Civil society development strategy to be adopted before MPs’ vacation

The civil society development strategy for 2012 – 2015 will be adopted until July 20, before the lawmakers’ vacation, Speaker Marian Lupu said in the meeting of the working group that is working out the strategy. In the meeting, there was presented a last but one version of the document, Info-Prim Neo reports. Marian Lupu said that this strategy is necessary as it defines the mechanisms for strengthening and developing the NGO sector. The state should financially support this sector, but there must be identified the appropriate mechanisms. Andrei Brighidin, consultant in the strategy drafting process, said the document aims to create a favorable framework for civil society, which can contribute to the democratic development of Moldova and stimulate social cohesion. The strategy’s objective is to build up the aspects regarding the participation of civil society in decision-making. Another objective concerns the legislation and institutional mechanisms, which is the cooperation between Parliament and civil society, cooperation and transparency in the decision-making process. According to Andrei Brighidin, the document contains a subchapter that refers to the durability of civil society from financial viewpoint. It provides mechanism for encouraging the people to contribute to the development of civil society. In this respect, the strategy suggests percentage philanthropy and donation mechanisms. Antonita Fonari, secretary general of the National NGO Council, spoke about the possibility of redirecting 2% of the income tax to the nongovernmental organizations, saying the local organizations can be helped a lot by this tax. But for this to happen, the NGOs must report on their activities. “This is not a method to find money, but to improve the image and increase transparency in the governmental sector,” she stated. Sergiu Ostaf, director of the Resource Center for Human Rights (CReDO), supported the idea of allocating 2% of the income tax to the NGOs. “This is nothing else but cultivation of the relations between the NGOs and the people. This is the most important impact,” he said. The process of drafting the civil society development strategy for 2012 – 2015 was commenced on December 29, 2011, in a meeting held to create the intersector working group for working out the strategy. The meeting was organized by Parliament in cooperation with members of the National NGO Council.