SIDA launches a civil society strengthening program in Moldova

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) pays special attention to supporting the development of civil society in Moldova, Hans Lundquist, director of SIDA Office in Moldova declared on September 20. SIDA launches a new program of strengthening civil society in Moldova, amounting to USD 3 mln, which will take place during 2006-2008 and will be administrated by Soros Foundation – Moldova (SFM) and Eurasia Foundation – Moldova (EFM), Within the frameworks of the program grants will be offered to NGOs, non-profit and independent mass-media organization from the Republic of Moldova. According to Lundquist, this program comes “hand in hand” with the initiatives of the Government on poverty reduction and promoting the role of the social development. He mentioned that those two drafts will have a significant contribution in strengthening democratic society in Moldova, in strengthening media and other actors of the civil society. Victor Ursu, executive director of SFM qualified this partnership as productive and a long-term one. The Program implemented by SFM “Strengthening civil society in Moldova” aims at developing a working and democratic civil society. The program will cover several very important fields: Strengthening non-governmental filed by supporting advocacy campaigns, developing NGO networks and their capacities; social reintegration of former convicts; supporting independent electronic media. The total budget of project amounts to USD 2.769 mln, of which USD 2 mln is the contribution of SIDA. Sorin Mereacre, director of Eurasia Foundation – Moldova declared that the program continues another partnership with SIDA, which started in 2005, when the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections was supported. USD 3 mln for 3 years is very important for the development of the civil society in Moldova, he said. EFM will promote civic engagement by strengthening trust between governmental structures, civil organizations and media in three key fields: increasing citizen’s participation in governing and supporting implementation of reforms according to the Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy paper (EGPRSP) and to the Action Plan Moldova-EU; Supporting democratic culture and organizing free and fair elections; Fight with corruption by increasing the ability of the civil society and media to prevent corruption. The program is administrated by EFM and is co-financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Norwegian Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.