Republic of Moldova

UNDP trains locally elected officials in local public administration

November 16, 2011, Chisinau -By the end of this year, over 12 thousand locally elected officials will be trained in the area of local public administration. The training workshops started today in Căuşeni and will be conducted gradually throughout the country. Through these activities, the State Chancellery with the assistance of UNDP and UN Women and the financial support of the Swedish Government, in the framework of the Joint Integrated Local Development Programme, aims to strengthen the capacities of the local governments in the decentralization process. 
Attending the opening of the first training workshop, Ilie Gluh, president of Căuşeni district, mentioned that these were important for the local governments as more than half of the mayors from Căuşeni district are executing their first mandate, having different backgrounds and insufficient knowledge and skills in this area. “They need to understand the mechanism of local government functioning, the working principles, their obligations and responsibilities to be able to respond promptly and efficiently to the needs of people that entrusted them their hopes”, Ilie Gluh said.

According to Victoria Cujba from the Department for decentralization policies of the State Chancellery, the need to conduct this training was dictated by the outcomes of the studies carried out to assess the capacity of local governments with a view to overtake certain competences subject to decentralization. The local elected officials will be trained in their communities by a group of trainers previously trained to deliver such training sessions. “We aim to provide the local elected officials the opportunity to be trained at home by well-trained professionals, using the best methods and techniques to improve their skills and knowledge, so that they could ensure an efficient management of public matters, be true local leaders and contribute to the development of communities they belong to”, Victoria Cujba said.

For one day, participants will discuss several topics related to the local government functioning, approach of LPA public policies in terms of human rights and gender equality, management of local public services, public property, local public finance and financial decentralization. The training workshops are designed in an interactive manner, a particular emphasis being laid on practical aspects, use of examples, case studies. At the end of the course, participants will receive a copy of the “Guide to local elected officials” that was prepared by the Joint Integrated Local Development Programme.

More information about Joint Integrated Local Development programme at...