Given the political and economic instability in 2015, the civil society organizations met with difficulties as regards participation in the decision-making process, shows the CSO Sustainability Index of Moldova for 2015, which was presented by the Center for Organizational Consultancy and Training on July 21, IPN report.
The study shows that the mandate of the National Participation Council, which is the main body by which the Government consults civil society in decision-making, expired at the end of 2014 and this had been non-functional until the end of 2015.
The CSOs can be registered at the national level, by the Ministry of Justice, and at the local level, by the local public authorities. According to the electronic version of the State Register of Noncommercial Organizations of the Ministry of Justice, there were 10,222 organizations at the end of 2015. Of these, about 1,000 were registered in 2015. Only about 25% of the SCOs carried out particular activities during the last three years. In the Transnistrian region, there were about 2,500 CSOs in 2015.
The legal framework for CSOs witnessed negative changes in 2015, especially owing to the amendments made to the Tax Code and the failure to set up the one-stop shop for registering these organizations. Their registration is generally favorable at the national level, but at the local level there are shortcomings. For example, the local public authorities do not keep a database of registered CSOs and have limited knowledge of the allotment of a common registration number to these organizations.
The so-called 2% Law, which enables the private individuals and legal entities to direct 2% of the income tax to CSOs, wasn’t implemented in 2015 either. The Legal Resources Center of Moldova worked together with Parliament to draft a bill that would allow implementing the provision concerning the 2% of the income tax starting with 2017.
The economic and political crisis in Moldova and the emigration of Moldovans affected the human resources of the CSOs. The organizations often contract persons to provide particular services instead of hiring someone for a long period of time.
The CSOs in Transnistria remain poorly developed from organizational viewpoint. In Gagauzia, the organizational capacities of these organizations are also limited, especially in rural areas, while their participation in decision-making is reduced.
The public image of CSOs didn’t change significantly in 2015. The local and national mass media remain uninterested in the nonprofit sector and are not fully ready to promote the activities of these organizations. Usually, the CSOs have to pay for their activities to be presented on radio and TV. The public confidence in CSOs continues to be low. According to the Public Opinion Barometer, only about 24% of the people trusted these in 2015.
