Democracy International conducted an assessment of U.S government funded programs civil society programs, including service delivery, civic, and professional sectors, in Romania to provide the USAID Mission with a study of best practices and lessons learned.

DI fielded a team to conduct this assessment in Romania in late September and early October 2007. DI’s team examined civil society involvement in all three sectors and held interviews with USAID and its implementing partners, other donors, CSOs, government officials, and program beneficiaries in Bucharest, Cluj, Dej, Iasi, Timisoara, Bocsa and Vaslui. DI held sector-specific focus groups in Bucharest, Cluj and Vaslui. To receive input from across Romania, additional questionnaires were additional CSOs to ensure the team received input from across Romania.

DI found that USAID assistance programs not only provided the funding and expertise that facilitated the development of CSOs, but they contributed to the development of a set of values and approaches that sowed the seeds for improved services, democratic change, and needed reform. Through the provision of direct assistance to build civil society and through the use of CSOs to develop the civic, social service delivery and professional sectors, USAID assistance built model organizations and trained a cadre of sophisticated civil society leaders.

Photo credit: Andrew Colin