More than 50 nongovernmental organizations came together in the Park “Stephan the Great” on September 25 to inform the residents and guests of Chisinau about their activities within the NGO Fair. The activities and services are presented in an interactive way, while the participants can take part in the weaving of a Moldovan multicolor carpet, IPN reports.

The open-air fair is staged by FHI 360 within the Moldova Partnerships for Sustainable Civil Society Program that is supported by the United States Agency for International Development.

Anatol Beleac, program director at FHI 360, said the goal of the event is to show the ordinary people what the most active civil society organizations (SCOs) do every day. The over 50 organizations operate in practically all the country’s regions, including Transnistria. “The benefit is that the organizations learn from each other and exchange experience. These become more and more active. This is the sixth fair of the kind. At the beginning, we had 10-15 participant organizations, but now we have to refuse the participation of some of the applications,” he stated.

Anatol Beleac also said that the people who will come to the fair can become beneficiaries of the organizations, which represent practically all the sectors of society. Others can become volunteers or donors of the organizations and can thus help the people in need.

Within the event, the representatives of the SCOs will be invited to take part in a session to explain the eligibility criteria for the SCOs of Moldova to obtain gratis a license for “Microsoft Office 365”, which is software adjusted to the needs of the civil society sector.

The visitors of the fair will be able to take part in the weaving of a Moldovan carpet and to taste or buy Moldovan fruit and vegetables that are exported to the EU.

The event is held until 3pm and forms part of the Civil Society Days that will continue in Butuceni, Orhei, on September 26.