Supporting UNICEF to Achieve Improvements in Outcomes for Children and Families in the Western Balkans and the Commonwealth of Independent States Regions

[PROJECT WEBPAGE]

CASE undertakes for UNICEF a study covering a policy and institutional mapping of trends in public financial management (PFM) reforms in 19 countries1 belonging to the following three regions2 : Western Balkans, Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The study is designed to help UNICEF to upgrade its institutional capacity in conducting more effective and well targeted interventions related to its statutory goals based on more focused knowledge and understanding of PFM issues by both UNICEF country desk officers and the Geneva-based headquarter. A special emphasis is given to the analysis of components that are critical to the welfare of children and families in sectors such as education, health, social, protection, water, food security and utilities.

The study shall also serve as a valuable reference on PFM issues in the three above regions since its dominant framework will be that of a cross-country comparison.  The project will make use of and extend the existing database for all transition economies (and EU economies) built under Work Package 1 of the EU FP6 ENEPO project coordinated by Dr. Irina Sinitsina. The experience and expertise gained by CASE and its daughter organizations through previous projects carried out in these regions represents a valuable asset towards the successful realization of this assignment.

The proposed team will be headed by Dr. Marek Dabrowski, CASE President, and Dr. Roman Mogilevsky, CASE-Kyrgyzstan Executive Director. They will draft the consolidated report and  respectively coordinate the sub-regional studies on Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Local experts from CASE-Kyrgyzstan will support Dr. Roman Mogilevsky, while Alexander Chubrik from CASE-Belarus and Dr. Irina Sinitsina from CASE will provide  qualified assistance to Marek Dabrowski. Dr. Boris Najman, Dr. Przemyslaw Wozniak and Branka Andjelkovic will conduct the study on Western Balkans. Dr. Irena Topinska will provide expertise for both sub-regional and regional analysis on the effectiveness of social policy and social spending. Pasquale D’Apice will provide administrative and coordination support. The team has been chosen for its in-depth and complementary knowledge of both the thematic area and the sub-regions.

1 Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan

2 The names of those regions reflect the assignment and vocabulary proposed by UNICEF.