A new initiative to strengthen cooperation between civil society and the local public authorities for better budgetary governance in Moldova was launched on December 3. The activities of the EU-supported project are designed to increase the role of civil society at the local level in enhancing the transparency, efficiency and effectiveness of budgetary formation and execution in 25 localities, IPN reports.
The project is implemented by the Independent Think Tank “Expert-Grup” in partnership with the Institute for European Policies and Reforms.
Tatiana Ivanichikina, secretary of state at the Ministry of Finance, who is a member of the project’s Coordination Committee, welcomed the involvement of donors and local partners that are ready to take the budgetary transparency process further to the level of the local public authorities. “The Ministry has thought about budgetary transparency for several years, but the implementation process at different stages is difficult and problematic for various reasons,” stated the official.
Ekaterina Yakovleva, project manager at the Delegation of the European Union to Moldova, said that in addition to the support provided to the Moldovan public authorities, the EU has always attached increased importance to the promotion of an active role of citizens and civil society organizations in strengthening democracy and good governance in this country.
The initiative envisions the creation of 25 local coalitions, by five in each of the existing regions: North, Center, South, ATU Gagauzia and the Transnistrian region. “Towards the end of the project, we estimate to have approximately 750 informed and empowered persons who will be actively involved in local budgetary processes. We hope that over 400,000 citizens will ultimately benefit from a more participatory process of planning and fulfilling the budgets of the 25 localities in the Republic of Moldova,” stated Iulian Groza, executive director of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms.
The project “Inform, empower and act! Civil society for good budgetary governance in Moldova” will be implemented during February 2019 – January 2022 with financial support from the European Union and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.
