What’s Next in the Struggle Against Corruption in Moldova?

The experiences and lessons learned by the media, civil society, and public officials from carrying out the anti-corruption activities of Moldova’s $24.7 million Threshold Country Plan are up for discussion What challenges have they faced?  What needs to be done in the future to reduce corruption in Moldova?  These and other related issues are the topics of the conference entitled "Civil Society and Media Against Corruption in Moldova: What’s next?" The conference is sponsored by the Strengthening Civil Society Monitoring Capacity in Moldova (SCSMCM) Program which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development. The conference took place on February 27 from 9:00 to 14:00 at the Leogrand Hotel Convention Centre.  Over the course of the day, the Program’s staff and partner organizations highlighted SCSMCM achievements and discussed the future of anti-corruption reform in a series of presentations, panel discussions, and workshops. Since 2007, the SCSMCM Program has worked to strengthen non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and mass media to support public scrutiny of government performance.  Such scrutiny improves transparency and motivates government to make real anticorruption reforms.  Through an innovative series of grants, training programs, and technical assistance, over 30 Moldovan NGOs and media outlets and more than 70 investigative journalists have gained the resources and capacity they need to continue the fight against corruption. The Program’s impact reaches beyond organizations and journalists however.  Through the unprecedented National Anti-Corruption Public Awareness Campaign hundreds of thousands of Moldovans are now better informed about the nature of corruption and how they can stop it.  Already, surveys indicate almost a 10 % decrease in the population’s readiness to pay bribes.  The number of Moldovans taking action and reporting corruption cases has almost doubled.  The focus of the Conference is to review these achievements and define what steps civil society and media need to take next in order to build on these successes. For more information about the conference, please contact the Academy for Educational Development – Moldova via telephone: (22) 23-30-00, e-mail: office@ade.md, or website: (www.ade.md).   ### The SCSMCM Program is implemented by the Academy for Educational Development (AED), with technical assistance from the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX).  The Program is funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and managed by the U.S.  Agency for International Development (USAID) within the framework of the Threshold Country Program (TCP) for Moldova. With funding from the United States Government, USAID provides economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 100 countries to provide a better future for all.