EU4Accountability: civil society and local authorities exchange experiences with colleagues from across the Prut in Botoșani

In October, 12 representatives of civil society and local authorities from the northern and southern districts of the country made a study visit to Botoșani County, Romania, as part of the project "EU4Accountability - Empowered civil society for increasing social accountability in Moldova".

The delegation visited the communes of Nicșeni, Sulița and Mihai Eminescu, where they met with local public administration, teachers and civil society activists. 

They presented good practices of cooperation with local authorities and described the tools used to allow citizens to participate more actively in the elaboration of community development strategies. At the same time, the guests were given the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the infrastructure of educational and pre-school institutions, as well as the tourist attractions of the localities.

The programme also included a visit to Dorohoi, the second largest municipality in Botoșani County, where the group of delegates met with Deputy Mayor Cristian Dogaru and Prof. Marcel Dupu, Director of the Dorohoi Children's Club. The participants discussed the problems faced by local authorities and non-governmental organisations in Romania and Moldova, and shared solutions to overcome various difficulties in the cooperation process.

During the visit to the Prefectural Institution of Botoșani County, the members of the Moldovan delegation got acquainted with the role of civil society in the development of local communities in the region, the mechanisms of decision-making and institutional transparency in public administration in order to protect the interests of the community, the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual, and the ways of transmitting proposals, suggestions and opinions of citizens to the authorities. At the same time, the participants were shown how the "National Clean-up Day 2023" campaign was successfully organised and coordinated by the Prefecture again this year. In turn, the members of the Moldovan delegation presented the projects and activities they are carrying out in their communities, suggesting interesting and good ideas to be followed by the county administration.

Sorin Cornilă, the Prefect of Botoșani County, congratulated all the participants of the meeting for the realisation of this project and highly appreciated the cooperation between the representatives of civil society from both banks of the Prut River, mentioning that it is a consolidated cooperation based on mutual understanding of common values.

"I appreciate the project you are implementing in partnership with the Botoșani County Directorate for Sport and Youth, whose main objective is the development of an active civil society. In democratic societies, civil society plays an extremely important role in strengthening democracy and defending fundamental values. That is why, as Prefect of Botoșani County, I consider the permanent dialogue with syndicates, NGOs, professional associations and employers' organisations to be one of my priorities", the Prefect stressed.

As part of the Moldovan delegation, Dmitri Mosoreti, Mayor of Risipeni commune in Fălești district, thanked the hosts for the openness shown in this project and for the valuable experience shared with colleagues from the Republic of Moldova.

"Romania has a great experience in developing an active civil society and it is very gratifying that you are willing to share this experience with us in Moldova. This will allow us to implement good things much faster and avoid some of the difficulties you have encountered before. This cooperation project is very important for us, because only together with an active and responsible civil society we can develop our communities and bring the life of our citizens to the highest standards," said Dmitri Mosoreti.

EU4Accountability is funded by the European Union and implemented in consortium by People in Need Moldova, ALDA - European Association for Local Democracy and the European Partnership for Democracy.