OSC has designed and implemented communications technical assistance and capacity building on a variety of USAID-funded economic growth, trade, and fiscal reform programs to promote trade liberalization, improve access to trade information, improve the business environment, strengthen local and cross-border supply chains, and increase transparency of public financial management.
OSC understands that the knowledge about economic growth and trade is essential to average citizens, but that this information is often difficult to access and even more difficult to understand. OSC works with local stakeholders, ministries of finance, and economic development actors to make this kind of information public and to educate the general population about the issues that matter to them. In countries including Guatemala, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, and Egypt, OSC has designed, developed, and implemented public education campaigns related to tax and financial reforms, taking complex information and making it accessible and understandable to a wide audience of ordinary citizens. OSC advises government officials and other economic policy reform actors in the effective use of the media to publicize information and news related to the financial sector, and works within ministries and government bodies to improve both internal and external communications.
OSC is currently supporting strategic communications and advocacy initiatives in order to further economic growth in Vietnam by fostering more transparent and inclusive local government. OSC is building the capacity of civil society organizations and private sector partners for targeted public outreach and communications. OSC’s capacity building includes training in stakeholder mapping, audience segmentation, and message development to increase transparency in the economic and legal regulatory environment. In addition, OSC will create forums for the public and CSOs to meet with government officials to generate greater participation and input into economic decision-making.
On one project, OSC delivered communications technical assistance and capacity building for an array of stakeholders to increase support for trade liberalization and market-opening measures. OSC built Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) capacity to conduct outreach to diverse groups, training and mentoring officials to hold 110 informational workshops across eleven provinces.
On another project, OSC built Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Commerce & Industry capacity to design and implement public outreach campaigns tied to compliance issues such as tax payment and utilizing commercial credit. The long-term campaigns were designed to change economic behavior and promote support for a private sector-driven economy, such as the outreach campaign that lead to increased citizen understanding and use of the commercial banking system.