In April 2023, the Institute for Rural Initiatives (iRi) launched a contest, and following this, 5 rural communities from 4 districts were selected as local partners: Zgurița village, Drochia district; Marculesti village, Floresti district; Mitoc village, Orhei district; Meseni village and Peciste village from Rezina district. These communities showed their interest in improving good governance at the local level, to interact with experts in community mobilization and to learn about mechanisms and tools to build the trust between LPAs and the local civil society.
There are many stereotypes related to the budgeting process, which prevent the development of a transparent and participative local governance process: “We do not participate, because nobody listens to us”, “We do not involve anyone because they cannot do it properly, but we know better and we will do better”, “Why to involve them if they do not participate?”, “He is the Mayor, he should do it”.
The 5 local groups for civic action, also called the Citizen Councils, were created for the first time and will have the role of the main communicator with the community and the LPAs, and will represent the voice of their community. The Citizen Council will organize a public awareness campaign on participation and involvement in the local public budget planning process.
An educational space will be created to learn and facilitate the budgeting process. Also, training will be provided on use of efficient involvement instruments and mechanisms “Citizens – LPAs”. Better understanding of the local budget planning process will lead to the effective use of the civic participation components.
We expect that the local civil society is more involved in these 5 localities, the local civil servants are more open in the decision-making process, and the stereotypes related to the local governance process are eliminated.
The “RurAct: rural communities act” project is implemented by the Institute for Rural Initiatives (iRi) and local partners, with the financial support of the Black Sea Trust, a project of the German Marshall Fund, USA.