Residents of two villages learn to solve local problems

Two Moldovan villages – Crihana Veche of Cahul district and Step-Soci of Orhei district - learn to engage the inhabitants in solving local problems. A committee was set up to question the villagers and set the priorities. Later, the problems will be discussed in order to identify solutions to them. The Institute for Development and Social Initiative (IDIS) “Viitorul” and the Czech organization Agora Central Europe will provide assistance in carrying out the activities, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting a communiqué from IDIS “Viitorul”. “The members of the community will be engaged in decision making and will assume responsibilities for solving local problems,” said Olesea Cruc, project coordinator at IDIS “Viitorul”. Earlier, 25 mayors and civil servants attended the course “Formation of Partnerships and Citizen Participation in Decision Making at the Local Level in Moldova”. They devised action plans for a certain local priority. The projects submitted by the representatives of Crihana Veche and Step-Soci became winners. The community in Crihana Veche aims to efficiently manage waste. “The garbage thrown everywhere damages the image of our village. Moreover, we face serious pollution problems owing to the people’s mentality. That’s why we want to organize meetings, including the Village Assembly. The people must realize that pollution is a problem that affects us all and it can be solved only in concert,” said the mayor of Crihana Veche, Rodica Cucereanu. The residents of Step-Soci will mobilize to tidy up the park. Mayor Iulia Cosneanu said that the park is the only open-air recreational area. “When one takes into account the people’s opinion, they trust the public institutions and are motivated to become involved. Some of them even contribute money to community projects,” the mayor said. The selected projects will be implemented from the local budgets. The democratic exercises are carried out as part of the project “Supporting Democratization of the Local Public Administration in Moldova”, which is financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and implemented in partnership with Agora Central Europe. IDIS “Viitorul” is a research, training and public initiative institution that focuses on such areas as economic analysis, government, political research, strategic planning and knowledge management.