National NGOs Council sums up two years of activity

The National Council of NGOs in Moldova is a network of civil society organizations that promotes social balance and good governance. During its two years of activity, the Council tried to work according to the goals stipulated in the Resolution approved at the 2008 Forum. The statement was made on Thursday, June 23, at the 6th edition of the NGO Forum, by Antonita Fonari, secretary general of the NGO Council, Info-Prim Neo reports. She presented a report and enumerated the Council’s achievements such as the elaboration of the Plan of actions for implementing the Civil Society Development Strategy and involving in the process NGOs from the northern, southern and central regions of the country. For two years, the Council released statements and appeals regarding matters of public interest- condemning violence, preventing and fighting discrimination, enhancing collaboration between civil society and Parliament, increasing the transparency of the decision-making process and others. In February 2011, the National Council of NGOs signed a collaboration agreement with the Chisinau City Hall. Another accomplishment is the NGO Ethics Code, developed by the Contact Center and by the Resource Center for Human Rights (CReDO). Sergiu Ostaf, CReDo director, mentioned some legislative proposals that weren’t promoted enough. One of them was a bill that provides transferring up to 2% of the income tax to non-profit organizations of public utility. “From now on, civil society will have a very assertive approach”, added Ostaf. The acting president of the Council, Daniela Terzi-Barbarosie, said that after the two day Forum (June 23 and 24), the NGO representatives will adopt a resolution that will be the basis of their activity for the next two years. “It’s about subjects of major interest for the non-profit sector. Based on this resolution, the National Council of NGOs will have to try to promote them on the public agenda”, she said. The NGO Forum was launched in 1997 and takes place once in two years. The NGO Council has 11 members and has been created at the NGO Forum on December 15-16, 2008.