RESUME OF PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Name: Leonardo G. Romeo

Organization: LDI-Local Development International, s.a.s.

Title: Managing Director

Email Address: abpeuk@r.postjobfree.com

Postal Address: 213 Wyckoff Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217, USA

Phone (ITALY) +39-349-***-****

Phone (USA) +1-646-***-****

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

LOCAL DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL (LDI) s.a.s. 2008-present

Managing Director

Founded and manages Local Development International s.a.s. (LDI) a consulting firm providing policy advice and

technical / management services to Governments and International Organizations for (a) the development of the

policy, legal and regulatory framework of decentralization reforms, (b) the development of Local Governments

institutions and capacities and (c) the planning, appraisal, management and evaluation of local/municipal

investment projects

(Client : UNDP) Team leader of the LDI mission that carried out the Mid-Term Review of

Somalia

(April 2011) the Joint Program on Local Governance and Services Delivery (JPLG). Reviewed the JPLG

outputs and outcomes and recommended an extension of the program subject to

reformulation and changes in the District Planning system and local development financing

instruments.

(Client: GIZ ) worked for the National Committee for Democratic Development NCDD

Cambodia

(Feb.-Mar. 2011) to develop the work-program of the Policy Division of the NCDD Secretariat. Developed a

District Charter outline as the basis for operation of newly created District Councils and

Administrations

(Client: European Commission) worked as Team Leader for the formulation of a

Jordan

(Mar.-May 2011) 5M.Euros EC-funded Program for Local Economic Development in Jordan (PLEDJ), a

program to empower multi-stakeholders, Governorate-level Economic Commissions to

prepare and implement governorate economic development strategies.

(Client: UNDP) worked for the Ministry of Planning (i) to develop a Ministry s position

Jordan

(Jan 2011) paper for submission to the Inter Ministerial Working Group on Decentralization Reforms,

and (ii) to outline a sub-national (regional) planning process linking governorates and

municipalities and articulating territorial and sector plans.

(Client: World Bank and GTZ) worked for the National Committee for Democratic

Cambodia

(Mar.-Aug. 2010) Development NCDD . Team leader for preparation of a 300 M. US$ 3-years (2011-13)

program to implement decentralization reforms and channel domestic and external

resources to sub-national administrations.

(Client: World Bank) worked for the National Council for Educational Development

Mexico

(Sep.-Dec.2009) CONAFE. Responsible for the design of the Municipal Management component of a

World Bank 100 M.US$ loan, aiming to involve municipal authorities in the decentralized

delivery of compensatory education services to underserved and marginalized communities

(Client: UK DFID) Worked for the Yemeni Social Fund for Development (SFD) to help

Yemen

(Sep.2009) develop its medium-term (2010-15) strategy, including a greater role of the SFD in support

of decentralization reforms and emerging district-level local authorities

(Client: UNCDF) Team Leader Responsible for identification of program/projects to be

Mozambique

(Jun.-Aug.2009) supported by UNCDF in Mozambique during the 2010-15 UNCDF programming cycle.

Developed several project profiles for UNCDF investments in municipal development and

support to District-level decentralized planning and financing.

(Client: UNDP-UNCDF) Assisted a national Task Force, established within the Ministry of

Yemen

Local Administration, to develop the National Local Governance Strategy (NLGS) and

design a comprehensive National Program for its implementation.

(Client :UNCDF) Designed and provided technical backstopping to the implementation of

Nicaragua

the UNCDF-financed Program to support decentralization and the localization of the

Millennium Development Goals (PADETOM).The program helps Municipalities to

appraise and co-finance private and cooperative investments in revenue generating activities

(Client: UNDP), led a team working for the Ministry of Local Development (MLD) to

Egypt

draft the National Egyptian Decentralization Strategy (NEDS)

(Client: SADC- South African Development Community) Member of a Queens

South Africa

University faculty team. Lectured on project financial appraisal at the Program for

Investment Appraisal and Risk Analysis organized for Development Banks and Micro-

finance institutions in the SADC region.

UNITED NATIONS CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT FUND 2002-2007

Principal Technical Adviser

(A) Designed appraised, monitored and evaluated UNCDF investment and capacity building programs and

mobilized resources for their financing. Countries covered included:

Team Leader for the design of the National Provincial Governance Strengthening Program

Solomon Islands

(N-PGSP), a 15.6 M.$, multi-donor funded program that supports decentralized planning

and financing of Local Development, and strengthens the capacity of provincial authorities

to promote local development.

