Draft National Decentralization Strategy approved in principle

The draft National Decentralization Strategy was examined and approved in principle in a meeting of the parity commission for decentralization that was attended by ministers and representatives of the local public authorities and the NGO sector, Info-Prim Neo reports. Victoria Cujba, the head of the State Chancellery’s Decentralization Policy Division, said the draft National Decentralization Strategy was debated at broad public consultations in two stages during half a year. During the consultations, the State Chancellery held 30 consultative meetings in all the regions of Moldova (Center, North, South, and Gagauzia). They involved more than 2 500 persons. The strategy was worked out with the assistance of representatives of the NGO sector and local public authorities of the first and second levels through the Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova and civil society – through the agency of the National Participation Council and the development partners of the Joint Integrated Local Development Program. Brochures with the draft National Decentralization Strategy in Romanian and Russian were submitted to the 898 mayors’ offices, district and municipal councils, and the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia. Prime Minister Vlad Filat stressed the importance of the decentralization objective, which is one of the commitments made by Moldova to the European organizations. “We should transmit the necessary tools to the local public administration so as to bring the public services closer to the people and improve their quality,” said the Premier. He also said that the state will clearly delimit the powers in the administration of such important sectors as education, healthcare, social protection, and public order. He stressed that the National Decentralization Strategy should include clear objectives and implementation terms so that the institutions in the end are functional and competent. The strategy will be implemented with budgetary resources and with the money provided by international organizations and the development partners. Tatiana Badan, the head of the Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova, approved of the strategy, but formulated a number of proposals for improving it. She suggested removing some of the provisions that are too general and appointing a person to deal with the problems of local public administration within the Government. According to the decentralization reform program, after the draft strategy is approved it is to be officially endorsed by ministries and to be submitted to the Government and Parliament for adoption. The Joint Integrated Local Development Program supports the Government of Moldova in its decentralization efforts and in the process of strengthening local autonomy and aims to ensure equal benefits for the underprivileged groups, including the discriminated, socially excluded and marginalized people, as a result of decentralization and local development. It is implemented by the Government of Moldova with the assistance of UNDP and UN Women and with financial support from the Government of Sweden.