Consortium for civil society development relaunches NGO Forum

A NGO Consortium from Moldova will organize the Forum of Non-Governmental Organizations from the country in Chisinau on December 15 and 16. The announcement was made Friday, December 12, at a news conference hosted by Info-Prim Neo news agency. The Forum will be organized after a 5-year break. At the event, the NGOs will talk subjects related to the development of the civil society: improving the legal frame on NGOs, representing the NGOs in the dialogue with the state structures, the regional development, the code of conduct, the state procuring social services from NGOs. According to Antonita Fonari, the leader of the NGO “Tineri si Liberi”, the international donors have started to leave Moldova for countries with greater needs to improve democratic practices and, that is the reason why the Moldovan NGOs try to make themselves useful by proposing their services. “For example in the HIV/AIDS area, you may want to curb on the process of transmitting the disease. Then, you identify how this malady is transmitted: either sexually, or by injecting drugs. Then, you identify what social services you need to solve the issue,” Antonita Fonari said. Daniela Mamaliga from EveryChild Moldova suggests the NGOs could help the authorities in solving the issues of the disabled, for instance, very costly in her opinion. A resolution is to be adopted at the Forum, through which, among others, the NGOs will the Parliament to modify the Law on NGOs, so as to allow the tax-payers transfer 2% of the taxes owed to the state directly to the associative sector. “Through this mechanism, you gain an important right as a citizen: participating in the public affairs by distributing certain financial means. A great trust emerges there between you and that institution and thus a greater liaison creates within society,” Sergiu Ostaf from CreDO association said. On the eve of the NGOs Forum, the Consortium greets the Parliament adopting the Strategy on the development of the civil society in Moldova and says this document is a product of the inter-sector cooperation, and the model of drafting it – a good example of the NGOs cooperating with state structures. The draft strategy was jointly discussed with over 300 NGOs from Balti, Comrat, Cahul, Chisinau, the Transnistrian area. La Forum is expected to be attended by some 100 representatives of NGOs from Moldova, including the Gagauz autonomy and the Transnistrian area. They invited international experts from Romania, Poland, public figures from Moldova (Parliament speaker, MPs, ministers, councilors, mayors, etc.)