Millennium Partners has extensive experience in developing transparent and accountable institutions and anti-corruption programs through technical assistance, training, and program development as a prime contractor under the Rule of Law (ROL) IDIQ, the BRDG IQC, and as a subcontractor to numerous other donor funded projects globally. Critical to the success of this work has been helping governments at all levels to develop accountable and transparent institutions as well as opening up space for expanded public participation in planning, budgeting and monitoring of service delivery. The following are some of Millennium’s most recent projects:
E-Governance Activity in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Under a $10.5 million USAID E-Governance Activity in BiH, Millennium Partners is promoting transparent administrative processes and increased vertical and horizontal accountability through the use of digital technologies. Digitalization has increasingly become a tool for fighting corruption, but to be effective it must be integrated and accessible to both government personnel and the public. Under this Activity, a comprehensive set of initiatives is being implemented to improve interoperability between the different levels of the BiH governments (i.e., the State of BiH, Republika Srpska, and Federation of BiH) and to enhance the accountability and transparency of government processes, while increasing the participation of the private sector and citizens in public proceedings and decision-making processes. For example, e-procurement processes are more transparently and publicly monitored, and e-permitting for construction, an area rife with corruption, will be made more transparent to internal audit agencies, the private sector, and the public at large.
Strengthening Resource Mobilization Activity (SRMA) Project in North Macedonia
Millennium Partners together with Cardno is implementing the USAID North Macedonia (NM) Strengthening Resource Mobilization Activity (SRMA). The purpose of SRMA is to increase local government units’ (LGUs’) own source resources and external funds and to increase their budget execution rate in compliance with the Government of NM’s budgeting and reporting requirements. Millennium is providing technical assistance to: 1) enhance the quality of municipal tax and fee collection systems; 2) increase LGUs’ capacity to access external resources from the national government, international organizations’ funds, and/or capital markets and banks; and 3) improve LGUs’ ability to plan, manage, and implement public sector revenues in compliance with the Government of NM’s regulations.
Ecuador Local Government Project
Although not a recent project, the Ecuador Local Government Project LGP) coordinated closely with local governments in Ecuador, building capacity, transparency in areas such as budgeting, and improving the delivery of services. Under LGP, as the prime, Millennium strengthened local government management by supporting advanced training of management personnel through a Graduate Certificate in Local Public Management; promoted mechanisms for citizen oversight of local government budgets and resource allocation; and consulted with several local municipalities on ways to promote sustainable economic development using innovative strategies such as public private partnerships (PPPs). Trafficking in persons training was provided to local government officials in the Galapagos Island municipality of Santa Rosa to address prosecution and victim protection as a local government issue. Training was also provided for citizen oversight of the local government’s implementation of the Free Maternity Law. Both of these training programs addressed local government needs.
Plan of the Integrated Municipal Development Program (PIDEM)
Under this project, in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Millennium provided technical assistance to four municipal governments in Ecuador’s remote Northern Border region. Given that this was a new geographic area of intervention for USAID/Ecuador’s Democracy and Governance Office, the first activity was a diagnosis and evaluation, which included developing a baseline survey and holding stakeholder-inclusive workshops to identify specific areas for intervention. Millennium also provided support for activities to increase municipalities’ transparency in the procurement of goods and services for water, sanitation, and other projects. We strengthened the coordination between different levels of local government to create a bottom-up approach to decentralization, which was an overarching goal of USAID/Ecuador at the time. Millennium also advised the municipalities on the use of social infrastructure funds, helping them identify and prioritize social projects and engage CSOs to monitor the results.
