Update: on 23 March 2018 the Strategy was adopted by the Parliament of Moldova.
On 22 December 2017, the Civil Society Development Strategy for 2017-2020 and its Action Plan were officially submitted to the Parliament. The Strategy reflects Moldova’s commitment to systematically strengthening the conditions for the dynamic development of the civil society. The planned activities in the Strategy include:
- The creation of a structure responsible for the cooperation with the civil society (within the government);
- Supporting the enforcement of the 2% law;
- Amending the sponsorship and philanthropy mechanism and adjusting the possibilities for donation deductions;
- Supporting opportunities for CSO contracting of public services and works;
- Ensuring CSO access to public funds;
- Adjusting the legal framework for volunteering etc.
The official introduction of the CSO Strategy and its Action Plan is a successful completion of more than a year of efforts in preparing a new CSO development strategy after the expiration of the previous one. The Strategy was developed in a participatory manner by three cross-sector working groups, made up of representatives of the civil society, line ministries, State Chancery, Public Administration Academy, Prime Minister’s Office, Moldovan Parliament, and development partners: In the last months of 2017, ECNL and FHI360 actively advocated for the Strategy and through the ECNL-supported consultant, Gheorghe Caraseni, finalized the text of the Strategy and its Action Plan prior to their introduction.