Only 3.1% of the district heads, 17.4% of the mayors, 16.9% of the district councilors and 29.7% of the local councilors are women. These figures should change significantly during the implementation of the decentralization strategy, the head of the Gender Center NGO Valentina Bodrug-Lungu said in the public consultations on the draft decentralization strategy, Info-Prim Neo reports. “We have enough laws that provide for gender equality. Problems appear at the implementation stage. For example, 70% of the cases of domestic violence may be solved at local level, with the help of the social worker, district police officer, family doctor, school head if necessary. But they must have the necessary powers and financial resources to fulfill their duties and provide units of transport, medications, temporary accommodation. The women must benefit from such services at local level so that they do not have to go to Chisinau to seek help from the Ministry,” Valentina Bodrug-Lungu said. She stated that few women take part in decision-making at central and local levels and in the examination of local budgets to see if they meet the needs of the women and men. The decentralization reform will be successful only if connection is ensured between the sector decentralization policies and the implementation of the legislation on gender equality, the observance of human rights, said Valentina Bodrug-Lungu. According to her, the local development plans should be updated so that the women play a greater role in their implementation. The gender impact of these documents should be also assessed. “We must not include the women in disadvantaged groups of people as this is humiliating. The local public authorities should better open community training centers for them so that they are able to develop their leadership and entrepreneurial abilities,” said the head of Gender Center. Nina Orlov, national program coordinator at the Swedish Embassy in Moldova, said tackling the decentralization problems from the gender angle does not represent a manifestation of feminism.”This is equity. The persons who represent us in Parliament, the Government and local administration should be selected according to their abilities and knowledge, excluding discrimination,” she said. Angela Chicu, of the Association of Business and Professional Women, said there should be opened community training centers for women. She urged the local public authorities to cooperate with businesspeople in this respect. “Regretfully, the law on sponsorship does not help to make the cooperation between the local public administration and businesses more efficient. The businessmen who wanted to open such centers or support other useful programs abandoned the idea owing to bureaucracy and dubious interpretations of the given law. We need a functional law on sponsorship,” she said. The draft decentralization strategy was designed by the State Chancellery in concert with the central and local public authorities and national and foreign experts. The public debates were organized by the State Chancellery with support from the Joint Integrated Local Development Program. The Joint Integrated Local Development Program aims to strengthen legal and regulatory frameworks and streamline local administrative procedures and systems. There is an emphasis on developing and implementing a framework for the effective delegation of authority to the local public authorities, fiscal decentralization to deliver essential services, and the promotion of a greater role for women in decision-making bodies. The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency made a substantial contribution to the program.