January 1, 2016
Completed projects
Full name of the project: Support of youth participation in decision-making processes and community development in rural areas of Gagauzia
Project duration: January 2015 to December 2015
Project partner: Association for Women Entrepreneurial Development, “Success”
Project focus: civil society, education
Aims:
- Strengthening democratic governance in five cities in Gagauzia region in southern Moldova.
- Involvement of local people, especially the young, in the decision-making processes and the development of Gagauzia.
Target group:
- 100 youth in five Moldovan regions
- 10 representatives of local authorities in five regions of Moldova
- 100 volunteers involved in the implementation of small grants in five regions
- 75 Moldovan residents in direct contact with the local action group
- 75 participants of the final event at the University of Comrat
- 500 people with access to a best practice guide
Country / region: south region of Gagauzia / Moldova
Description of project: Although youth constitute more than 25% of the Moldovan population, many young people feel frustrated at not being involved in the political process mainly due to structural problems in the country.Young people in the Gagauzia region in southern Moldova are eager to become active participants in local government. However, they lack the skills and opportunities. They have no possibilities to acquire organizational skills or knowledge of networking events and advocacy.They also have poor access to local and national authorities.
Thanks to financial resources provided by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs within the Transformation Cooperation Programme, Caritas CR has been providing support for governance in the five areas of Gagauzia since January 2015. The goal is to develop active youth participation in solving problems of the local towns and also to raise awareness about the benefits of active citizenship.
In five cities in the southern Moldovan region of Gagauzia (and vicinity) five active local groups will be created, specifically in Vulcanesti, Cazaclia, Ceadir-Lunga, Cairaclia and Gaidar. Individual groups will cooperate with the local authorities to solve specific problems of the city. One hundred young people will participate in three training sessions focusing on topics promoting civic participation, on enhancing practical skills in creating action plans and on supporting the organization of individual groups. Twenty-five young people will undergo special training where they will learn to lead their groups. At least 75 people will be involved during the roundtables into the preparation of planning. They, together with representatives of local authorities, will establish an action plan for the year 2016.
Young people will also meet with the residents of their cities and share with them their knowledge from the training. Then, in every city, each group will realize their project´s activities. These projects will be financially founded by so called “Small grants.” Specific issues in five specific cities will be resolved.
Participants of the training and other interested persons will receive a manual of best practices from past and current projects led by Caritas and Success, its partner in Moldova (especially in the Cahul region). The handbook will include examples of successful cases of active citizenship and will be available both in printed and electronic form.
Total budget: 65 278 EUR