Designed a Fiscal Decentralization Support Program (FDSP) (2005-07) and an Innovation

Cambodia

for Decentralization and Local development (IDLD) program (2008-10) to support the

design and implementation of fiscal decentralization reforms, and the integration of

commune and district-level development planning processes.

Designed a major Decentralization and Local Development Support Program" (DLDSP)

Yemen

which quickly attracted the financial support of multiple donors (UNDP, Italy, USAID,

DANIDA, the Yemeni Social Fund) and channeled resources to recently elected District

Councils for local development spending, while supporting the restructuring of the Ministry

of Local Administration and the adoption of a National Strategy for genuine decentralization

reforms.

Principal consultant of the Presidency s Technical Secretariat (SETEC) for the drafting of

Nicaragua

Nicaragua s National Decentralization and Local Development Strategy (2006). Developed

a joint UNDP/UNCDF Local Governance and Development Unit (LGDU) within the UN

Office in Managua, to coordinate UNDP and UNCDF support to decentralization, local

governance and local development in Nicaragua. Provided technical monitoring and quality

control of the LGDU-managed activities.

Building on recently approved constitutional provisions for fiscal and administrative

Democratic

decentralization, developed a concept note and a preparatory assistance project to help

Republic of Congo

UNDP address post-conflict recovery and reconstruction needs by focusing on the

development of viable local authorities, the strengthening of their accountability to local

communities and the development of a minimum of local administrative and services

delivery capacity.

(B) Delivered Technical Advisory Services (TAS), to UNDP and other organizations, for the following projects:

Team Leader. Formulated and then backstopped a 4.5 MUS$ BTC-financed program of

Palestine

(2002) assistance to local governments in the Occupied Territories, which supported the design,

Belgian Tech. Coop. appraisal and implementation of a wide range of local infrastructure investments planned

(BTC) and managed by Palestinian Village Councils.

Team Leader. Designed a project to implement a local governance approach to post-

Angola

(2003) conflict recovery, in the immediate aftermath of the peace accords. Mobilized resources for

UNDP-BCPR the project financing from the World Bank and UNDP.

Evaluator. Evaluated a UNDP-managed, multi-donor supported program for re-integration

Ukraine

(2002) of Tatar returnees in Crimea. The report, while suggesting the re-orientation of some aspects

UNDP of the program, was instrumental in securing continuing donors support to the reintegration

process.

International Resource Person. Prepared a world-wide comparative assessment of key

Saudi Arabia

(2004) policy issues / options in decentralization reforms and metropolitan governance. Developed

Riyadh Development alternative models of multi-level governance for the Riyadh metropolitan area to facilitate

Authority (RDA) the reform of the RDA in view of the coming elections of Municipal Councils. A summary

of the study later served as background document for a UNDP-organized conference on local

governance in Saudi Arabia.

Policy Adviser. On request of the UNDP-Iraq office, carried out a seminar for UNDP

Jordan

(2004) program managers on how to promote local reconstruction and development through capital

UNDP and technical assistance to local administrations.

Policy Adviser. Assisted the Royal Government of Cambodia to draft the National

Cambodia

(2005) Decentralization and De-concentration Strategy (approved by the Prime Minister in June

UNDP 2005) and outlined the National Program to implement the strategy. This provided the

framework for further growth of external assistance to decentralization reforms..

Program Designer. Designed a program adopting a Local Governance Approach to Post-

Sri Lanka

(2005) Tsunami Recovery. The program aimed at strengthening the role and capacity of elected

UNDP local authorities and bringing them to assume greater coordinating and implementing

responsibilities for the post-tsunami reconstruction effort.

INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION ( affiliated to NYU ) 2000-2001

Senior Associate

As Senior Associate at IPA, a research and consulting organization affiliated with New York University, secured

business from, and delivered consulting services to, the following clients.

Evaluated the Participatory Micro-Planning Process (MPP) and suggested a more

Nicaragua

(2000) sustainable statutory municipal planning process, which was later extended to municipalities

World Bank by the Institute of Municipal Development (INIFOM). Designed the INIFOM corporate

Municipal Strengthening Program (PFM) and a 25.0 M. US$ World Bank project (the 2nd

Rural Municipalities Project - PROTIERRA) as external aid to the implementation of the

PFM. The project piloted performance-based fiscal transfers for municipal development

spending, (FONDEM)

Designed (i) the Commune Sangkhat Fund (CSF) a national mechanism for fiscal transfers

Cambodia

(2001) to newly established Commune Authorities and (ii) the Commune-level Planning Process

SIDA (Sweden) and developed the legal instruments (decrees and sub-decrees) regulating them. Both legal

/UNOPS texts were issued by the Royal Government of Cambodia in early 2002, and provide today

the basic legal framework for decentralized planning and financing of local development in

Cambodia.

