Civil society pleads for greater representation of deprived groups' interests in decentralization policies

The decentralization reform providing functional local autonomy and the sector policies that will accompany it must focus more on the interests of the disadvantaged groups of people so that they do not feel excluded, the director of the Resource Center for Human Rights Sergiu Ostaf said in the first public consultation on the draft decentralization strategy, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to Sergiu Ostaf, it is necessary to ensure the representation of the interests of the underprivileged groups of people among local civil servants or, at least to designate persons responsible for defending their interests. The process of formulating regional and local policies should include the analysis of their impact on the deprived groups or on the human rights. Ostaf suggested ensuring local authorities' access to grants and governmental subsidies so that they could create local community centers for underprivileged groups of people. The local public authorities should be able to determine the eligibility of the social assistance programs. This function will be transferred to them from the central public authorities. Sergiu Ostaf also said that the disadvantaged groups of people will be selected according to the disposable income, age, ethnicity, religion, gender, occupation, disease (HIV/AIDS), and disabilities. Elena Burca, the head of the Forum of Women's Organizations of Moldova, said in an interview that the local public authorities should work with local NGOs and make effort to reduce to a minimum the number of underprivileged persons, offering them more possibilities of finding employment and developing local entrepreneurship. The next public consultations on the draft decentralization strategy will involve representatives of the scientific and academic circles, the private sector and development partners. The formulated proposals will be taken into consideration when finalizing the strategy. The debates were organized by the State Chancellery with support from the Joint Integrated Local Development Program. The decentralization reform is one of the Government's priorities and will materialize through efficient transfer of powers to the local public authorities, promotion of the local public authorities in decision making and observance of the human rights and gender equality at the local level. The strategy was drafted in concert with the central and local public authorities, civil society and national and foreign experts. The 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.