Final report : return and reintegration of populations -- cooperative agreement no. EUR-A-00-94-00064-00

Civil rights and business registration components were added to the project after 1996. All five principal components yielded excellent results, as follows: (1) The number of NGOs providing pro bono legal aid to refugees has grown from 3 in 3 cities to 16 in 5 regions and 23 municipalities. Over 100,000 have received legal services related to their return -- almost double the project target. (2) The project also: prepared and distributed 11 brochures on legal issues related to return; conducted ongoing surveys of returnee humanitarian needs; directly registered 618 businesses, and facilitated the registration of almost 4,000 more sole proprietorships of mostly Croatian Serbian-owned businesses; and supported NGO programs to facilitate reconciliation between ethnic and religious groups in two war-affected areas. Also, the Medical Center for Human Rights (MCHR) identified witnesses and provided counseling to witnesses deposed by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. (3) The project increased the institutional capacity of Croatian NGOs to plan, execute, monitor, and evaluate returnee programs. All ADF NGO grantees have routinely met ADF and USAID requirements for financial management and reporting. Also, prior to the project, marketing an NGO was almost unknown in Croatia. With ADF assistance, however, 7 NGOs developed fact sheets of their organizations to assist with public information and marketing. This increased NGO capacity is the key to the project"s sustainability. (4) To improve monitoring of human rights, 20 NGOs were trained to document human rights abuses using HURIDOCS, the Human Rights Documentation System database. Six NGOs regularly collaborate in building national statistics and documentation, and five regions covering 23 municipalities are monitored by NGO offices. The Legal Services Coalition (the network of NGOs collaborating on human rights monitoring) produced a report detailing problems with implementing regulations related to the return of populations. (5) To increase Croatian ability to influence policymakers and implementers, the project supported periodic meetings in four areas where the government and NGOs come together to work out solutions to returnee problems; trained 30 NGOs in the principles and techniques of advocacy; and conducted four advocacy campaigns involving over 100 NGOs. Croatia"s lack of acceptance of returning refugees even after the adoption of the 1998 Return Plan served to strengthen the resolve of ADF and its partner NGOs to provide returnees needed services and support. As a result, residents in the war-affected areas have come to see the NGOs as important institutions in their community and regularly turn to them for assistance. ADF strongly recommends the continuation of support for NGO-provided legal services and advocacy to facilitate refugee return and reintegration that began under the project. ADF"s interventions have produced results that are replicable and could assist similar efforts in Croatia, the region, and elsewhere. Lessons learned are as follows: (1) A project designed and managed in the field by individuals familiar with the situation and context is more likely to succeed. (2) The comprehensive model of interventions used by ADF -- comprising training, TA, and grants -- reflects what is needed to strengthen the role of nascent and emerging NGOs in civil society. (3) The successful and sustainable reintegration/resettlement of displaced persons and refugee populations requires a comprehensive network of resources and services, including legal assistance, health, education, small grants, housing, and reconstruction. (4) The time frame required to implement effective and sustainable change must be flexible and adapted to the local context and needs. The agenda and time frame of the international community does not always meet this demand.