Year-end results of State Chancellery, new Government Center

Chisinau, Nov. 23 /MOLDPRES/- The formation and coordination of the single center for the management of the refugee crisis, European integration, the preparation of Government decisions and the organization of meetings, the promotion of human rights and cooperation with civil society, strategic planning, reforming the public administration, strengthening the management of the public function, supporting the diaspora and involving citizens from Moldova in the economic, social and cultural development of the country were the most important areas of the State Chancellery during this year, the government's communication and protocol department has reported.

"In 2022, the State Chancellery faced two major challenges. First was Russia's war against Ukraine, the consequences of which our country felt and continues to feel in terms of energy, socio-economic and humanitarian. And with the completion of the questionnaire for the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union and obtaining the status of a candidate country, the State Chancellery has multilaterally redirected its efforts to ensure the harmonization of national legislation with that of the EU and to redefine the structure of the central administration so that we are ready for the accession process'', General Secretary of the Government Dumitru Udrea said.

Aid for refugees of Ukraine and creation of the national crisis response mechanism

Immediately after the start of Russia's war in Ukraine, on February 28, the unique Refugee Crisis Management Center was created at the Government, and the State Chancellery team got involved to provide immediate help to refugees of Ukraine. The Secretary General of the Government coordinated the activity of the center and, together with all the ministries involved, operationalized the center, establishing the national management mechanism and the creation of sectoral teams regarding access to the border, transport, food, accommodation, legal assistance, but also the coordination of external and humanitarian assistance that strengthened the Government's response to the crisis. Also, the civic initiative Moldova for Peace was developed on the Government's platform, and the volunteers established their activity center in the Government House.

Thus, in February-March, about 50 thousand refugees from Ukraine were temporarily accommodated in the more than 100 authorized placement centers and emergency shelters, and more than 60,000 refugees were redirected by air, land and rail in Romania and other destinations such as Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Israel, Austria, Turkey and Bulgaria. The Green Line 0 800 800 11 was provided, which during this period processed around 9,000 calls. Centers were created to collect aid from citizens and economic agents, including from the diaspora. Also, the dopomoga.gov.md information platform was launched, accessed by over 132 thousand unique visitors in March 2022. And last but not least, the single treasury account at the Ministry of Finance was opened to receive financial donations.

Harmonized legislation and authorities prepared for the accession process of the Republic of Moldova to the EU

This spring Moldova took an extremely important step for its European future. Together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, the State Chancellery coordinated the process of elaboration by the national authorities of the EU accession Questionnaire. Furthermore, the Chancellery was responsible for filling out the questionnaire in the chapters on public service management, protection of human rights, organization and functioning of public administration, coordination and planning of priorities, the mechanism for drafting Government normative acts and coordinating the process of carrying out compatibility expertise with EU legislation.

Also, the State Chancellery contributed essentially to the preparation of the EU accession process by drafting the government decision on the creation of the institutional framework and the coordination mechanism of the preparation process for EU accession. A new institutional architecture responsible for the European integration process was created, namely policy coordination and European integration directorates in each ministry and key government authorities, advisors for European integration and deputy general secretaries of ministries for European integration.

In 2022, the Chancellery team had the mission to ensure the compatibility of national legislation with EU legislation. Therefore, in accordance with the commitments assumed by our country through the Association Agreement and other bilateral agreements concluded with the EU, 83 EU legal acts were implemented in national legislation, 834 draft acts were evaluated from the perspective of compatibility with the EU acquis for examination in the meeting of the General Secretaries of the ministries, and another 27 draft normative acts, elaborated by members of the Parliament, were improved and ensured compatibility with EU legislation.

National public policies and the strategic vision of the Government

This year, the State Chancellery coordinated the elaboration of the European Moldova 2030 National Development Strategy, approved by the Government on September 23 and by Parliament, in its final reading, on November 17. Also, the National Development Plan for 2023-2025, the main medium-term public policy document, is at the final stage of finalization and adoption, as is the Government's Action Plan for next year. And the process of setting up the national framework for monitoring the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda has been finalized.

Also in 2022, the activity of the Interministerial Committee for Strategic Planning was relaunched, a decision-making platform for high-level coordination regarding public policy priorities and external assistance.

23 concepts of future strategies and programs, 6 projects of sectoral strategies in the fields of agriculture, education, tourism, environment, internal affairs and 15 projects of national programs targeting most areas of intervention of the Government were expertized. The State Chancellery team developed 5 methodological guides and organized 15 training sessions in the field of strategic planning, attended by about 500 civil servants.

