Chisinau Municipality leads resilience efforts in Moldova

In 2021, Chisinau municipality was the first city in the Republic of Moldova to join the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction's - UNDRR flagship initiative, Making Cities Resilient 2030. Globally, over 1,500 cities have joined this initiative. This step confirmed the city's commitment to increasing its resilience and readiness for forthcoming challenges, encompassing disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.

During the initial phase in November 2020, Chisinau organized multiple workshops involving over 40 stakeholders, including representatives from telecommunications and energy providers. In these workshops, the local authorities utilized the Preliminary and Detailed Disaster Resilience Scorecard assessments, along with the Public Health System Resilience assessment scorecard.

Drawing upon conclusions and recommendations from these assessments, Chisinau municipality, in February 2023 initiated the development of a Resilience Strategy for the period of 2024-2030. Over the course of the remainder of the year, local authorities, in collaboration with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (ROECA), and with the financial support of USAID BHA and the Government of Japan, organized an interactive and participatory process involving diverse stakeholders, including central authorities, civil society, citizens, private sector, and representatives of international development partners such as the International Organization for Migration, the World Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. One of the key findings is that Chisinau will encounter challenges in the future due to the increasing urban population and the deteriorating technical condition of both, residential buildings and road infrastructure. Over 81% of Chisinau's population resides in apartment buildings that suffer from a lack of maintenance and insufficient investment over the past two decades. The last assessment of residential building conditions was conducted in 2005, revealing that approximately 83% of the 25,000 examined buildings exhibited significant wear and tear.

Overall, these discussions and workshops helped to better understand the needs and obstacles encountered by the local community, thereby identifying priority areas for resilience building: (1) strengthening governance; (2) enhancing critical infrastructure and (3) fostering societal resilience. 

The draft Strategy includes an action plan for the period 2024-2027, comprising objectives, actions, indicators, implementation costs, and timelines for achieving the actions. The document is expected to be adopted by June 2024. A mid-term evaluation review of the action plan is scheduled for the end of 2027. Continuation of the strategy is expected and highly regarded by the Municipality of Chisinau. Based on the evaluation results of the mid-term evaluation, a new action plan for the next three year period (2027-2030) could follow. 

The attainment of these important milestones over the last several years, position Chisinau to assume a leadership role in offering assistance and policy guidance to other cities and towns, both domestically and internationally. For example, within the framework of Making Cities Resilient 2030, Chisinau has already shared its experiences in resilience-building efforts with cities in Ukraine and Kazakhstan and has engaged in knowledge exchange with Portuguese municipalities. These direct links with other participating cities through exchange visits, experience sharing, and innovative project development should generate a continuous momentum for the successful implementation of all resilience measures.