Beneficiary Organizations of Media and Communication Program Start Information Activities to Empower Citizens
The first week of August came with good news for local civil society organizations (CSOs), benefiting from the EU Local Grants, Media and Communication Program. During this period, the grant contracts were signed and an introductory session was held on 7 August, which discussed strengthening efforts to inform and raise citizen awareness about improved local public services.
The online event was attended by representatives of fourteen local CSOs and their media partners: Info Dava (Soroca), Anima (Balti), Nord Media (Balti), Express (Ungheni), Universal Media (Nisporeni), Eurodemos Plus (Orhei), ASCED (Calara?i), Association of Environmental and Ecological Tourism Journalists (Chisinau), Media Grup Meridian (Anenii Noi, Sângerei, ?tefan-Voda), Cahul 2030 (Cahul), Prospect (Cimi?lia), Feed-Back (Basarabeasca), Piligrim Demo (UTA Gagauzia), Media Birlii Uniunia Media (TAU Gagauzia).
At the beginning of the event, Petru Macovei, Executive Director of API, noted that the Local Grants Program was an important one, about which the EU had high hopes: "We need to tell people, in layman’s terms, how necessary it is for them to get involved, so that everyone’s life is better in our country. Together, we must achieve the objectives of this program - informing and empowering citizens."
Elena Spânu, Consultant of the Empowering Citizens in Moldova Project, implemented by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), recalled the general objective of the project - empowering citizens for constructive participation in decision-making processes, specifying that this could be achieved through access to accurate information about what was happening at local level. "We want to have citizens who will monitor the investments for infrastructure development in the fields of water supply and sewerage, solid waste management and energy efficiency," E. Spanu said.
The participants had the opportunity to interact with Victor Rotara?, Communication Coordinator at the Pro Regional Cooperation Association, and Silvia Strelciuc, Executive Director of Cahul Contact Center, two of GIZ Moldova's regional partner organizations in the implementation of the national citizen empowerment project. Silvia Strelciuc: “This project implies that we will work with the citizens and engage them in monitoring the decision-making processes. Thanks to the project, positive changes will take place in the southern region, which deserve to be promoted by the media and communication grant recipients.”
The representatives of non-governmental organizations and their partners from regional media outlets (television and radio stations, newspapers and portals) briefly presented the projects they would carry out and agreed to inform each other and interact to make high-quality journalistic products.
During the same event, the financial and reporting requirements for CSOs were presented, and the representatives of API and GIZ Moldova answered the beneficiaries' questions.
In June 2020, API announced that the EU Local Grants, Media and Communication Program, implemented under the “Empowering Citizens in the Republic of Moldova” Project, had selected fourteen CSOs and their regional media partners to benefit from support for carrying out information and promotion projects in the fields of public services and environmental protection.
The “Empowerment of Moldovan Citizens” Project is funded by the European Union and is implemented by the German Development Agency (GIZ). The project’s partner for enhancing the visibility potential and citizen involvement is the Association of Independent Press (API).