Public administration reform, the basic pillar in the EU accession process

A professional public administration capable of achieving the European integration of the Republic of Moldova was one of the important objectives of the State Chancellery this year. Together with SIGMA (EU/OECD) experts, the Unified Evaluation Methodology of public authorities was developed, based on which all ministries passed the functional evaluation, and 11 of them will be reorganized by the end of this year. And the State Chancellery was reorganized to become a real "Government Center". Also, on the platform of the State Chancellery, more than 50 proposals for institutional reorganization were examined, including the National Social Insurance House, the Investment Agency, the Entrepreneurship Development Organization, the State Labor Inspectorate, etc.

The reform of the public administration will be carried out at the central level, as well as at the local level, and the Concept of the Public Administration Reform Strategy for 2023-2030 has been developed and public consultations have been started. The joint commission for decentralization has resumed its activity after more than 6 years, and within the sectoral working groups for decentralization, all decisions will be consulted and will be taken by mutual agreement with the representatives of local authorities.

More professional civil servants, with integrity and motivated to increase their performance in the European integration process of our country

For this purpose, this year, through Law No37/2022, systemic improvements were ensured in the legislation regarding the local public administration, the public office and the status of the civil servant, the status of the staff in the office of persons with positions of public dignity, etc. By Government decision No116/2022, amendments were made to set the way of organizing the competition for the occupation of the public management position in institutions subordinate to ministries and other administrative authorities. Also, after several years of insistence by the civil society and the development partners, the draft of the Government's decision was developed for the establishment of new positions and ensuring gender equality in the title of the positions.

Thanks to a strategic partnership with the National Institute of Administration from Romania, 350 civil servants from Moldova have free access to webinars and specialized training programs in the field of European policies, European project management, leadership, human rights.

Promotion of human rights and cooperation with civil society

A major result in this area was the drafting and approval of the Framework Regulation on the non-reimbursable financing mechanism for the projects of non-commercial organizations. For the first time in the Republic of Moldova, civil society organizations will be able to access money from the public budget to carry out their initiatives together with the central and local authorities. Also, the new framework regulation on the organization of permanent consultative platforms at the level of central public authorities will help civil society representatives to get more involved in the process of drafting and promoting public policies.

During the 40th session of the Working Group of the Universal Periodic Review (UPU) of the United Nations, the National Report on the situation of human rights in our country was presented. The National Report on the implementation of the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on access to official documents was worked out and approved this year.

The relationship with the diaspora and its participation in the economic, social and cultural life of the country

The Diaspora Relations Office continued to support citizens of the Republic of Moldova from abroad and helped migrants who returned home. The Diaspora Engagement Hub grant program provided funding for 13 projects, 12 of which from the state budget, and a new sub-program to support cultural and educational activities in the diaspora, aimed at associations and educational centers, was established with a total value of 600,000 lei. The winning projects obtained grants intended for young people from the diaspora (150,000 lei), innovation (100,000 lei) and supporting the professional return of the diaspora (80,000 lei). This year, the budget of the DAR 1+3 program was doubled (from 5 million to 10 million lei), which resulted in the completion of 41 projects compared to 21 last year.

The project Development of the entrepreneurial capacities of the diaspora of the Republic of Moldova (D.O.M.D.E 2) started its second stage of implementation, financed by the Council of Europe and the Government of Italy, with a total budget of almost 200,000 euros. And another extremely important initiative was the drafting of the National Program to stimulate returns and facilitate the (re)integration of citizens of the Republic of Moldova involved in the migration process for 2023-2027.

"The team of civil servants of the State Chancellery contributed this year to the improvement of government processes, including in the context of European integration, intervened to help our neighbors at war, cooperated with civil society and development partners, but also put their shoulder to the European transformation of state institutions'', Dumitru Udrea said.

In January - November 2022, the State Chancellery prepared and organized 46 meetings of the Government, four of which were held in Cahul, Balti, Ungheni and Edineț. In total, around 880 acts of the Government were approved. The State Chancellery has initiated 50 draft normative acts of which 31 have been approved, and the others are under examination, approval and finalization. At the same time, during this time, 48 meetings of the general secretaries of the ministries were organized and held, where 502 draft acts of the Government were examined.

Photo: Government