Managers of inter-municipal enterprises and representatives of local authorities from Moldova participated in an exposure visit in Romania to learn about the administration of public services in rural areas.

The visit took in the period 5-12 July 2015. The managers of 10 enterprises established with the support of the Joint Integrated Local Development Programme had the opportunity to discuss with Romanian private operators, inter-municipal development enterprises, local authorities, representatives of professional associations in the field of public services.

Ghenadie Ivascenco, consultant for inter-municipal cooperation within the Joint Integrated Local Development Programme, says that the experience of the Romanian villages in the field of communal administration is very useful: "The participants came back with enthusiasm and new ideas to raise the level of performance of inter-municipal enterprises".

The participants learned about the specific of Romanian operators’ activity within 10 thematic meetings in localities from five districts of Romania.

"In addition to sharing lessons learned from the colleagues from Romania, it was valuable to understand the importance of public communication in the process of creating and delivering communal services. I return home with great enthusiasm and with the idea to develop an inter-municipal enterprise in my region", tells Larisa Ciornaia, deputy mayor of Lipcani.

The study visit is part of a component to improve communal services in the Republic of Moldova through the development of 10 inter-municipal cooperation projects. More than 120,000 citizens from 40 localities in the Republic of Moldova benefit of these projects.

The projects enforce the provisions of the National Decentralization Strategy of the Republic of Moldova, approved by the Parliament in April 2012.

The Joint Integrated Local Development Programme is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), with financial support from the Government of Denmark and Sweden.