Nearly four years after the commitment has been formulated, The “100 million” for Moldova Programme is blocked. No project has been selected, nor started, in accordance with the original agreement signed between the two governments. Money has been spent from the fund, but outside the program, using the additional protocols:
– Eight million Euro allocated for reconstructing housing units for the people affected by floods in 2010;
– Nine million Euro allocated for co-financing the Iasi-Ungheni pipeline (a part of the implementation cost).
In other words, the program has only supported projects that have been added at a later stage, thus becoming a competition of ideas of cooperation that are seeking funding.
CRPE is proposing a solution for saving the program by keeping the established pattern: the money should follow the projects.
The How can we save the “100 million for Moldova” agreement. CRPE Proposal – The Romania – Republic of Moldova Development Fund paper is reviewing the causes of the deadlock and offers solutions to it. We have conducted a survey among Moldovan NGOs experts, asking them how the money should be used.
The solution proposed by RCEP entails spending the money using a transparent mechanism for selecting the projects, such as the one used by the Official Development Assistance department of the MAE, which is working with the United Nations Development Program. Furthermore, calls launched for organizations and institutions in Moldova gathered more project ideas than the MFA could possibly fund (with a dedicated budget for Moldova of approx. 1 million per year). So we have a list of projects ideas coming from the Republic of Moldova that require funding. On the other hand, there are 100 million under the management of the Ministry of Development for which projects are not found.
The solution is obvious: a protocol for including the money in the MAE procedures, and implementing the projects in partnership with UNDP. If a Romanian Development Agency (RoAid) will be created, then the “100 million for Moldova” can become a permanent program of the Agency designed to coordinate the Romanian development assistance to Republic of Moldova.