IRI Helps Serbian Government Develop Ombudsman Office

June 2, 2006

During his successful presidential campaign in 2004, Serbian President Boris Tadic promised to create an ombudsman office within his administration to provide constituency services to all Serbs. The People’s Office was established to act as a facilitator on major issues of public concern, such as the promotion of foreign investment, unemployment reduction, cooperation with international institutions and Euro-Atlantic integration. The International Republican Institute (IRI) has worked closely with the People's Office since it first opened its doors in October of 2004, providing comprehensive training in constituency relations, issue advocacy and communications.

As part of IRI’s program to help Serbia’s government better serve its constituents, IRI Europe Program Officer and former Serbia Country Director Greg Simpson conducted an interactive workshop from June 1-2 on fundraising and proposal writing for senior representatives of the People's Office. The workshop covered the topics of project development, fundraising strategies, proposal writing and targeting/researching donors and funders. In practical exercises, the participants were asked to design fundraising strategies and project proposals around existing People's Office projects, including 1,000 Leaders, a campaign to promote community leadership in Serbia; and Wake-Up Serbia, a campaign to promote economic development in the country.

Through trainings like these, IRI hopes to boost Serbia’s ability to meet the needs of its people and strengthen its democratic form of government.

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