The workshop took place within the framework of the Moldova Civil Society Strengthening Program (MCSSP) supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Over the past year there have been several legal initiatives started and adopted that aim to strengthen civil society and the CSO sector in Moldova. The goal of the meeting was to share recent experiences from countries with similar legal frameworks and to provide a platform for joint learning for the key NGO experts in Moldova. The meeting focused on the key components of an enabling environment with a view to improving the legal framework for CSOs and their financial sustainability.
Main topics included government funding, philanthropy and percentage mechanism. The meeting gathered sixteen participants from among the NGO Council, CSO experts and representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the State Chancellery. The participants were especially interested in experience and legal framework for government funding in CEE, as well as transparency and monitoring of spending, impact of the government funding on the sector, incentives for philanthropy and transparency of giving.
The representatives of the Ministry of Finance shared information about the feasibility study that the Ministry launched in order to obtain data necessary to take further steps on percentage legislation. The two main aspects the Ministry considers in the study deal with the potential cost for the state budget of losing 1% or 2% contributions by the some taxpayers and the cost of introducing the system of percentage contribution. The study is carried out on the basis of the 2007-2009 data as provided by the tax authorities.
At the end of the meeting, ECNL’s Executive Director, Nilda Bullain, summed up the main recommendations regarding financial sustainability of Moldovan CSOs that were discussed at the meeting:
- More data have to be collected on CSOs to better understand the Moldovan CSO sector and its needs;
- A focal point or a coordination office in the government would be beneficial for coordinating government policies and activities in terms of civil society development;
- Specific regulations for ministries need to be developed on how to provide direct funding to CSOs;
- Further policy discussions with participation of a wide range of stakeholders from the government and CSOs should be carried out.