Regional and local demographic trends, when the entire region is ageing, young people emigrate and fertility is low, must be taken into account when creating response policies and planning the national public budgets so as to do it more efficiently. Also, transparency and policy-making based on real records of the population are extremely important in the process of joining the European Union. The topics were discussed at an international conference entitled “Data-based governance for efficient public policies”, which was organized in connection with the population census that is be taken in Moldova this April, IPN reports.
Alexei Buzu, Minister of Labor and Social Protection, believes it is important for the country’s government to see how it can attain what it wants to achieve with the available finances, with the lowest costs. However, this requires changing the way data is collected and analyzed and how money is subsequently allocated. The, citizen-centered results must be taken into account, with a focus on vulnerable categories. There should be certainty about what can be done most effectively with existing finances.
Florence Bauer, UNFPA Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said that Moldova faces particular demographic challenges, along with other countries in the region, including low birth rates and population exodus. These demographic changes have a strong impact on the economic, social or political landscape. Some of the countries are trying to implement quick decisions, which can be counterproductive. In this respect, data-driven governance refers to the quality of data and how these data are managed to be used in evidence-based policymaking. UNFPA has worked with the Moldovan authorities, in addition to the population census that will be taken in April, to create good quality statistics. Innovation is important and here the tablet PCs for the census are a symbol of transparency and data protection. Also, the human rights must be at the heart of everything.
For her part, Magdalena Mueller-Uri, Head of Cooperation Section of the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Moldova, said that the European Union recognizes the critical role that data play for effective policies. This is especially true now for Moldova – a country firmly moving towards the EU. Data is the foundation for evidence-based decisions enabling effective allocation of resources, effective fiscal planning and for a more prosperous society. For accession to the EU, European statistical standardization is needed and if there is strong data governance in Moldova, this will enable to develop reliable data.
Rahul Shrivastava, Ambassador of India to Romania. Albania and Moldova, good data governance is widely used in India and has proven to be effective and brings benefits. Government can reach the poorest sections of the population. Effective data governance also has a positive impact on digital transformation. By appropriately using data, demographic challenges become demographic advantages and it happened so in India, which is ready to share its experience with Moldova.
According to Viorica Crețu, deputy head of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Moldova, Switzerland supported Moldova in the field of local governance, in capacity building, in relevant institutions at national level and in developing and favoring the legal framework. With the support of the Swiss Cooperation Office, local infrastructure was improved, diaspora was involved in local development and needs of civil society and other groups in society were met. She Switzerland, in partnership with UNFPA, supported the development of the statistical system in Moldova.
Andrea Cuzyova, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Moldova, said that the data to be obtained for decision-making are not given in a vacuum. This data needs to be organized well in a national data ecosystem that supports governance. If this is done well, then policies can be people-centered and improve people’s lives.
Karina Nersesyan, UNFPA Moldova Representative, congratulated Moldova on the tangible progress made on its path and commitments to build a European Moldova.
