Acted arrived in Moldova in February 2022, a few hours after the large-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. While Acted was initially focused on responding to the needs of Ukrainian refugees, it slowly came to extend its programming to support civil society organisations (CSOs) in Moldova, especially those implementing community-based protection, disaster risk management programmes, and improving the resilience of the local population.
At the beginning of 2023, the STRIVE Consortium, composed of international NGOs Acted, REACH (an initiative of Acted and IMPACT Initiatives) and Libraries Without Borders (BSF) launched a two-year project aiming to strengthen the preparedness and resilience of communities in the Anenii Noi raion against risks like heat waves, drought, soil erosion, air pollution, other environmental and economic stressors, influx of refugees, etc. This project is funded by Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and co-funded by USAID.
By developing 26 Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) strategies, establishing a Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) Coordination forum, and conducting training for local authorities and CSOs, the project aims to enhance disaster response in Anenii Noi Raion. This initiative falls within the Grassroots Organization Capacity Assessment (GOCA), a training implemented by Acted’s DRR team for CSOs to improve their disaster response capabilities.
In November 2023, the Acted Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) team organised a transformative training initiative for 40 Moldovan CSOs, working in crucial sectors like Social Inclusion, Gender-Based Violence, Environmental Protection, Media, and Women Empowerment. The training was divided into three days. The participants gained newfound knowledge in critical areas such as preparing for future leadership, adept management, and strategic planning. An important aspect of the training was succession planning and strategic development of the next generation for key roles. The program concluded with a survey, revealing an impressive 36 out of 41 participants expressing satisfaction. Their newfound knowledge encompassed critical areas such as preparing for future leadership, adept management, and strategic planning. The engaging facets of the program, including interactive group activities and dynamic video presentations, were particularly lauded for injecting vibrancy into the training experience. |
Cristina is the President of the Constantin Mimi Foundation. This organisation, created in 2016, implements rural development through the creation of tourism policies in the villages around Mimi Castle. She decided to attend the training to strengthen her existing skills and develop new ones. Another important reason for Cristina was networking, as she wanted to meet other people in the same field.
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We do these things because we understand that village life can only be attractive if people and entrepreneurs have activities that offer them a high and pleasant quality of life.
The Constantin Mimi Foundation is currently developing a tourist route that will link 4 villages together through the creation of 100 km of cycling and walking trails. Working with the local public authorities and councils, the Foundation aims to underline the importance of tourism development plans, with allocated budgets and specific activities.
The most important thing Cristina’s team took away from this training was networking to help build better communication among CSOs, as well as tools to follow up on plans, such as Organisational Structure, Management and leadership, Strategic, Operational and Succession Planning.
I have met many people who run interesting projects for young people and women, which fits in well with what we are doing, because tourism development is dominated by women and young workers. I have learned some new working principles and models that we will be able to implement later, including in the area of building a strategy, but also controlling it along the way.
This first training session provided Moldovan Civil Society Organisations with the necessary knowledge to strengthen their organisations. Future trainings will focus on financial management, project management, external relations and Disaster Risk Reduction. |