Capacity building of Moldovan civil society organisations in the field of central and local public budgets

In the period July-August 2023, 15 civil society organizations, from the 5 development regions of the country, participating in the “Civil Society for European Integration” project, benefited from 4 thematic trainings related to the analysis of budget expenditures in various fields: economic, justice and how the Europeanization agenda is correlated with the strategic planning framework for the budget process. The central subjects on which the training focused were: the main concepts regarding civic participation in the budget process at the local and central level, the basic tools in budget monitoring, the role of advocacy activities, the definition, deciphering and monitoring of budget expenditures and how the correlation takes place the budgetary process with the Europeanization agenda. The participants had the opportunity to practice, together with the experts in the field, the implementation of the data analysis tools on the spending data from various fields and analysed practical case studies.

The aim of the trainings is to strengthen the capacities of CSOs to support and promote the alignment of budget priorities with the Europeanisation agenda at the national and local level, but also to increase their involvement in decision-making processes.

In the coming months, CSOs involved in the project will continue to benefit from expert mentoring to monitor public budgets at the central and local level and will develop independent analyses of local and state budgets, including financial resources received from development partners, with a particular focus on local and regional infrastructure projects, social services, public services and other relevant projects, contributing to ensuring a transparent, efficient budget process that is aligned with the priorities of the association agenda.

The trainings took place within the “Civil Society for European Integration” Project, financed by the European Union and co-financed by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, which is implemented by the Independent Think Tank Expert-Grup, as the lead partner, in partnership with the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE), AO Institutum Virtutes Civilis (IVC) and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES).