Four nongovernmental organizations joined forces in order to hasten and strengthen the development of the civil society in Moldova. The consortium is composed of the Resource Center “Young and Free”, the Resource Center of the Nongovernmental Organizations (CReDO), Contact Center and Eco-Tiras Association. At a news conference on September 24, the leaders of the organizations said that they aim to establish a dialogue between the ordinary people, the NGOs and the state organizations, a dialogue that will benefit the civil society, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the consortium members, given that the state does not adequately assess the nongovernmental organizations’ potential to contribute to the settlement of the social and economic problems of the country, they want to strengthen the cooperation with the local public authorities, the Government and the Parliament. “We would like this cooperation to start with the Chisinau City Hall and the City Council, which could offer us some of their precious time to see how we could solve certain problems faced by the society,” the executive director of the Resource Center “Young and Free”, Antonita Fonari said. In another development, Antonita Fonari said that the organizations that form part of the consortium want the civil society development strategy for 2008 – 2011 to be adopted. The strategy is now in the Parliament and is to be included in the agenda of a coming sitting for discussion, Antonita Fonari said. “Consultations with influential political parties will be held the next months in order to promote the strategy,” the executive director of CReDO, Sergiu Ostaf said. Debates will be also held with about 600 civil organizations. Activities to promote a number of draft laws, including the law on philanthropy and sponsorship and the law on the voluntary financing of NGOs, will be carried out during September-November. There will be organized four talk-shows, devised the consortium’s webpage and staged a march to demand that the mentioned laws are adopted. A Forum of NGOs will be held in November with the aim of involving the civil society in decision making. About 100 nongovernmental organizations are expected to take part in the forum. The Consortium’s civil society development project is assessed at 25,000 dollars and is financed by the Government of Romania, the UNDP Civil Society Development Project in Moldova and Soros Moldova Foundation.