Republic of Moldova

REPRESENTATIVES OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS AND PARLIAMENT OF MOLDOVA DISCUSSED THE MECHANISMS FOR COOPERATION AND EFFECTIVE PUBLIC DIALOGUE

June 14, 2010, Chisinau – UNDP’s project “Support to Parliamentary Development in Moldova” organized a round table on “Parliament and Civil Society Interactions: International Experience and Local Context” in  partnership with “Democracy Support Programme”  - a Joint Programme of the Council of Europe and the Delegation of the European Union to Moldova.

The round table marked the beginning of a series of events planned in the framework of the project aimed at enhancing the cooperation between civil society and Parliament in the Republic of Moldova and setting the stage for a sustainable dialogue and improved participation of citizenry in the parliamentary process.

Three representatives from the Parliament of the Republic of Latvia (Saeima) - Oskars Kastens, Ilmars Solims and Boriss Cilevics shared the experience of Parliament – Civil Society interactions in Latvia with thirty-five participants from civil society organizations (CSOs) and Parliament of Moldova. Their presentations focused on the prerequisites and instruments in the relations between the Civil Society and Parliament in Latvia, as well as the participation mechanisms of the Latvian CSOs in the legislative process. Apart from this,  the involvement of civil society organizations in public policy shaping in Latvia, the lobbying and advocacy techniques employed by Latvian CSOs in representing the interests of the civil society in relation with the Government officials and mass media were discussed in the presentation of Mr. Cilevics from the the European Affairs Committee and the Human Rights and Public Affairs Committee, Saeima of the Republic of Latvia.

In addition to the above mentioned topics, the officials of the Latvian legislature provided a comprehensive description of the measures undertaken by the Saeima to promote the transparency in the work of the Parliament, as well the mechanisms used to facilitate the access of the general public to information about the Parliament’s activities. The presentation on the Visitor and Information Center and the EU Information Center of the Saeima, the communication and outreach tools employed by the Latvian legislature (Parliament hot line, Open Door Day, daily radio broadcasts, Saeima Newsletter, Parliament’s Library, etc.) raised considerable interest among participants from both NGO and Parliament sides.

 
In the context of increased transparency of parliamentary activity and improved participation of the general public in the legislative processes in the country, the Parliament of Moldova presented its new web site to the participants at the round table. The CSOs that attended the round table welcomed the tools and features incorporated in the new Parliament’s web page that would allow a better access to the legislative processes and relevant documents and a nearly real time monitoring of the parliamentarians’ activity and performance.
In the concluding remarks of the round table, the Latvian officials launched an invitation to the representatives of the Parliament of Moldova to visit Latvia and learn hands on about the cooperation mechanisms between civil society and Parliament, as well as the communication and outreach activities implemented by the Latvian Parliament in its efforts to decrease the gap between the citizenry and legislature on one hand, and accelerate the EU integration process, on the other hand.

UNDP’s project “Support to Parliamentary Development in Moldova” aims to enhance parliamentary efficiency in carrying out its functions and responsibilities thus contributing to viable democracy and open society in Moldova. In view of facilitating the inclusion of civil society organizations in the parliamentary process, the project will assess the current legislature-civil society linkages and will launch a series of activities meant to enhance this cooperation and thus, improve the quality of public debates in the Parliament and strengthen the representation function.
The 3-year project began its activities in December 2009 and has a total budget of $ 3,000,000 funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (DANIDA), Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and co-financed and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).