U.S.-RFE Municipal Partnership Program

This program is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Implemented by:

Foundation for Russian American Economic Cooperation (FRAEC) in cooperation with the Institute for Urban Economics (Moscow, Russia) and the Far East Center for Social Innovation (Khabarovsk, Russia).

The U.S.-Russian Far East Municipal Partnership Program promotes local self-governance in the Russian Far East (RFE) to make local government more responsive to the needs and priorities of citizens. By supporting training programs, continuing education opportunities, and joint municipal partnership projects between cities in the states of Washington and Alaska and the RFE, the program supports development and dissemination of proven social and economic development strategies and improves public administration skills among government administrators in the RFE.

The program aims to accomplish the following objectives:

Increase policy development capacity among local and regional officials responsible for local governance that promotes decision-making that is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, equitable and inclusive and based upon the rule of law;

Bolster citizen participation in local self-governance and provide local communities with skills and practices to manage their resources more effectively;

Strengthen capacity of local government in the RFE to effectively manage financial, human and physical resources to improve their cities and the lives of their citizens;

Advance implementation of best practices in effective, equitable, and efficient delivery of public services to establish the practice of local public service management in the RFE regions.

The program includes the following program components:

1. City Partnerships – Alaska, Washington, Russia

2. Social and Economic Development Programs

3. Public Administration Education

For more information on specific program components, please click on the link above.

Program Geography:

Russia: Primorsky Krai, Khabarovsk Krai, Sakhalin Region, Kamchatka Krai, Chukotsky Autonomous Region, Jewish Autonomous Region, Magadan Region, Amur Region, Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, Irkutsk Region.
USA: Alaska and Washington states.

How to Participate in the Program:

Russian municipalities can submit their applications to participate in the program. Based on these applications, municipalities will be invited to participate in different program components. The rules and the deadlines for the applications are posted on the web-sites of the organizations responsible for implementing the program.

The following parties are invited to cooperate on program realization:

Local self-governance institutions of the Russian Far East Federal District and Irkutsk Region;

Russian Far East local government authorities;

Municipal governments in the states of Washington and Alaska;

Municipal associations and councils;

Institutions of higher education involved in preparation of municipal specialists.

For more program information, please contact:

FRAEC, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia
Marina Kirsanova
Program Director
Email: mkirsanova@fraec.org
Tel: (4242) 72-71-24/25

Institute for Urban Economics, Moscow, Russia www.urbaneconomics.ru
German Vetrov
Director of Municipal Economic Development Department
Email: mailbox@urbaneconomics.ru
Tel: (495) 787-4520, (495) 363-50-47

Far East Center for Social Innovation, Khabarovsk, Russia
www.dvsi.ru
Elena Veprikova

Founder and Director
Email: centerdv@mail.ru
Tel: (4212) 77-99-82, 75-06-70

In the U.S.:
FRAEC, Seattle
Susan King , Program Manager
Email: sking@fraec.org
Tel: (206) 770-4013
Fax: (206) 443-0954