Presentation presented by Olesea Cruc, UNDP Moldova and Victoria Cujba, State Chancellery, Government of Moldova at Global Human Rights Community of Practice Meeting, November - December 2011

2. Main issues
faced by local development in Moldova
1. The current institutional and policy framework does not respond to the
needs of local public authorities and Moldovan people. The main
drawbacks are the lack of
• Participatory mechanisms for public policies & decisions
• Accountability to right-holders (people)
• Transparency of public processes & decisions
• Non-discrimination principle incorporation in public policies
2. LGs have an insufficient capacity to address development challenges and
to fulfil their responsibilities in front of the people
3. The most deprived rural communities in Moldova do not have enough
capacity to access resources and participate in local development
programmes.

3. Joint/Integrated Local Development
Programme
Objective 1: To assist the Government to upgrade national legal,
policy and advisory frameworks to support sustainable
processes at sub-national level with increased HR and GE
outcomes
Objective 2: To develop capacity of LGs for rights based and
gender responsive planning, budgeting, implementation,
monitoring and evaluation of development initiatives
Objective 3: To empower rural communities and CSOs in target
regions, including Transnistria to actively participate in local
development planning, implementation and monitoring and
have better access to improved services

4. Applying HRBA and GE into local
development
Government of
Moldova is
committed to
promote the
human rights
and gender
equality at all
stages of the
Decentralization
reform
implementation

5. Policy level interventions
• Institutional framework created
• Parity Commission
• Parliamentary Special Commission on Decentralization
• Inter-sectorial Groups
• Tools and processes
• Participatory elaboration of Decentralization Strategy
• stakeholders involved: 2500 persons
• broad consultations: 30 events
• Feedback mechanism: www.descentralizare.gov.md
• Main results
• Draft Decentralization strategy approved by Parity Commission
• HRBA and GE - integral and transcendent parts of the
Decentralization Strategy

6. Capacity Development of LPAs
Capacity development of LGs for rights-based and gender responsive development
focuses on improving LG operations on governing and delivering to the women and
men, boys and girls who most need it (particular focus on marginalized) through:
– Capacity assessment of LG to perform
governing and service delivering to those
who most need it (vulnerability study)
– Training for newly elected in public
administration, including HRBA and GE
– Elaboration of the methodological
grounds for Strategic Planning for HRBA
and GE based Socio-Economic
Development;
– Guidance in development of the Local
Socio-Economic Development Strategies
and Local Development Plans;
– Addressing the key development needs
identified jointly with the communities;
– Inter- municipal cooperation.

7. Community Empowerment
The community mobilization of women and men, particularly
marginalized, for empowerment is a key approach applied in 70 pilot
communities complementing the capacity development of LPAs for
rights-based and gender responsive development. It focuses on:
– identifying and tackling the root causes of inequalities and social
exclusion in the pilot communities through HRBA and GE
Community Profiling
– Community mobilization, capacity development, projects’ initiatives
addressing the priorities identified by LGs and woman and men of the
community

8. Challenges and lessons learned
in applying HRBA and GE
• Time
• Knowledge
• Continuous guidance and support
• Functioning feedback mechanism

9. What is next?
1. Policy level:
• Decentralization strategy approval by Parliament
• Sectoral interventions
• Disaggregated system of indicators
2. Building capacities of LG/Government
3. Support interventions at local level targeting, and
empowering the most marginalized
4. Internalize the need to adopt HRBA and GE concerns in any
public decision mechanisms

10. THANK YOU!
WWW.DESCENTRALIZARE.GOV.MD