Women Mayors from Moldova Discover the “Recipe for Success” in Managing Localities

Nearly 30 women mayors, at their first or third mandate, arrived in two villages from Cahul district - Slobozia Mare and Văleni.

The first stop was in Slobozia Mare, where Valentina Carastan, the mayor at her third mandate, talked about how she managed to change the community`s face that she runs for several years. “I try to show to my colleagues that women can and must be involved in the development of the village. That's why it's very important for a woman mayor to have a good team of councilors, who would work with her shoulder to shoulder. And I hope that this exchange visit will help them to understand that everything is possible, you just need to know the “recipe for success” in managing and growing the village,” remarked Carastan.

And the “recipe for success”, according to her, lies in constant communication with residents and desire to guide them in their activities, meant to develop the village. “The watchword must be activism and desire to use local resources and capabilities,” said the mayor of the Slobozia Mare village.

Valentina Carastan made a retrospective on the most valuable projects in the village. Olga Rotaru, the director of kindergarten, spoke about friendship bridges launched with similar institutions from Romania, and, namely, about partnering with four kindergartens from Galați city. The Palace of Culture has been also on the visited cultural sights. Nicolae Arbuz, the director of the institution, made a presentation of the cultural exchange on both sides of the Prut river. Also, the participants visited the Museum of History and Ethnography from the village, which is considered “the jewel” of the Slobozia Mare.

Tatiana Panfili, women mayor at the first mandate in Băiuş village, Leova district, was impressed by the House of Culture activities, wishing such an active cultural life in her village also. “I found the information presented here extremely useful and inspired me to implement more projects to a better life for the 1,500 residents of Băiuş. And firsts on the to-do-list is setting fees for waste collection and setting a playground for children”, said Tatiana.

The study visit continued in the village of the “grandmother who beats the drum” or, more precisely, in Văleni village, which is famous also for its Natural Reservation “Lower Prut”. The participants made the tour of the Văleni village, visited a traditional peasant house and the Museum of Bread, which, meanwhile, became the “business card” of the village.

Silvia Ştirbeţ, mayor of the Văleni village, said that this day is a day for sharing good practices, good achievements. “Thanks to this exchange, we take what is good, so to do the same in our localities, for the good of those who have elected us to this position. And our motivation is the desire to change things for the better in our rural localities, which have large weights and are left always in the lurch,” Silvia Ştirbeţ argued.

After being gone abroad for 10 years in search for a better life, the mayor of Valeni returned home to help the village to grow and become a prosperous one throughout the country. “I was the first female mayor of the village, which was an odd thing for our villagers. But after I implemented European projects, I have attracted investments to the village, everything started to go smoothly. Our institutions have begun to thrive, citizens became more optimistic and don’t have that strange gaze towards a woman mayor anymore,” says Silvia Ştirbeţ.

Moreover, her “recipe for the success” lies in involving as many local citizens in various activities to encourage them to open businesses in the village, establishing a good partnership with the local entrepreneurs, so as to develop a team spirit in the community. “Therefore, here, at home, I don`t miss anything,” points out Silvia Știrbeț.

Valentina Grosu, mayor of the Manolesti village, Ungheni district, argues that she learned a lot during this exchange, which was above her expectations, and that from now on she will pay more attention to cultural life in her village. “I realized that we have also beautiful places and I am thinking to focus more on tourism development in my village,” confessed the mayor.

The study visit was organized by the Congress of Local Authorities in Moldova, with the support of UN Programme "Women in Politics", which is implemented by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with East-Europe Foundation and Center "Partnership for Development", financially supported by the government of Sweden.