In cooperation with local partners in Moldova, starting in mid-July 2020 ALDA has organized more than 15 trainings in the context of the AGREED project’s capacity-building programme for Local Authorities (LAs) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).
With the aim to increase LPAs and CSOs’ knowledge and skills in the fields of decentralization, transparency and citizen participation, the programme provides them with crucial training on the application of the principles of participatory democracy within the context of local communities. The trainings, which should amount to at least one for each of the 32 districts of Moldova by the end of September, are delivered face-to-face where possible and in online format in those districts where the Covid-19 situation doesn’t allow for that.
Panel discussions tackle various aspects of cooperation between CSOs and LAs, such as open government partnership in the service of local democracy or the preconditions for effective cooperation between the two; so far, all meetings have gathered around 35-45 participants including a great mix of mayors, local counselors and representatives of non-governmental organisations, as well as the presidents and/or vice-presidents of the districts when available.
“We will be grateful if you’ll organize such trainings in the future again”, mentioned participants in their evaluation questionnaire. “The information and consultation provided is extremely helpful”.
Co-financed by National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the capacity-building programme is looking forward to continue its mission in the coming weeks with hopefully ever-increasing success!
The 24-month AGREED project (Activating Governance Reform for Enhancing Development) is co-financed by the European Union and implemented by Alda together with the Local Democracy Agency Moldova and the University Legal Clinic Balti. It aims to strengthen the capacity of Moldovan local authorities to perform a transparent and participatory governance in their Communities, with a specific reference to the policy-making process related to decentralisation reform.