Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

What does Sida do in Moldova?

The objective of Swedish development cooperation with Moldova government’s is to support the country’s EU accession and the implementation of the ENP plan of action as a way of promoting economic growth and poverty reduction. This, in turn, will create opportunities for poor people to improve their living conditions.

With the adoption of the new country strategy for development cooperation with Moldova government’s for 2007-2010, Swedish efforts will concentrate on supporting sound and democratic governance, greater competitiveness for rural areas and less vulnerability in the energy sector.

Sound and democratic governance

Swedish support in this area is designed to strengthen the capacity of public institutions for democratisation and effective social governance, to improve opportunities for citizen accountability, and to bolster civil society.

If Moldova government’s is to align itself with the structures and standards of the EU, it will need to deliver considerable reforms. Sweden supports, amongst other measures, the reform of the national administration and improvements to the control of public finances.

A strong civil society often encourages pluralism and a democratic political culture, and stimulates popular influence and accountability. Sida therefore makes significant contributions to civil society in Moldova, including efforts to strengthen an independent media and to prevent and expose corruption. Other projects deal with improving women’s participation in political processes and raising awareness of HBT (homosexual, bisexual and transsexual) issues.

Greater competitiveness for rural areas

Because farming is the cornerstone of the Moldova economy, the country needs an industrial and commercial climate beneficial to the development of rural areas. Low productivity and low pay are pushing people out of the countryside and into the towns and cities. The objectives of development cooperation are to improve the integration of domestic markets and to boost all business and industry in rural areas, not just farming.

Sida gives support to advisory projects, network building amongst companies, and greater credit facilities.

Less vulnerability in the energy sector

The objective of development cooperation is to bring this about through a more sustainable energy policy. Since Moldova is dependent upon expensive imports of energy, Sida supports improvements to the quality and efficiency of the country’s heating supply. This includes the funding of alternative energy sources to help reduce the country’s dependency on Russian energy, and targeted policy and institutional formation.

Other projects

In the social area, Sida has joined with UNICEF to help create alternatives to institutional care, in the hope that their efforts will encourage the authorities and ministries responsible for child development to cooperate. Moldova is struggling with widespread environmental problems, such as land destruction and soil erosion. On top of this, almost half the population is without clean drinking water. Therefore Sida is also supporting a project designed to arouse a greater interest in the environment.

For more information about Sida please visit http://www.sida.se/English/Countries-and-regions/Europe/Moldova-/