Team Leader (contractor: Research Triangle Institute RTI). Designed and carried out a

Morocco

(2001) study for the Ministry of Interior on local governance practices in selected local

USAID governments of the Marrakech and Tangiers regions. The study, which comprehensively

investigated political, administrative and fiscal determinants of LG performance, was widely

read in Morocco and influenced later work by MOI to improve local governance.

WAGNER GRADUATE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC SERVICE (New York University) 2002-present

Adjunct Professor of Planning

Teaches International Development Project Planning (IDPP), a course on integrated financial and economic

analysis of local infrastructure and economic development projects, including distributional and poverty impact

assessment and risk analysis.

Co-Teaches Decentralized Development Planning (DDP) a course on sub-national development planning systems,

processes and techniques in developing countries embarking in political, fiscal and administrative decentralization.

UNITED NATIONS CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT FUND 1990-1999

Senior Technical Adviser

As Senior Technical Adviser for Local development planning, he was a principal architect of the reorientation of

UNCDF towards the financing of local authorities investment programs and the promotion of policy change and

institutional innovation in the areas of decentralization and local governance.

Developed the Local Development Fund (LDF) concept and was the principal designer for

Vietnam,

UNCDF-supported LDF programs in: Vietnam, Palestine, Cambodia, Mozambique, Bhutan

Palestine

and Senegal. The LDF programs pilot a system of inter-governmental fiscal transfers, and

Cambodia

improved procedures for planning, programming and budgeting by local governments and

Mozambique

decentralized authorities at the commune or district level, and support the national policy

Bhutan

dialogue on political, administrative and fiscal decentralization.

Senegal

Assisted a major multi-donor supported program in Cambodia (CARERE), to change its

Cambodia

(1993) focus from emergency rehabilitation to the promotion of local governance and development.

Assisted CARERE management and donors in their policy dialogue with the Cambodian

Government to articulate a vision for administrative and fiscal decentralization in support of

the emerging Commune authorities and the set up of new institutions for decentralized rural

development management.

Was the principal designer of a program of infrastructure development in two municipalities

Nicaragua

(1992) of northern Nicaragua, piloting new arrangements for management of basic services delivery

by autonomous municipal enterprises. The program included (i) a project for construction of

a gravity-fed Water supply and distribution system for the municipality of Quilali, (ii) a Bridge

on the Jicaro River .and (iii) Mini-Hydroelectric Power Plant in Wiwili, a project for

construction of a mini-hydro power plant and related transmission and distribution networks

Was the principal designer of a program for infrastructure development of the Dai Loc District

Vietnam

(1990) in central Vietnam, including the development of (i) a rural roads and bridges network, (ii) a

major dam and irrigation system for 5,000 ha of rice cultivation and (iii) a rural electrification

scheme for the entire district.

Country Officer for Nepal. Developed and monitored the implementation of the whole UNCDF

Nepal

(1988-90) country program, including projects for the construction of: irrigation schemes, water supply

systems, small hydroelectric plants, feeder roads, and storage and market facilities. Responsible

for project identification, recruitment and supervision of consulting engineers, technical and

economic appraisal of projects, and monitoring of project execution by national agencies.

UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR PROJECT SERVICES 1984-1987

Project Management Officer

Member of the UNOPS large engineering projects management team. Specifically:

Managed an Italy-funded, 80 million US$, multi-sector infrastructure project in Western Darfur

Sudan

(1984-87) (Sudan). Represented the Client, negotiated and/or administered several large engineering and

construction contracts, and monitored the on-time, on-budget completion of the program. The

program built a major highway: the El Fasher-El Genina Road, rehabilitated the El Fasher

hospital and several minor health care facilities and built dozens of deep wells and rural water

supply/ sanitation systems

UNITED NATIONS CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT FUND 1983-1984

Field/Regional Implementation Officer (based in Bamako, Mali)

Responsible for overseeing all technical, financial and institutional development aspects of the UNCDF investment

programs in Mali and other West African countries

Provided technical backstopping and monitoring of the UNCDF program in Mali, executed by

Mali

(1983-84) the Ministry of Rural Engineering and other national agencies. The program included the

construction of feeder roads, small dams, small irrigation and water supply schemes, and

slaughtering houses. Developed, mobilized resources and coordinated the implementation of

an emergency irrigated rice cultivation project in Timbuktu to fight the effects of a major

drought.

