From December 9 to 12, local authorities from Grenoble, Angers, Le Havre and Bléré travelled to Moldova to continue exchanging experiences and promote local-to-local cooperation with their Moldovan counterparts.

Faced with the challenges of decentralization reform, particular intermunicipal cooperation, waste management and water and sanitation, local authorities from both countries had the opportunity to share their experiences.

These exchanges are part of the EU4Moldova program supported by UNDP Moldova. This is an initiative aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and European integration, with a focus on capacity building in decentralization, economic development and the energy and environmental transition.

UNDP Moldova has also supported a training program for newly elected officials, with the funds of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. This work resulted in the publication of a guide for local elected officials.

For Daniela Gasparikova, UNDP Resident Representative in Moldova, this mission is an “opportunity for decentralization, which is an important issue, and the expertise of French local authorities is a real added value for their Moldovan counterparts, particularly when it comes to implementing inter municipal cooperation”.

With the funds support of French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the peer-to-peer exchange mission is an opportunity to share experience and expertise on local governance and strengthen decentralized cooperation.

The city of Grenoble has been cooperating with the city of Chisinau since 1977, and these exchanges open up new fields of action in regional planning, health and tourism.

During these meetings in Moldavia, the city of Bléré signed a cooperation agreement with the city of Festelita, which was formalized in December.

This latest mission in December was held to continue expanding exchanges, leading to the emergence of new projects in the fields of waste management, water and sanitation. For example, Le Havre Seine Métropole has initiated discussions with the Ungheni district to support cooperation on waste services.

In addition, in view of water management needs, the opportunity has been taken to use the provisions of the French Oudin-Santini law, which allows local authorities to devote up to 1% of their water and sanitation budget to financing international solidarity actions in these sectors.

The French Ambassador to Moldova, Dominique Waag, expressed “the need to strengthen links and exchanges between French and Moldovan local authorities in order to continue the decentralization process”.

Read more on cooperation between UNDP and France, through the Delegation for Local Authorities (DCT-CIV): https://www.undp.org/geneva/press-releases/le-pnud-et-la-france-signent-un-nouvel-accord-pour-renforcer-lappui-aux-gouvernements-locaux-travers-lexpertise-territoriale

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