NGO Consortium greets Strategy on developing civil society adopted by Parliament

A Consortium of NGOs from Moldova greets the Parliament’s adoption of the Strategy on the development of the civil society. The statement was made Friday, December 12 , by NGO leaders at a news conference hosted by Info-Prim Neo news agency. They say the strategy is “the basic legal frame to support the sustainability of the associative sector in Moldova, and is a good example of the NGOs’ cooperation with the state structures.” “You’ll see in the years to come, when the strategy is being applied, that especially the local NGOs will develop. Positive effects will be achieved in terms of coherence and the welfare will grow locally,” said Sergiu Ostaf, the executive director of the Center of Resources of NGOs for Human Rights CreDO. “Those organizations are going to benefit of most of the funds, not the central NGOs, which have other agendas and other challenges,” he added. The draft strategy was discussed, jointly, by over 300 NGOs within regional consultations in Balti, Comrat, Cahul, Chisinau, and Transnistrian towns.) The Parliament adopted the Strategy on the development of the civil society last Thursday, on the even of the Moldovan NGOs’ Forum, planned for December 15 and 16 in Chisinau. Yet the NGOs leaders expressed their regret that the Parliament failed to debate the draft law on volunteership, which, they say, has remained blocked at the Education and Youth Ministry. “The civil society has worked on this draft for two and a half years and we hoped much the Parliament would make us a present on its ending mandate and would adopted this law. Especially that 2008 was declared the Youth Year,” said the leader of Resources Center Tineri si Liberi, Antonita Fonari. “We don’t expect wonders to happen in one week,” she added. Next Monday and Tuesday, the NGO Forum will discuss matters related to the development of the civil society: improving the legal frame on NGOs, representing the NGOs in their dialogue with the state structures, regional development, the ethics code, the state procuring the NGOs’ services. Over 100 representatives of the civil society are expected at the Forum, including from the Gagauz autonomy and the Transnistrian region. Experts from Romania, Poland, and public figures from Moldova have also been invited.