On 30 January 2019, the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) "Viitorul" has organized a workshop in Balti. The aim of the workshop was to create a network of nongovernmental organizations in the northern region and share the best practices on public procurement, efficient local public services and transparency of the electoral process. The event was attended by representatives of the civil society, the local public authorities from the northern region of the Republic of Moldova, and by representatives of the British Embassy in Chisinau.
The first session consisted of a presentation by an IDIS "Viitorul" expert who focused on the need to establish a transparent and sustainable procurement system through an efficient and permanent monitoring process. The expert also referred to the good practices of monitoring of the public procurement process, the principles that should be defining a public procurement system, the vision, and the purpose of IDIS "Viitorul" in the public procurement sector, as well as to the examples of good practice and relevant products developed by the think-tank. The topic of providing assistance to government authorities, to public procurement regulators and contracting authorities in addressing the basic principles of good governance (transparency, efficiency, effectiveness, legality, ethics, and integrity) was also addressed as a means to improve the public procurement system. The questions from workshop participants focused mostly on the new SIA RSAP Mtender Electronic Procurement System, on recent amendments to Law 131/2015 as well as on the adopted regulations.
The second session focused on the efficiency of public services at a local level. The experts from the Association for Participative Democracy - ADEPT have addressed several topics such as advocacy activities for transparency and accountability in the provision of public services at the local level, the issue of effective tools for measuring the performance of local public administration in this field. On this occasion, ADEPT experts also introduced an online platform that compares the cost of access to public services and the quality of sanitation, water and sewerage services, public lighting and urban transport provided by local authorities in various localities. Thus, ADEPT will develop a database containing information on the quality of four public services delivered in 2017 in 32 cities.
The third session focused on strengthening the transparency of the electoral process and promoting the accountability of electoral candidates in the context of the 2019 parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova. The Promo-Lex Association expert approached the following issues during his speech: the need for increasing the level of transparency in the electoral system, monitoring the electoral process, election monitoring reports, etc. The participants in the workshop were very interested in these topics and have asked numerous questions. It is certain that the addressed issues needed to be taken up and debated because it was the participants themselves who insisted on the need to discuss them but also on the necessity to assimilate the good practices offered by other civil society organizations.
The event was organized within the «Cutting edge improvements in the public procurement system in Moldova through inclusiveness, creativity and law-abiding practices» Project, funded by UK Aid from the UK Government.
