A first time in the Parliament of Moldova – staff members from the Secretariat of the People's Assembly of Gagauzia participated in an internship program in the Moldovan Legislature.

Between 9 and 27 October 2017, six staff members from the legal department and various committees of People's Assembly of Gagauzia attended committee meetings and plenary sessions of the Parliament in Chisinau, discussed with consultants from various subdivisions of the Parliament's Secretariat and learned about their role in the legislative process.

The purpose of the internship is to learn from the best practices of the Parliament's Secretariat in areas such as the legislative process, documentation, analysis, public communication and handling petitions.

“Following the internship, we decided to streamline the circulation of documents based on the model used in the Moldovan Parliament, which follows bills from their drafting and registration to their examination in committees and in plenary session”, says Igor Chendighelean, head of the legal department of the Secretariat of People's Assembly of Gagauzia.

Staff members from the Gagauz regional legislature were also interested in the electronic management of petitions, implemented in Parliament since 2016, with the support of UNDP Moldova.

“The e-petitions program allows for an effective registration and management of any petitions and complaints from the people. We would like to have such a tool implemented in Gagauzia,” said Iana Covalenco, deputy head of the legal department of People's Assembly.

The internships are supported by the UNDP Project “Strengthening Parliamentary Governance in Moldova”, funded by the Government of Sweden.

“UNDP has been strengthening the capacities of the Moldovan Parliament and has been working to help bring the legislative body closer to the people for over seven years. Since 2016, we also provide technical assistance to People's Assembly in Gagauzia, through training programs, good practices, streamlining and refining Secretariat procedures and competencies. The Parliament internship program for Gagauz officials could become a good platform for exchanging experience, but also for bringing Chisinau and Comrat closer together," says Sergiu Galitchi, UNDP project manager.

The participants to the internship support this idea. “I recommend to all my colleagues in the People's Assembly to spend a week in the Moldovan Parliament – we can learn many things from each other,” says Natalia Dimcea, public relations officer for People's Assembly of Gagauzia.

In the recent years, UNDP supported numerous actions and tools to streamline parliamentary work and bring the Moldovan Parliament closer to the people:

• In 2014, with the support of UNDP, four territorial information offices of the Parliament were opened in Comrat, Edineț, Leova and Orhei. They host regular hearings, public consultations and MPs’ meetings with local residents;
• In April 2017, an e-petition portal was launched, which allows citizens to submit petitions to Parliament online and monitor how their petitions are examined in real time;
• UNDP supports thematic parliamentary caucuses. The Women Caucus, formed in 2015, works to promote a gender dimension in public policies. In July 2016, the Moldova National Chapter of the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC) was established – it brings together 9 current and former MPs from all factions determined to denounce corruption and promote integrity in the public system;
• UNDP also supports the professionalization of Parliament’s public communication. In 2015, a Visit and Information Center was created, which helped over 15,000 citizens visit the institution, where they had the chance to meet their elected representatives;
• The Parliament has a new communication strategy and visual identity, and the staff of Parliament’s Secretariat in charge for public communication have been trained in various areas of this work;
• In 2017, UNDP helped develop 6 educational videos on parliamentary activities and procedures. The videos will be used in civics classes in schools as well as in public service announcements and in other public events organized by the Parliament.