New instruments for mobilizing community to take part in decision-making

The Joint Integrated Local Development Program has launched a guidebook titled “How to mobilize community to take part in the local development process”. The guide aims to foster participation in local development and will be distributed to all those interested, Info-Prim Neo reports. “If the local public administration is interested in initiating the local development process, it will significantly change the state of affairs. This process will lead to the observance of the human rights in communities as the community, especially the disadvantaged groups, will be able to take part in local development, identify their development necessities, implement projects to improve the living standards in the community,” said Ludmila Malcoci, who was responsible for the compilation of the guidebook. The book helps analyze the situation in the settlements and informs about the principle of transparency in decision-making. It advises how to persuade the population into becoming involved in the local development process, how to formulate strategic local development plans and how to monitor their implementation. Mihai Roscovan, coordinator of the Joint Integrated Local Development Program, said that even if the settlements have been assisted through a number of projects, there is no common methodology for drawing up development plans. The guidebook helps to formulate such strategic plans. A separate chapter of the guide centers on the special plan for the prevention of natural disasters. The book focuses on the experience in mobilizing the community accumulated within projects implemented by the UNDP, USAID, the World Bank, and the Social Investment Fund during ten years. The Joint Integrated Local Development Program aims to strengthen legal and regulatory frameworks and streamline local administrative procedures and systems. There is an emphasis on developing and implementing a framework for the effective delegation of authority to the local public authorities, fiscal decentralization to deliver essential services, and the promotion of a greater role for women in decision-making bodies. It is implemented by the Government of Moldova with the assistance of UNDP Moldova, UNIFEM and the Government of Sweden.