ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the role of small projects and partnerships in assessing what works, and how assistance monies can be spent more effectively. While some assistance providers and advisors have pushed for rapid and widespread privatization at almost any cost, others criticize these programs for buttressing the very corruption, crony capitalism and organized crime that ultimately undermine the growth of the very stability and healthy markets that we seek. Small partnerships, for example, have contributed directly and significantly to market reforms in Russia and elsewhere in the newly independent states. Since mid-to-late 1995, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other donors have in fact placed greater emphasis on funding smaller programs, private voluntary organizations, and requiring some of the elements discussed below. If all other project elements are required and adhered to, umbrella organizations allow USAID to free itself from micromanagement of projects to focus more on monitoring, oversight, and strategic planning.
