NGOs ask election runners to consciously guarantee social protection of every citizen

The platforms of the electoral contenders are criticized by the NGOs, at least on the social segment. About 20 active NGO leaders signed a joint statement, calling on the election runners to consciously guarantee the social protection of every citizen. The signatories say that every party that comes to power must make effort to make Moldova a democratic state where all the persons enjoy high living standards, have equal opportunities and equal access to education of a high quality, while the human rights, including the social ones, are promoted and protected by the state. In this connection, the NGOs ask the political parties to continue the social programs initiated by the previous legislatures, keep the institutional ‘memory’ and develop partnerships with the civil society. [Ignorance or ill-will?] The leaders of active human rights NGOs criticize the politicians for the fact that their electoral programs do not focus on the people. “It is not enough to say that the people will live better. They should show how and with whom they will fulfill these promises,” said Antonita Fonari, executive director of the Resource Center “Young and Free” and secretary general of the National Council of Moldovan NGOs. “We saw that the electoral platforms contain too detailed or too general promises in order to cover a larger electorate. We recommended the election runners to start from international commitments and shift to national laws,” she said. Viorel Soltan, director of the Center for Health Care Research and Policy, considers that the social sector is omitted in the electoral programs out of ignorance. “Maybe they consider that this sector is not so important for attracting votes. We try to convince them that the situation is different,” Soltan said, adding that the social sector must be a priority. “The human rights should top the government program by their importance, followed by the economic aspects. Presently, all the promises are economic and political: salaries, integration into the EU. No party said they would make a system for the underprivileged groups of people. We will become part of the EU when we fulfill the European requirements on healthcare, when we integrate the disabled into the society and develop the privatization of the healthcare system,” Viorel Soltan said. “I would like that the parties clearly stipulate their best card in treating certain diseases that seriously affect our society,” said Viorel Soltan. “The people should not vote according to the name of the candidate, but after thoroughly analyzing the electoral platforms.” [Expert appraisements become indispensable] The NGOs consider it is their duty to monitor the behavior of those that make laws. The Moldovan electorate believes in advertisements and is very credulous. The people do not monitor to see how the social objectives announced during the election campaign are achieved afterward. The politicians count on this as they do not expect that the people will study their platforms meticulously. The NGOs should remind the politicians about their promises and help them achieve their goals until the end of the term, said Antonita Fonari. She said yet that at the last elections it was seen that the people want guarantees of the promises and people with clean imagination and ability to differentiate between laws and normative documents. The social behavior of the politicians is created by image builders and consultants in social policy. But the Moldovan politicians do not yet hire experts in the field, Antonita Fonari said. She and other NGO leaders recommend the Moldovan MPs to use specialists that examine the legislative documents designed for the social sector and make suggestions, as the European legislators do. “It is important that we have a Parliament that really examines the matters discussed, but is not only a voting machine,” Antonita Fonari added. [NGOs announce their offer] The civil society wants a more efficient cooperation with the public authorities in order to provide services of a higher quality for the population. The most important condition is that the partnership should have a legal basis. “We have a dialogue, but there are no laws that would make the partnership last longer. Now this partnership is occasional,” said Nicolae Ciocan, director of Keystone Human Services International Moldova Association. “Moldova survived as a state due to the remittances coming from the Moldovans that work abroad and to the social services provided by the NGOs,” said Antonita Fonari. “Let’s look at two social problems: AIDS and TB. The state wouldn’t have coped with these diseases if the NGOs had not intervened at the primary stage and provided specialized and general services. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria allocated tens of millions of dollars to Moldova owing to the partnership between the state institutions and the NGOs. As a result, hundreds or even thousands of people did not get infected with HIV and TB and the given diseases are kept under control. It is about human lives, quality of the living standards, diversification of services. “I and my colleagues from the National Council of Moldovan NGOs want to implement the strategy for developing the civil society for 2009 – 2011 after the elections in partnership with the Government,” said Antonita Fonari, adding that the accomplishments should be kept when the ruling parties are changed. [Moment of truth] The signatories of the statement suggest including commitments designed to improve people’s lives in the electoral platforms. The NGOs insist on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child so as to protect them from violence, poverty and forced labor. The right to family should be guaranteed by adoption and placement in the family, laying down regulations and procedures, roles and responsibilities, including the role of the social assistant in the pre- and post-adoption process, ensuring the counseling and psychological monitoring in all the phases of the adoption procedure. They also recommend including the subjects “Life Habits” and “Civic Education” in the mandatory school program. The young people need better social policies that would help them find employment, more university places funded from the state budget and support from the state in developing their own businesses. The accreditation and licensing procedure for the NGOs that provide social and medical services for elderly and disabled persons should be facilitated. The politicians have not yet used the opportunity to express their interest in promoting an image of open-minded persons, said Antonita Fonari. “Only one party reacted and sent us a letter, confirming that they received our contributions. The party said they approve of them and related what its members did in the given area before the election campaign, specifying which of our contributions will be included in its electoral platform. We expect to see how the new platforms will look and then will inform the mass media and the people what party and in what way took into account the opinions of those that work to remove hundreds of shortcomings of the state, especially social ones. “The authorities and the politicians should understand one thing: You cannot integrate into a community and cannot move on only with statements and programs written on paper, without providing a decent living for the people,” said Nicolae Ciocan, director of Keystone Human Services International Moldova Association.