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Guests of the event were Dafina Gercheva, UN Resident Coordinator / UNDP Resident Representative in Moldova; Ian McFarlane, UNFPA Representative in Moldova; Valentin Croitoru, head of the monitoring and evaluation department of the State Chancellery; and Irina Strajescu, Moldcell communication and brand manager. The Press Club meeting was moderated by Diana Raileanu, journalist for Radio Free Europe.
The discussion was launched in the context of adoption by the United Nations of Agenda 2030, which establishes a comprehensive framework for eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development. Some of the 17 goals are to promote welfare for everyone at all ages, ensure inclusive and fair education, create strong infrastructure, achieve gender equality etc.
Dafina Gercheva, UN Resident Coordinator / UNDP Resident Representative in Moldova, spoke about our country’s progress in fighting extreme poverty and significantly reducing mortality at birth. “Achievements were possible due to the country’s relatively high economic growth in recent years, but now, according to World Bank forecasts, an economic recession is expected and remittances have been reducing, and in this context, unless the government takes concrete measures, the overall situation could reverse,” Dafina Gercheva said.
At the same time, Moldova falls behind in ensuring gender equality and quality of public service. In her opinion, the achievement of the 17 sustainable development goals according to the UN 2030 Agenda would ensure the country’s development in three new dimensions: good and democratic governance, peace and security, human rights for all.
In the same context, Ian McFarlane, UNFPA Representative in Moldova, drew the journalists’ attention to the role that the media can play in achieving sustainable development goals by providing truthful and accurate information. “Development goals depend a lot not only on the state, but also on the involvement of citizens, private sector and mass media”, he concluded. Ian McFarlane appealed to journalists to investigate the problems that society faces, to conduct research and make its results public, in order to solve them. His appeal was supported by Dafina Gercheva, who urged the media to be more active and insistent in obtaining information. She gave the example of the population census, whose results have not yet been made public, and the media should address this issue.
In his turn, Valentin Croitoru, head of the monitoring and evaluation department of the State Chancellery, said that before 2009 very little emphasis was placed on monitoring and evaluation, as there was no clear mechanism for that, but now the State Chancellery has new instruments and every program of activities is monitored. “We will have to evaluate this strategy and, in the light of the 2030 Agenda sustainable development goals, we will include in the national development strategy new goals that can be localized and implemented in Moldova,” Valentin Croitoru said.
Irina Strajescu, Moldcell communication and brand manager, spoke about the role of the private sector in sustainable development through contributions to the budget. Also, in her opinion, it is necessary to create favorable conditions for business development. “The business community needs facilities in order to help improve social development,” she added.
The event took place with the support of the United Nations in Moldova.
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The Press Club was launched by the IJC in autumn 1995 in order to provide to journalists from various Moldovan media outlets the possibility to meet personalities from various fields of activity and to have better communication between journalists.
