses The World Bank provides technical assistance in the design and implementation of the project (i.e. seminars for government officials, training for local municipal authorities, on-line toolsand monitoring)

6. LISP Design

7. 2009 – Pilot year A difficult start. Kirov government officials saw it as both a “dangerous” empowerment of rural communities and just another infrastructure sink hole Members of Kirov parliament did not believe that such small amounts of money could make any difference The heads of municipalities were afraid to compete and also doubtful that dividing any money could be achieved equitably In general, everyone was suspicious about the participation of the World Bank

8. 2009 – Pilot year After several meetings conducted with the team of the World Bank with government officials, local representatives, etc., a series of “listening tours” and meetings in rural settlements,to both learn local opinions and to create optimal program designs, took place Kirov government supported the idea to start a pilot in six districts with 41 settlements in this area 20millionroubles(< $1million)was allocated for this purpose

9. Trainings for local officials and community leaders The implementation started with training for local officials and community leaders about the goals and procedures of the project This training was delivered by a team of the World Bank consultants Participation was very high. The training was attended by 40 of 41 settlements. The workshop was attended by 80 participants.

10. Meetings – Settlement Administration 53 meetings in settlements took place, with participation of the World Bank consultants, during January and February 2010

11. Meetings – Community Center ~ 40% of population of settlements were present in every meeting

12. Meetings in country schools Meetings were conducted in cultural centers, medical centers, schools and even outdoors

13. Population meetings Main street of settlement -29,2 Fahrenheit Meetings lasted from one to three hours

14. Settlements participation 26 41 37 Won the competition Took part in competition Had a chance to take part in LISP

15. Competitive selection 54 micro projects took part in the competition and 26 were selectedby the LISP Tender Commission The LISP Tender Commission consisted of 12 members and made decisions according to the criteriawhich was approved by Kirov’s region Government The heads of districts attended the meeting of the Tender Commission and could provide clarifications with respect to projects

16. Types of micro projects

17. Budget by participants 26 micro projects from 21 settlements Total micro projects value – 22,487,000 roubles ($750k) Government grants – 17,536,000 roubles($600k) Co-financing by settlements, population and business – 4,951,000 roubles($150k)

18. Public opinion Source: Conducted in 2010 buy The World bank

19. Example - Water supply after before

20. Example - Water supply after before

21. Example - Countryroad before after

22. Example - Countryroad before after

23. Example - Settlement improvement before after

24. Example - Sports ground before after

25. Example - Sport center before after

26. Example - Community center before after

27. Example - Community center before after

28. Example - Heating system before after

29. LISP in 2011 Due to positive results of the pilots, the government of the Kirov region decided to continue and expand the project LISP was expanded to the whole territory of the region (there are 389 settlements in 39 districts of Kirov region) $30millionwas allocatedby Kirov region government for 2011

30. 2011 settlements participation 153 389 203 Won the competition Took part in competition Had a chance to take part in LISP

31. Online management system http://77.72.139.122/ In 2011 the World bank developed a Management Information System to effectively select, implement and monitor projects

32. 2011 - Types of micro projects

33. Additional LISP effect Overall activity increased In settlements that participated people started implementing projects without government grants In Tuzha people collected money and made playgroundfor children

34. LISP effect In some settlements people totally overhauled and cleaned their ponds The population of another village planted apple orchard even though they were not selected

35. A project as a way to find and recruit people Some examples: After a good implementation of LISP, some people were given a promotion The head of Yaransk Elena Chesnokova district became the head of the department of the social development of Kirov region Resident of small village in Arbazh district Elena Titorenko became a consultant of the WorldBank Later, she was offered a job in administration of the district and became a head of section there

36. Overwhelming enthusiasm The project became so popular that a board game was created based on the LISP concept

37. Thank you!