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economic development at the local level. Community Development Groups (CDGs), established by community members with assistance from USAID, serve as the focal point of community activity and decision-making by identifying community priorities, liaising with local government, and implementing projects that address community priorities. To ensure community ownership, CDGs are responsible for contributing 25% of the project costs.
Results
Since the program’s inception in July 2001, USAID has worked with thousands of citizens and has carried out 2500 projects in 363 communities throughout Serbia. In Drugi Oktobar, a local community of Vrsac Municipality (Vojvodina), citizens and local government are witnessing not only increased access to commercial financing for business and employment, but also a change in citizens’ attitudes toward improving their lives. At a town hall meeting, Drugi Oktobar citizens voted as a top priority to renovate a building into a community center. The community center now serves as a hub for citizen advocacy and action and a key source for information, educational, social and economic development services.
In addition to securing support from local government, the community mobilized support from a private firm to fund a computer center which will provide computer literacy programs and internet access. Success from this community project has motivated other donors
to invest resources in the community center and help provide for staffing.
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