Chisinau, October 13, 2011-- “Surveys show that local public authorities enjoy the highest confidence among people when it comes to human rights protection. The adoption of the National Decentralization Strategy will contribute to further increasing the role of local governments in the development of Moldova, and ultimately to a better life for its citizens. Democracy is fulfilled by citizens for their own benefit and therefore, the modernization of the local self-government system will help strengthen local democracy”, Anatol Onceanu, Deputy Secretary General of the Government, said at the opening of the National Conference on“The role of local government in ensuring human rights and gender equality at local level”, held today in Chisinau.
The conference is part of a series of activities organized by the State Chancellery with the support of the Joint Integrated Local Development Programme in the context of the European Local Democracy Week (ELDW). The conference aims to highlight the human rights as a key element of local democracy, to encourage local governments to protect and strengthen the human rights in their communities by improving public services, ensuring the citizens’ access to decision-making, ensuring gender equality, etc.
In her speech at the conference, Ingrid Tersman, Ambassador of Sweden to the Republic of Moldova, mentioned Sweden’s support to the efforts of the Republic of Moldova to empower communities and promote local democracy, decentralization, including human rights and gender equality. “A governing principle of the Swedish model is that local matters should be dealt with at the local level. Sweden has a long tradition of decentralized governance. We are convinced that this is an important reason why our society has developed into what it is today. The task of local authorities is to serve people. This is why local authorities, beyond the formal decision-making process, should maintain a constant dialogue with its citizens to ensure that all those affected know in advance what decisions will be made, and have a chance to provide their opinion and mobilize others, if necessary”, Ingrid Tersman said.
“Local governance and decentralization reform can improve the protection of human rights and gender equality as long as it leads to more effective governance act, achieves economic and social development”, Kaarina Immonen, UN Resident Coordinator in Moldova, said at the conference. According to Kaarina Immonen, human rights and gender equality cannot be achieved in the absence of cooperation between national and local governments, civil society and other actors. “I really appreciate Government’s actions in promoting human rights based approaches and gender equality through the local governance and decentralization reform. I am confident that the European Local Democracy Week will contribute to promoting more cohesive communities with great support from national Government, local authorities and other relevant counterparts, by preventing and combating intolerance, discrimination and social exclusion”, Kaarina Immonen mentioned.
According to the Head of theCouncil of Europe Officein Moldova, Ulvi Akhundlu, gender equality is not fully translated into action. Even if women have the same rights, they do not always have the same opportunities as men. Ulvi Akhundlu noted that a formal approach is not sufficient. “Equality between men and women is an integral part of human rights and democracy. We need to eliminate discrimination based on sex in public and private life and to encourage gender mainstreaming in all programmes and policies”, Mr. Akhundlu said.
Representatives of local government and civil society, who attended the conference, had the opportunity to disseminate their best practices and experience with regard to the ensuring of human rights and gender equality. “This year’s focus of the European Local Democracy Week (ELDW) on human rights at the local level is very significant. The fulfilment of fundamental human rights such as the right to education, social assistance and protection, and the right to freedom of expression takes place at the local level and with the support of the local public authorities”, Tatiana Badan, Chairperson of the Congress of local Authorities from Moldova, said. “At the same time, we believe that an important element of the effective fulfilment of human rights at the local level is the partnership between the central and local governments. We firmly believe that any difficulties and barriers can be overcome through a constructive on-going dialogue based on mutual respect”, Tatiana Badan said.
Victoria Cujba, Division for decentralization policies of the State Chancellery, mentioned that the improvement of the local public authorities’ work is key priority for the Government, the development of the National Decentralization Strategy being a first step towards achieving this goal. “Moldova is the first country that managed to integrate local development from the perspective of human rights and gender equality into a public policy document which was also received international recognition and was praised by the international institutions. It’s not by accident that the Council of Europe, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities dedicated the 2011 edition of the European Local Democracy Week to human rights at local level. It is difficult to quantify the outcomes of this approach, but I believe that the results are yet to come, including through changes in our mentality and behaviour”, Victoria Cujba said.
The European Local Democracy Week is an initiative of the Council of Europe and of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, launched in October 2007. The week around 15 October has been chosen for this event as a tribute to the European Charter of Local Self-Government, opened for signature on that date in 1985. The Republic of Moldova joined the Council of Europe on July 13, 1995. The Republic of Moldova signed the European Charter of Local Self-Government on the May 2, 1996 and is effective since February 1, 1998. In Moldova, the European Week of Local Democracy is marked in various communities throughout the country. This initiative was launched by the Government of Moldova, through the State Chancellery, with the support of its development partners – UNDP, UN Women, and the Government of Sweden – in the framework of the Joint Integrated Local Development Programme.
