Publication: Bulgaria Regional Initiatives Fund (RIF) : Innovative Approaches to Income Generation
Date
2001-10
ISSN
Published
2001-10
Author(s)
Pojarski, Peter
Abstract
The note looks at the role the Regional
Initiatives Fund Project had in Bulgaria, which tested the
social fund approach, as an institutional mechanisms to help
the country protect incomes of the poor during the
transition period. Its micro-projects component funded both,
social infrastructure, and innovative micro-projects. The
latter, the most innovative, explored different approaches
to employment generation, aiming to create longer-term jobs,
and, foster the reintegration of disadvantaged groups, back
into society. Opportunities for income generation were
established by enabling the development of a business
environment, which would provide business services such as,
training, advice, and marketing techniques. The project
targeted ethnic minorities, socially marginal women,
vulnerable youth, and disabled unemployed people as
beneficiaries. Lessons outline the need to focus on a
limited number of clearly defined, and easily monitored
types of micro-projects for a successful outcome, and
include as well, the need for community participation in the
selection, and implementation process, embedded in the
project cycle. Furthermore, project proposals should undergo
a sustainability analysis, and specific measures to ensure
satisfactory project results.
Citation
“Pojarski, Peter. 2001. Bulgaria Regional Initiatives Fund (RIF) : Innovative Approaches to Income Generation. Social Funds Innovation Updates; Vol. 1, No. 2. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/bff50180-a356-5155-8165-4edfe978ed1f License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”