Since the start of the pandemic, the EU, together with the member states, has increased its support for civil society players. In 2020, the EU’s portfolio of grants offered to civil society in Moldova consisted of 21 projects with a total budget of 441 million lei. These 21 implementing organizations later subgranted funds to another 393 civil society organizations at the local level. “I’m proud of the fact that the assistance offered by the European Union to civil society reached all the districts in Moldova” EU Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova Peter Michalko stated in an online event themed “European Union and its member states support civil society organizations in the Republic of Moldova”, IPN reports.
In the copies of 2021, another nine projects financed by the EU and implemented by civil society, with a total budget of 244 million lei, were launched. These projects refer to the provision of social services at the local level, support for the rights of women, economic development at the local level, support for children’s rights and offering of chances for a better life at home to young people.
Germany’s Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova Angela Ganninger encourages civil society to become involved in Germany’s projects. According to her, the projects are discussed with persons at the scene so as to understand their needs. The local level coordination helped Germany to improve the quality of projects. It is important for civil society to remain committed and a partner of the institutions so as to improve the situation of the public institutions here, in Moldova.
Ambassador of the Czech Republic Stanislav Kázecký said that for the Czech Republic, it is important to be able to offer support to Moldova in this difficult period. The total budget is of
Daniela Leahu, leader of the project “Civil society organizations act for better social services” that is financed by the EU and is implemented by Soros Foundation Moldova in partnership with Keystone Moldova and Institutum Virtutes Civilis, said the SCOs that hake increased access to financial resources, technical assistance and mentoring play a crucial role in the development and provision of high-quality social services intended for persons from vulnerable groups and that are aligned with their needs. Within this project, Soros Foundation Moldova aims to continue, develop, improve and diversify the social services provided at the local level so that all the persons from vulnerable groups have access to these services. The project implementers aim to develop at least 20 social services all over the country, from which at least 1,500 persons vulnerable groups will benefit.
Liliana Palihovici, leader of the team of the project “Partnerships for women’s leader hop and good governance” and head of the Institutum Virtutes Civilis, noted that this project will center on the limited development capacities of most of the local civil society organizations so as to become involved in an efficient policy dialogue with the local authorities on the development of their financial capacities and improvement of community projects. The SCOs lack funds for organizational development and for organizing activities. The offering of support for their ideas within this project will enable to develop the capacities of the SCOs for actively becoming evolved in the development of public policies and monitoring of their implementation at the local level and will enable to be more visible in promoting gender equality and not only.
Currently, the EU Delegation to Moldova is assessing a call for proposals for supporting civil society with a total budget of 105 million lei. In this connection, the goal is to sign in 2021 partnerships with SCOs for providing such services as social eatery, youth support, monitoring implementation of the Association Agreement with the EU, support for social entrepreneurship and for SCOs that work in the good governance sector.
