CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VIII (1) ContemporaryEurasia81 | Page 118

THE UN “SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION PROGRAMME” IN UNPA SECTOR WEST …
Of the about 2,000 remaining Serbs, a significant majority were
beneficiaries of the “Social Reconstruction Programme”. Following the
“Blitz operation” the Croat authorities arrested 300 Serbs and accused them
of war crimes. Among those arrested were UNPROFOR’s most important
negotiators, the signers of the “Daruvar Agreement” for the Infrastructure
Projects and the Serbian manager of the CARE Building Materials Market.
Of the Serbs remaining in the Sector, 1,070 applied for Croatian citizenship.
Six months later, only about 1,500 Serbs remained in the Sector.
The following aspects of the Croat military intervention that impacted
the project, merit special mention:
- Changes to legal framework conditions
- The loss of the majority of the Serb population
- The loss of co-workers on the Serb side, one of whom was killed,
and the other one arrested
- The dissolution of the funds structure on the Serbian side
- The partial destruction of the infrastructure on the former Serbian
side
- The loss of project documents
- The premature termination of the project and its hand-over to the
Croatian community administration
The CARE Small Business Programme
After the end of the Cold War, the society of former Yugoslavia
underwent a significant structural change, transforming from a centrally
planned economy to a free market economy in the context of a competitive
European market.
Authorities and population recognized that developing a small
business sector and the accompanying privatization would contribute to
normalizing life. However, politicians in Knin and Zagreb supported policies
that were unfriendly to the economy, which stalled the successful
implementation of certain projects.
As a consequence of the war, economy on the Serb-controlled side of
the Sector had ground to a complete halt by 1992. The Croat side, too, was
plagued by high unemployment and the lack of productivity. Most males on
both sides were part of the local “Milicija”. It was thus of paramount
importance to initiate activities that would divert these men from their
paramilitary activities and involve them in a working process.
In March 1993 CARE Austria conducted a study in the Pakrac region
to identify possible projects for supporting small business development on
both sides of the ceasefire line. Due to the post-conflict situation, however,
here were major challenges for founding private enterprises, including a
centrally controlled legislature, the absence of a functioning banking sector,
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