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All Communal service providers Community mobilization Domulgeni-en Solid Waste Management Technical assistance Water supply

Vice President of Skat Consulting visits Moldova to assess Skat Moldova’s progress in strengthening local governance and improving rural communities

Vice President of Skat Consulting visits Moldova to assess Skat Moldova's progress in strengthening local governance and improving rural communities.

During her visit to the Republic of Moldova from May 22-25, 2023, Mrs. Claudia Zimmermann, Vice-President of Skat Consulting Ltd., gained valuable insights into the activities of Skat Consulting’s office in Moldova. She met with the teams working on three ongoing projects, each contributing to the improvement of local communities:

  • Mă Implic – Proiect de implicare civică în guvernarea locală, a project on civic engagement in local governance (financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC): This project aims at ensuring that the rural population of Moldova has equitable access to quality communal services.
  • The ASIST sanitation solutions implementation assistance project (financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC): This initiative supports individuals affected by conflicts in Ukraine and Moldova by repairing destroyed homes and water supply systems, thereby improving their living conditions.
  • Water and Sanitation Project in Moldovan Villages (ApaSan+) (financed by the Austrian Development Agency, Austrian Development Cooperation funds): This project aims to provide safe water supply and sanitation services to rural populations.

“I had a fantastic time with our consulting team from Chisinau this week. The days were packed with insightful meetings and conversations with customers, partners, colleagues and representatives of the local public administrations. Thank you to the entire team who made this great huge success and to our partners in rural communities who shared their unique and inspiring insights,” Claudia Zimmermann, Vice President of Skat Consulting Ltd.

The visits to various locations offered Mrs. Zimmermann the opportunity to engage with the representatives of the Municipalities and citizens, who are the ultimate beneficiaries of the local interventions. In the village of Vărăncău, she interacted with families who benefited from the installation of ecological sanitation systems (septic tanks), witnessing first-hand the positive impact of the ApaSan+ project on their living conditions.

In Domulgeni village, Mrs. Zimmermann observed the local waste evacuation process, supported by the MĂ IMPLIC Project. Here the project assists the Municipality and the service provider in improving and organizing the communal solid waste evacuation service. The Mayor, alongside the Community Initiative Team, presented the progress made thus far and outlined the planned activities within the inter-community waste management project involving Domulgeni, Cașunca, Ștefănești, and Prodănești.

Skat Consulting is mandated by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) to implement the “MĂ IMPLIC” project on civic engagement in local governance, which ensures that the rural population of the Republic of Moldova has fair access to quality communal services. Thus, in the period 2021-2023, thirty localities/groups of localities implement projects aimed at improving the delivery of communal household services.

#maImplic #skatConsulting #sanitation #civicengagement #solidwastemanagement #watersupply #streetlighting #communalservice

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All Communal service providers Community mobilization Domulgeni-en Legal framework Solid Waste Management Technical assistance Water supply

Unveiling the Challenges: 3rd Edition of the Barometer on Communal Household Services in Moldova

Unveiling the challenges: 3rd edition of the Barometer on communal household services in Moldova

Local public authorities in the Republic of Moldova are responsible for organizing and providing citizens with communal household services. They rely on the rules and regulations set by the Government to carry out these important tasks.

On April 12, 2023, the MĂ IMPLIC project launched the 3rd edition of its report titled “Barometer of the main existing gaps, contradictions and constraints in the normative framework related to communal household services This report sheds light on the key issues faced by local authorities as they strive to improve and deliver community services.

The analysis offers an overview of the problems within the regulatory framework, presenting a format that facilitates the identification of priority areas for potential solutions. The project experts, Ion Beschieru (Public Administration and National Reforms Expert), Dorin Andros (Regional Development and Public Services Expert), and Diana Toma (Manager of Reforms and National Policies within the MĂ IMPLIC project), presented the main findings.

The barometer is the outcome of a comprehensive mapping exercise that involved documentary analysis, review of strategies, laws, decisions, studies, articles, and more. Additionally, interviews and discussions with relevant stakeholders such as representatives from central public administration authorities, mayors, local public administration representatives, service operators, and field experts were conducted. The goal was to identify gaps and discrepancies hindering the sustainable provision of quality and accessible communal services within communities. However, this study does not examine into structural and systemic issues unrelated to the normative framework, such as the lack of human and institutional capacities or insufficient financial resources.

Like previous editions, the analysis focused on two services: (1) water supply and sanitation, and (2) solid waste management. The latest edition of the Barometer assesses the trend and urgency of addressing the identified challenges in the years 2021, 2022, and 2023.

The event was attended by representatives from MĂ IMPLIC’s partner municipalities, the Ministry of the Environment, the National Energy Regulatory Agency, the Environment Agency, experts in the field of LPA and communal household services, representatives from development partners, and more. During the meeting, participants actively engaged in discussions and exchanged opinions.

The study is available for download on the “MĂ IMPLIC” project’s webpage, offering both the Romanian version and the English version.

The project on civic engagement in local governance “MĂ IMPLIC” aims at ensuring that the rural population of Moldova has equitable access to quality communal service provision. The project „MĂ IMPLIC” is financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and implemented by Skat Consulting Ltd.

#maImplic #skatConsulting