Mechanisms for financing NGOs discussed in Chisinau

Mechanisms for financing civil society organizations are being discussed in a two-day international conference themed “New opportunities for developing the civil society sector in Moldova” that is taking place in Chisinau, Info-Prim Neo reports. Sergiu Ostaf, chairman of the National NGO Council, said the NGO sector in Moldova can be financed from the state budget as in Romania and Slovakia, where a part of the public money is directed to nongovernmental organizations. Ludmila Popovich, director of the Rehabilitation Center for Torture Victims “Memoria”, considers that the nongovernmental organizations need more concessions. Given that the foreign donors invest mainly in the designing of policy, Ludmila Popovich considers that there should be created funds to support the NGOs, especially the local ones. “The financing of nongovernmental organizations by the state is hampered by bureaucracy,” Prime Minister Vlad Filat said in the conference. According to him, the state institutions are not and will not yet be able to cover a series of social services, while the civil society can do it. The Premier said that there are no efficient mechanisms whereby the people can finance directly the active NGOs. He admitted that the Government did not take all the measures needed to support civil society, the low level of financing on the part of the state being a proof. Vlad Filat promised that the Government will provide more support to the NGOs, including through partnerships with the civil society. Attending the event, U.S. Ambassador to Moldova William Moser said the financial resistance represents the greatest challenge for the NGOs. He recommended that the state should offer the NGOs direct financing and indirect support like tax concessions. There are about 5,000 nongovernmental organizations in Moldova. The international conference “New opportunities for developing the civil society sector in Moldova” is held in Chisinau during September 26-27. The event was organized within the Moldova Civil Society Strengthening Program.