Women Mayors from Moldova Learn How to Transform (Forgotten) Villages into a Dream

Whether they are at their first mandate, at the third or even at the sixth, women mayors from Moldova continue to learn day-by-day how to modernize and transform the communities they run into enviable places. And recently, 25 women mayors, from the central and southern part of the country, participated in a study tour to villages Palanca and Festelita, from Stefan Voda district, to see new models of best practice in communities` administration.

The study visit started at the village hall from Palanca, where participants found out about the current projects carried out, but also examples of good practices in the provision of public services. Ludmila Costenco, head of the public library, presented the project Novateca, thanks to which have been developed several information services for residents of the village. The president of the public association "Icar-Dedal", Svetlana Turuta, said about provision of social services for children from disadvantaged families. Subsequently, it was mentioned about the mechanism through which are provided public services to residents, such as water supply, street lighting and sanitation of the village.

After several years in journalism, then in public service, from 2015 Rodica Rusu is a woman mayor at first mandate in Telita village, Anenii Noi district. She came in local public administration to modernize her native community, her electoral programme relying on three "i" - infrastructure, industrialization, informatization – and she believes that this study visit is a capacity and ideas mobilization which will help her to bring the mission to the end. "During these visits, we learn how to implement successful projects with less money, but also how to mobilize the community. Each of us has some ideas, but maybe we don’t have enough courage, as we do not know which way is best. And here comes our colleague from Palanca, who managed on a specific segment and from which we draw inspiration,” Rodica Rusu said.

Moreover, the woman mayor argues that in the result of this exchange of experience, will appear so many collaborative projects or ideas of inter-community cultural activities. "I have been in many other exchanges abroad, but later I understood that it is more productive to go to places from our country, to our colleagues, because we are actually in the same legal framework, in the same reality and with the same potential," the mayor added.

Tatiana Gorgoz is a woman mayor at her fourth mandate in Sarata Noua village, Leova district. And although she has over 12 years of experience in local public administration, she recognizes that these visits are extremely useful for her. "When I visit other places, I see how my colleagues resolved the problems I'm facing myself every day and I am feeling inspired from these best practices. But mostly I like how many of them do some grandiose things with minimal resources, thing that I would like to do also for my 1,700 inhabitants from Sarata Noua village," said Tatiana Gorgoz.

The woman mayor Ludmila Ceaglac, who is a mayor at her sixth mandate, in Calfa village, also Anenii Noi district, says that every day she has something new to learn. “Any study visit brings added value to my work and I am always looking for new sources and ideas, especially now, when our budgets are quite tight," pointed out the mayor.

And the results of this study visit will not be awaited too much. Rodica Rusu was impressed by the communion and work with non-governmental associations, by the work with children in disadvantaged situations, and also by the library and clubs of discussion and training. "I have noted many ideas and the first thing I want to do is put in motion a training for adults and the elderly in information technologies and agriculture, the same as in Palanca," says the woman mayor Rusu.

And the woman mayor from Ceaglac has some homework, wishing for civil society from Calfa be as active and involved as in Palanca. "I saw an active population and civil society with a high degree of responsibility, fact which can be developed in any place, including in mine. Therefore, I would like that civil society representatives from Palanca to make an exchange of experience for those from Calfa village," stated Ludmila Ceaglac.

The host of the study visit, woman mayor Larisa Voloh, who is on her third mandate, argues that Moldova has places that can be showed, reason for which she welcomes these exchanges and is pleased that her village was one of the visited communities by the women mayors from across the country. "We are the change and we need to mobilize ourselves to develop our localities. I am also open for those who ask me an advice or an opinion, because that will give us the strength to surmount all difficulties", said Larisa Voloh, woman mayor of Palanca.

Also, the participants found and another impressive village of Stefan Voda - Festelita, which is a town with millennial traditions kept intact, but which also has grown dramatically in recent years. And how this development took place, what potential has the village and how they overcome all vicissitudes - or even the financial ones – spoke the mayor of Festelita village, Nicolae Tudoreanu, who runs it for the fourth mandate.

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 Swedish government.