Designed two small scale engineering projects to be financed by UNCDF : (i) the "Construction

Guinea Bissau

(1984) of piers for ferry operation on the Cujumba river" generating economic and social benefits by

securing a ferry transportation link and (ii) the "Improved wells construction", expanding access

to safe drinking water.

Designed a project for rehabilitation of the water distribution system in a neighborhood of the

Equatorial Guinea

(1984) capital Malabo, to be financed by UNCDF.

Prepared a feasibility study for construction of a regional hospital and primary health care

Burkina Faso

(1983) facilities. Responsible for facilities planning, preliminary building design and selection of

construction modalities.

UN DEPARTMENT OF TECHNICAL COOPERATION FOR DEVELOPMENT 1980-1982

Associate Program Management Officer (An administrative position at the UNDTCD

New York

(1982) headquarters). Provided operational management support from New York headquarters to

UNDTCD-executed projects in the fields of development planning and public administration

reform in Honduras, Mexico, Cuba and Costa Rica.

Physical Planner, based in Tegucigalpa. Member of the team preparing the integrated

Honduras

(1980-81) development plan of the Aguan Valley in Northern Honduras. Developed local planning

organizations and procedures. Prepared long-term comprehensive development plans and low-

cost housing development programs for several rural towns and agricultural production

settlements.

UN CENTER FOR HUMAN SETTLEMENTS (UN-HABITAT) 1978-1979

Physical Planner. Member of the UN-Habitat Team planning the rehabilitation of the Musaga

Burundi

(1978-79) squatter settlement on the outskirt of Bujumbura. Responsible for socio-economic surveys,

master planning of roads, electricity and water supply infrastructures and for design of low-cost

housing and community facilities.

Physical Planner/Assistant Professor. Responsible for courses in land development and

Tanzania

(1977-78) infrastructure planning at the Ardhi Institute of Dar es Salam. Also conducted on-the-job

training in building design and construction. Directed a team of final year students to design a

major mechanical workshop/office complex for the Tanzania National Transport Company

(NTC).

ITALIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (TECH.COOP. DEPARTMENT) 1973-1976

Assistant Professor of Planning. Responsible for physical planning, building design and

Algeria

(1975-76) construction technology courses at the Algiers University s Polytechnic School of Architecture

and Planning (EPAU)

Physical Planner. Member of the international team preparing the Algiers Metropolitan Area

Algeria

(1973-74) Master Plan (a.k.a. Alger 2000 ). Responsible for planning of industrial lots, roads, electricity

and water supply in several industrial estates within the metropolitan area.

ISTITUTO REGIONALE PER LO SVILUPPO ECONOMICO DEL VENETO (IRSEV) 1972

Researcher at the IRSEV (Institute for Economic Development of the Veneto Region).

Italy

(1972) Responsible for a study of the rate and modalities of rural-urban land conversion in the Italian

North Eastern region of Veneto, commissioned by the National Committee for Economic

Programming.

EDUCATION/TRAINING

Degrees MSc. Civil Engineering, Columbia University, New York City, USA (1982)

Dr.Arch. (Planning), IUAV University, Venice, ITALY (1971)

Other Training Post-graduate studies in Urban and Regional Planning (IUAV University of Venice)

Advanced Engineering Economic Analysis Course (George Washington University),

Executive Program on Investment Appraisal and Risk Analysis (Queens University)

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES MEMBERSHIP

Member of the American Planning Association (APA)

Member of the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP)

Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE # 00291452)

PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

Articles and books chapters

Local Development Funds: promoting decentralized planning and financing, UNCDF Policy Series vol. 3,

New York, December 1996 (2nd printing 1998)

http://www.uncdf.org/english/local_development/documents_and_reports/thematic_papers/ldf_romeo.php

Supporting Rural Local Governments in Practice: Issues for Consideration, (with R. Shotton and L.

