On June 16, 2021, the Institute for Rural Initiatives (iRi) organized the 4th edition of the Open Mayors’ Club. Already a good tradition, iRi organises an annual meeting through which it aims to strengthen the capacity of the local officials in iRi’s partner communities.
While in previous editions the topics of discussion were mostly focused around the public policy framework and their more effective implementation, this year the invited mayors and councillors discussed the pivotal importance of cooperation with civil society and how to create a participatory culture at community level. The interest in better governance at the local level brought together local people representatives from Drochia and Riscani districts.
The event took place in the town of Drochia and hosted 22 representatives of the LPAs of the first and second level (mayors, vice-mayors, councillors). To provide a more balanced discussion, the representatives of 6 local CSOs from 6 rural communities in Drochia and Riscani districts were invited to the event.
Local officials had the opportunity to benefit from the training prepared by iRi on the one hand, and on the other hand to interact with civil society representatives and receive feedback from citizens. The training was facilitated by the experts Octavii Ivanov (former mayor, CALM Adviser-Coordinator) and Tatiana Costev-Cosuleanu (iRi executive director) and culminated in a call to promote good governance at community level where civil society is consulted and involved in the decision-making process.
The workshop was also an opportunity to discuss budget transparency mechanisms, presenting the best examples and practices of implementing transparency methods in the decision-making process in rural localities in Moldova.
“Budget transparency is not only about posting some information online, on platforms and communication boards, but also about the willingness of local authorities to be transparent, it means, how interested they are in implementing this process.” – Tatiana Costev-Cosuleanu, executive director of iRi.
“I would also like to tell you about a good practice of transparency in our community: when the local budget was presented, it was presented in such a way that no one saw or understood any of the figures. In recent years, the budget is presented in different clear tables, separate columns on income and expenditure, which makes it easier for citizens to understand the local budget, and also it helps to make expenditures more visible.” – Valerian Cecan, mayor of Mihaileni village, Riscani district.
During the event, local officials had the opportunity to share their experience of involvement and cooperation with civil society, which aroused great interest among both local people representatives and NGOs. At the workshop, the participants developed their own model of dialogue and cooperation with citizens: from intentions to action, from isolated cases to institutionalised practices.
“Our greatest wish is to develop mechanisms for tightening partnerships among local public authorities, economic agents and citizens of the community.” – Eugeniu Ribac, mayor of Borosenii Noi, Riscani district.
In conclusion, the meeting of the LPAs representatives from the rural localities of Moldova turned out to be more than welcomed. It allowed the exchange of ideas, the creation of partnerships, entering into new cooperation and the most important – the joint involvement in the development of the community.
The activity is part of the project “Citizens Serving Citizens” implemented by the Institute for Rural Initiatives (iRi) within the grant programme “Development of civil society at the local level in the Republic of Moldova”, funded by the European Union and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
More photos from the event can be found on the Facebook page of the Institute for Rural Initiatives (iRi):