Around 60 women from Ungheni district met on Wednesday, November 18, with the MPs from the Parliament of Moldova in the framework of the second regional parliamentary forum "Dialogue with citizens". The forum was organized to enhance communication between citizens and MPs, which would contribute to a higher level of public trust in politicians.

Valentina Buliga, president of the Parliamentary Commission "Foreign Policy and European Integration" discussed the lack of communication between citizens and civil society, and Ala Popescu, General Secretary of the Parliament, mentioned about the Parliamentary Constituency and Information Offices (PCIOs) and their roles.

"Once again I am convincing myself what enormous potential the women have, representing about 52 percent of the country's population. We, women, must be informed, to know the law, to know the realities and, wherever we are, either as deputy, minister, counselor, mayor or, simply, mother or wife, we have to do our job successfully," said Valentina Buliga in her welcoming speech.

Natalia Dolgu, head of the PCIO from Orhei, mentioned that the Parliamentary Constituency Offices are
meant to facilitate MPs communication with citizens and with civil society. „Through all the actions that we organized, we intend to bring the Parliament closer to citizens and increase the transparency of its work. Only through cooperation we can achieve great things," pointed Natalia Dolgu.

Maria Calchei, director of the Centre for Children "Home for all" (Casa pentru toți) from Ungheni district, noted some of the problems during the Forum. "Today is another mentality and we do not invest in education and what we need. Nobody handles the proper education of children, because there are few educators, their number were reduced according to the decisions approved by the government. We write laws, but nobody investigates the situation on the ground first," opines Maria.

Regarding the questions and answers, the participants had the opportunity to raise their concerns. Thus, among the problems mentioned were: lack of teachers and health workers in kindergartens from the villages; lack of psychologists in rural areas which would guide children and youth who need moral and psychological support; discrimination against women; retirement age and retirement problem, in general; in some villages there is a large number of children who have no papers and are not included in the registers, because of the difficulties faced by parents in the process and many other issues were discussed.

Regional forums are organized with the support of UN Programme "Women in Politics", implemented by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with East-Europe Foundation and the Centre "Partnership for Development", financed by the government of  Sweden. At the end of each forum will be formulated a summary of the discussions that will be submitted for review to the MPs from the Parliament.