The Local Grants Programme is launched on the basis of the Single Support Framework of the European Union (EU), to the Republic of Moldova (2017-2020) under the European Neighborhood Instrument, through the EU funded Action "Citizens’ Empowerment in the Republic of Moldova" (2019-2021), which is implemented by the German Development Cooperation through GIZ in coordination with the ‘Modernisation of Local Public Services in the Republic of Moldova’ project.

The project ”Citizens’ Empowerment in the Republic of Moldova” aims at contributing to the involvement of civil society organizations (CSOs) and citizens of the Republic of Moldova in decision-making processes, including in the governance of public investment projects, which will lead to improving transparency and accountability of authorities. This action will promote assumption by citizens of investments in the community by empowering them to participate in decision-making process related to local investment projects and allow them to monitor and communicate the impact of those investment projects to the general public.

Local Grants Programme aims at empowering citizens by participating actively and constructively in local decision-making processes on sustainable (economic, social and environmental) development and infrastructure of public services in their communities by:

• Engaging citizens in the conception, monitoring and evaluation of policies and decisions, design and provision of local public services, thus empowering public authorities to act and to fight corruption.

• Awareness of citizens on problems related to public service provision, energy efficiency and environment, to require actions from public authorities, while fulfilling their obligations as clients of local public services. In addition, building confidence in the ability of public institutions to solve those problems is important for citizens to participate constructively in policy elaboration and decision making. That also strengthens (local) democracy and the country as a whole.

• Encouraging citizens to subscribe and pay for quality public services. That requires understanding the purpose of tariffs to cover costs, as well as discouraging actions such as illegal connections to the public water supply and sewage systems, manipulation with meters or discharge of wastewater and storage of waste in unauthorized places. Citizens must understand the impact of illegal dumps on health and environment and agree to pay for waste disposal in their communities. They also need to be convinced of the impact of energy inefficiency on climate and environmental change.

The Local Grants Programme is guided by the following principles: transparency, social inclusion, equal opportunities and rights, sustainability of results, environmental sustainability, commitment to all stakeholders, subsidiarity and decentralization. 

The Local Grants Programme covers development regions of the Republic of Moldova: North, Centre, South and ATU Gagauzia. 

Implementation of the Local Grants Programme in regions is carried out by civil society organisations as partners in the project ”Citizens’ Empowerment in the Republic of Moldova”. The amount available for that competition of grants is 2,400,000 EUR. 

For Competition for grants in the field of Media and Communication, Association of Independent Press will award grants in the total available amount of 275,000 EUR.

As result of the calls for proposal announced by Action partners, 110 project proposals from local levels were awarded with grants. The map of interventions at local level, by localities, fields of activities and targeted local services, is available below.

Enhancing Republic of Moldova’s Resilience Capacity Call for Project Proposals. The Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation (BST) promotes regional cooperation and good governance in the Wider Black Sea region; accountable, transparent, and open governments; strong, effective civic sectors; and independent and professional media.

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