Local development model involving migrants will be replicated in the entire country

The list of 15 beneficiary localities was approved on July 25, 2017. They were selected based on an open competition and had to meet several criteria, including a population of more than 3,500 inhabitants and be part of a district previously not covered by MiDL project. Overall, 35 local public authorities applied for this competition.

“Migration and Local Development Project has already set a precedent for encouraging cooperation of migrants and local public authorities for local development in Moldova. The first phase of the project was particularly rewarding for those 25 target localities, but also for Moldova in general. Our goal is to extend this experience to all districts of the country in order to bring the potential of people who left abroad back to their home communities”, mentioned Valentin Guznac, Deputy Secretary General of the State Chancellery of the Government of the Republic of Moldova.

The budget for the second phase of the Migration and Local Development project is over USD 1.4 million. The project shall be implemented by the end of 2018.

“We will continue to apply innovative approaches for attracting migrants and expand volunteering schemes at the local level, in order to bring quality services closer to the people and strengthen local governance”, mentioned Stefan Liller, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP Moldova.

Those 15 selected localities shall work on building a sustainable partnership between local governments and migrants. More specifically, they will:

• create hometown associations;
• elaborate local economic development strategies involving migrants;
• identify local priorities and implement local development projects together with migrants;
• ensure transparency and communication among all concerned stakeholders.

At the same time, the 25 localities that were part of the first phase of the MiDL project will continue improving their cooperation with migrants by selecting hometown ambassadors in various countries of the world, thus creating a network of the most active natives. At the same time, they shall continue implementing local development projects involving migrants.

Hence, as a result of the Migration and Local Development Project, natives including those who left abroad will contribute to improving living standards in 11 towns and 29 villages from Moldova.