The nongovernmental organizations depend on the political course of the Republic of Moldova because the external financing provided to NGOs is directly related to the pro-Western or pro-Eastern orientation of the Republic of Moldova, considers the president of the Business and Professional Women’s Association of Moldova Angela Chicu. According to her, when the pro-Russian parties governed Moldova, the European states stopped to finance NGOs.
Angela Chicu has told IPN that the role of NGOs is to sensitize and inform the development partners about the situation in the Republic of Moldova. “The only thing we can do in the political sphere is to inform the Europeans about the situation in the country. We are permanently asked about the stolen US$1 billion, our banks and our government. We say things as they are as the NGOs are those that permanently say the truth,” she stated.
Angela Chicu also said the lack of staff is one of the problems faced by the Business and Professional Women’s Association of Moldova. “This is a painful problem for the whole country. Regretfully, the skilled specialists go abroad because they find a better job in a country that is more prosperous than Moldova,” she explained.
She noted that the association is a member of the Business and Professional Women International and of the Business and Professional Women Europe. In 2007, it joined a network of the Baltic countries. The NGO also forms part of the Eastern Partnership program and the Balkan Association of Business Women and Small and Medium-Sized Businesses.
“The Association implements different projects in close partnership with the chambers of trade, including the Chamber of Trade of Moldova. For example, the Balkan partnership was established through the Chamber of Commerce of Germany. They offered us cooperation. We prepared all the necessary documents and implemented a number of projects together with this network,” stated Angela Chicu.
The Business and Professional Women’s Association of Moldova was founded in 1998 by seven women from Moldova. According to its president, the association’s goal is to help the businesswomen to establish relations with different partners so as to solve business problems. The association has 60 active members and about 200 passive members.