Tax Policy and Administrative Reform Public Information
2002-2005

In December 2002, OSC began managing a comprehensive public education effort that informs and involves citizens at every step of the tax reform program and is the first step in increasing voluntary tax compliance. For each task envisioned in the joint USAID/Dept of Treasury Tax Policy and Administrative Reform program, OSC designed a corresponding public education activity.

A comprehensive public education effort that informs and involves citizens at every step of the tax reform program is crucial to inspiring voluntary tax compliance. Top-down reform efforts that fail to seek citizen buy-in along the way require expensive enforcement measures, and lead to a lag in revenue collections because citizens continue to evade new tax laws and regulations that they do not understand to be in their interest. Understanding this, OSC implementeda program that engaged local stakeholder commitment from the beginning. OSC's approach targeted each of the project tasks with journalist seminars, public roundtable discussions & town meetings, targeted distribution of posters & other printed media, and media training.

Public Education and Information in Support of Reproductive Health Awareness Campaign
2001-2006

OSC is working in 22 local communities in Serbia through a network of Community Boards organized by the USAID-funded Community Revitalization through Democratic Action (CRDA) project. OSC has successfully convened regional public meetings and provided communications training to local NGOs and government officials, leading a collaborative process to articulate four main project goals for the Reproductive Health/Family Planning (RH/FP) Awareness Campaign:

• Improve knowledge among young people at risk regarding available reproductive health care services in their local communities
• Increase the number of young people utilizing reproductive health care services
• Improve delivery of reproductive health education to young people at risk
• Accumulate knowledge and communicate lessons learned to other municipalities in Central Serbia

To achieve these goals, OSC is implementing a coordinated suite of project activities:

• Mobilizing CRDA board members to participate in the RH/FP Awareness Campaign
• Delivering RH/FP training seminars to students and educational and medical professionals
• Opening "Youth Friendly" counseling centers in 5-6 municipalities
• Facilitating meetings between parents, students, and education professionals
• Organizing fundraising and other awareness-building activities
• Printing and distributing informational materials used in schools and youth counseling centers
• Funding a Baseline RH/FP survey and follow-up survey to monitor the effectiveness and reach of the Awareness Campaign

OSC developed and is implementing a successful media campaign to ensure maximum community participation in the project. OSC conducted a baseline survey to inform the media strategy, and distributed the results measuring citizens' knowledge of and propensity to participate in CRDA and other civic activities. Media events are centered around projects, and stress the central message of CRDA: citizens making decisions together to solve problems in their communities and improve the quality of life.

OSC publishes a monthly media monitoring report to track the quantity and quality of news coverage of project activities, and organizes press events and seminars for local journalists to ensure that they receive concise and accurate information concerning the CRDA program. More than 300 press events have been held since October, 2001, resulting in more than 3000 television, radio or newspaper stories.

Montenegro

Public Education for Economic Reform Project
2001-2003

OSC managed the public information plans, strategies, and budgets for Phase II economic reforms. The objectives were: (a) to build broad-based public understanding of reforms, (b) to facilitate effective communication between reform-implementing entities of the GOM and affected constituencies, and (c) to ensure that taxpayers, business representatives, pensioners, and other citizens are equipped to function effectively in the new economy.

The comprehensive public information and consultative program developed by OSC was designed to disseminate information on all core aspects of the new economic policy and administrative reform framework, including Privatization, Macroeconomic, Fiscal, Financial Sector, Payments System, and Business Regulatory System.

Working with local staff and partners, OSC implemented a comprehensive suite of research and public awareness activities that developed greater public understanding and support of economic reforms in Montenegro.

Selected Projects