Marian Lupu: The State should support the Civil Society, including financially

The development of the civil society should not be solely the concern of foreign donors, but also of the Moldovan state. Authorities need a strong dialogue partner and must contribute in developing and strengthening the capacities of this partner, including by providing financial support to the civil society as it does for political parties, stated Speaker Marian Lupu at the annual conference “Cooperation between Parliament and Civil Society” on Monday, February 4. Marian Lupu believes that it would be opportune to consider a development strategy for the civil society. In his opinion, the objectives that this strategy should contain are to enhance civic participation in resolving community problems; to actively involve citizens in solving issues listed on Moldova’s public agenda; to develop the partnership between the civil society and the public authorities, both at national and local levels; to join efforts in promoting good governance practices; etc. The Speaker noted that since the Concept of Cooperation with the Civil Society was launched in December 2005, the process had its ups and downs. Although this process still leaves to be desired, he remarked that, compared to 2006, the cooperation with the civil society advanced considerably. While in 2006 no more than nine nongovernmental organisations were involved in a permanent and active cooperation with the Parliament, in 2007 their number rose to 20 NGOs, which contributed with studies, analyses and expert advice. Our dialogue has advanced and registers an upward trend. Now there is a higher grade of trust and efficiency in cooperation between the Parliament and the civil society, the Speaker concluded. Veaceslav Balan, representative of Amnesty International Moldova, stated that 2007 was the year when the public and civil institutions started to cooperate more intensively. Among the achievement of this cooperation, he mentioned the package of amendments to the Law on Public Associations, the National Torture Prevention Mechanism; the Bill on Public Assemblies, and others. “Although we can name many instances of cooperation, and fruitful ones, too, there is still much work to be done”, said Balan. He hoped that other public authorities would follow the Parliament’s example, mentioning that fewer efforts are made at local level.