Maria Gaidar, Washington DC, 09/13/2011

Kirov region Kirov region – one of the largest regions in Russia, located in the North East of 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

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

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

LISP in the Kirov region Government grant SettlementPopulation Business 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 tools and monitoring)

LISP Design 1 Participants of the project are rural and urban settlements only 2 Settlement officials with community leaders organize meetings with people to define the most important problem and elect a group of activists that will prepare the application 3 The regional commission selects the best micro-projects based on predetermined criteria 4 Each settlement can apply for a maximum of 4 micro projects. One project can apply for $50k, the remaining 3 can apply for a maximum of $12k/project 5 The grants are provided from the regional budget upon co- financing by settlements, population and businesses 6 All micro projects must be completed within one year

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

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 20 million roubles (< $1million) was allocated for this purpose

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.

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

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

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

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

Settlements participation Had a chance to take part in LISP Took part in competition Won the competition

Competitive selection 54 micro projects took part in the competition and 26 were selected by the LISP Tender Commission The LISP Tender Commission consisted of 12 members and made decisions according to the criteria which 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

Types of micro projects

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)

Public opinion Source: Conducted in 2010 buy The World bank

Example - Water supply afterafter beforebefore

afterafter beforebefore

Example - Country road afterafter beforebefore

afterafter beforebefore

Example - Settlement improvement afterafter beforebefore

Example - Sports ground afterafter beforebefore

Example - Sport center afterafter beforebefore

Example - Community center afterafter beforebefore

afterafter beforebefore

Example - Heating system afterafter beforebefore

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) $30 million was allocated by Kirov region government for 2011

2011 settlements participation Had a chance to take part in LISP Took part in competition Won the competition

Online management system In 2011 the World bank developed a Management Information System to effectively select, implement and monitor projects

Types of micro projects

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

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

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

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