Kullenberg) paper submitted to the Technical Consultation on Decentralization, FAO, Rome 16-18

December 1997 http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/SUSTDEV/ROdirect/ROfo0028.htm

Decentralized Development Planning: Issues and Early lessons from UNCDF-supported LDF, in Taking

Risks: UNCDF Background Papers, September 1999, pp. 15-47

http://www.uncdf.org/english/local_development/documents_and_reports/thematic_papers/risks_decentrali

zed_development_planning.php

Systems Experimentation in support of decentralization reforms, Regional Development Dialogue Vol. 20,

n.2, Autumn 1999 pp.134-157

Systems Experimentation in support of decentralization reforms: reflections on Local Development Funds

in H.D. Kammeier and H. Demaine (eds.) Decentralization, Local Governance and Rural Development,

AIT, Bangkok, 2000, pp.261-290

Towards a Regulatory Framework for Decentralized Financing and Planning in Cambodia (mimeo)

SIDA/UNOPS, Kuala Lumpur December 2001

Local Governance Approach to Social Reintegration and Economic Recovery in Post-Conflict Countries:

Towards a Definition and a Rationale, Acts of the International Workshop: "A Local Governance

Approach to Post-Conflict Recovery", Institute of Public Administration, New York October 2002,

http://www.theipa.org/publications/romeo.pdf

Cambodia (ch.3), in P. Smoke and Yun-Hwan Kim (eds.) Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers in Asia,

Asian Development Bank, December 2002, pp.60-82

The Role of External Assistance in Supporting Decentralization Reforms, Public Administration and

Development, Vol. 23, n.1, February 2003, pp. 89-96

Decentralization Reforms and Commune-Level Services Delivery in Cambodia (with Luc Spyckerelle)

Case Study submitted at an ADB-ADBI-UNCDF Workshop on "Local Government Pro-Poor Service

Delivery" Manila, 9th-13th February 2004

http://www.uncdf.org/english/local_development/documents_and_reports/thematic_papers/adb/UNCDF_C

ambodia.pdf

The Difficult Road to Local Autonomy in Yemen: Decentralization Reforms between Political Rationale

and Bureaucratic Resistances in a Multi-Party Democracy of the Arabian Peninsula, (with M. El Mensi), in

J. Martinez-Vazquez and F. Vaillancourt (eds.) Decentralization in Developing Countries: Global

Perspectives on the Obstacles to Fiscal Devolution. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, Northampton, MA,

USA (2010).

Beyond Decentralization: promoting Local Development through Local Government, Working Papers

Series of the International Center for Local Democracy (ICLD), Visby 20l0

Selected Presentations/Lectures

Keynote speaker on The Participatory Planning Paradigm at the 36th Congress of the International Society of

-

City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP), Cancun, Mexico 7-12 September 2000

- Invited panelist at a workshop on Social Funds effectiveness organized by the World Bank Operations

Evaluation Department (OED) (2002)

- With UNCDF and UNDP-BCPR financial support and the technical and logistic assistance of the NYU-

affiliated Institute of Public Administration (IPA), designed and organized an International Workshop on

"Local Governance Approaches to Post-Conflict Recovery" which was held on October 8, 2002, at the

Rockefeller Foundation in NYC and contributed one of the three background papers (workshop proceedings

and papers are available at the IPA website www.theipa.org )

- Chair of the Fiscal Decentralization and Local Governance Workshop at the first ARAB STATES LOCAL

GOVERNANCE FORUM held in Sana a, Yemen on 6-9 December 2003. Appeared as panelist on a popular

Yemen Television talk-show dedicated to decentralization reforms in the country.

- Invited speaker at the OECD workshop on Decentralization and Poverty Reduction: From Lessons Learned to

Policy Action (Paris Sep.29-30, 2004). Delivered a presentation on decentralization challenges in Nicaragua.

Background information, program and documentation of the workshop are available at

http://www.oecd.org/document/13/0,2340,en_2649_33935_33683789_1_1_1_1,00.html

- Invited speaker at the 13th Annual Conflict Prevention and Recovery (CPR) Network Meeting hosted by

UNDP/UNOPS in Geneva on 26-27 October 2004. Delivered a presentation on selected applications of the

UNCDF Local Development Program approach in post-conflict countries.

- Guest lecturer on decentralization reforms, local governance and local development issues at several

Universities in the USA and abroad, including Duke University (2005), the University of Southern California

(2000), New York University (2000) The Asian Institute of Technology (2000, 2005) and the Cambodian

Institute of Technology (2005)

LANGUAGES

Fluent in four languages: (1) English, (2) French, (3) Spanish and (4) Italian (mother tongue), Working knowledge

of (5) Portuguese

COMPUTER SKILLS

General Productivity software (MS Office)

Project Planning and Management Software (MS project)

Diagramming/Mapping/Graphics Software (Mindjet, Visio, Smart Draw)

Risk Analysis Software (Crystal Ball)

Systems Simulation Software (Gold Sim)

References : Available on request

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