• Implementation of community development projectsProjects:

– rehabilitation of the small community infrastructure
– income-generating activities
– community social services
– innovative (with an emphasis on environmental issues)
– integrated

Beneficiaries:

– poor rural communities – mono or multiethnic
– disadvantaged groups from urban or rural areas
– mining communities affected by the restructuring of the mining sector
– Roma communities from poor settlements (rural or urban)

Managed funds:

– 69 million USD + 5 million EURO, in 10 years

Performance:

– 1355 projects implemented in all counties of the country
– 225 projects implemented simultaneously in 2009
– over 620,000 beneficiaries

* * *

• Community facilitation

Facilitating training

– providing assistance to beneficiaries in assessing needs, choosing leaders and preparing funding applications

Facilitation of remediation

– solving some social problems in the communities (insufficient involvement of the beneficiaries in the project, conflicts, misunderstandings between the beneficiaries, between them and the local authorities, builders, suppliers, etc.).

Network facilitation

– developing forms of association between beneficiaries, facilitating the exchange of experience regarding the development and ensuring the sustainability of projects, supporting the continuation of local development initiatives

Performance:

– 82% of the projects submitted by the facilitated communities in 2003 were approved
– all communities facilitated in 2003 submitted projects
– 75 mining communities from 16 counties, facilitated simultaneously in 3 months (in 2005)

* * *

Organizing support networks between beneficiaries

Objectives:

– good implementation of ongoing projects
– ensuring the sustainability of completed projects
– continuation of local development efforts

Activities:

– study visits, knowledge and experience sharing
– training in specific fields
– participation in sessions for the presentation of financing programs
– meetings with specialists, with representatives of some public authorities
– making promotional materials
– organizing or participating in fairs, exhibitions, festivals
– the establishment of formal associations to represent their interests

Beneficiaries:

– communities, NGOs or local authorities that have successfully completed a project
– communities, NGOs or local authorities implementing projects
– communities, NGOs or local authorities intend to submit projects

Performance:

– 6 active inter-community networks, in the fields of social services, wood processing, beekeeping, sunflower seed processing, water supply, respectively road maintenance
– over 130 beneficiaries involved in the activities of the networks
– a professional association with 10 members, former beneficiaries of income-generating activity projects (beekeeping)

• Project evaluation

Initial processing (screening)

– verifying the observance of the deadline, the submission of the obligatory documents, the fulfillment of the eligibility criteria

Office evaluation

– analysis of the opportunity and feasibility of the project from a technical point of view, economic analysis, financial soundness, institutional evaluation of the Implementing Agents, community participation, project sustainability, and environmental impact

Field evaluation

– assessment of the consistency and quality of the project, verification of the correspondence of the data mentioned in the financing application with reality, evaluation of the beneficiaries, reconfiguration, together with them, of the project parameters

Mechanisms for quality control of the evaluation process

– cross-assessment, conformity assessment

Performances

– 4,284 financing applications analyzed during 10 years
– 3,170 applications for funding evaluated at the office
– 2,187 projects, analyzed in the field, with the participation of the beneficiaries

• Field monitoring of the project implementation process

Supervision

– community participation and ensuring the local contribution
– the stage of accomplishing the project from a physical point of view and of the achieved objectives
– quality of operations performed by the parties involved (community, contractors)
– compliance with environmental protection regulations

Technical support

– verification of the technical project
– project management
– carrying out procurement procedures
– financial management and project accounting
– legal aspects of closing and handing over the objective

Evaluation of the implementation stage

– Periodic application of standardized tools for assessing the social impact of projects at local level

Performances

– 11,622 field supervision actions of the project implementation process

• Training

Types of courses

– project management
– community development
– procurement procedures (Romanian legislation and World Bank procedures)
– technical aspects of the implementation of a project
– financial-accounting procedures
– small business management, marketing
– participatory evaluation and monitoring

Beneficiaries

– members of the Project Steering Committees
– representatives of the NGO environment
– local authorities
– contractors (site managers, representatives of construction companies, etc.)
– RSDF collaborators (evaluators, facilitators, supervisors, trainers)

Performances

– 185 training sessions organized
– over 4,200 trained people

• Public information campaigns

Information

– funding opportunities through FRDS
– other financing opportunities
– European integration

Target audience

– members of poor rural communities and mining communities
– representatives of non-governmental organizations active at local level
– local authorities, other local public institutions

Methodology

– door-to-door information
– organizing public meetings
– dissemination of promotional materials (leaflets, posters, information packages)
– made with the involvement of the team of facilitators and the staff of the branches

Performances

– 170 rural and urban communities in the SDSCM intervention area, covered during two months (100 localities from 16 counties)

• Objectives

– documenting the impact of RSDF intervention
– improving the Fund’s policies and processes
– supporting the operational approaches of the specialized departments

• Internal evaluations

– needs assessment
– process and impact assessments
– case studies and quantitative analyzes
– evaluations of organizational policies (policy papers)

• External evaluations

– designing, contracting, coordinating and receiving evaluation studies

Performances

– 35 studies conducted by the team of sociologists of RSDF
– 7 external evaluations designed, contracted and monitored