The SDC Director-General Manuel Sager and Deputy Director Elisabeth von Capeller, for the first time, visited the Republic of Moldova. This is a special year for SDC in Moldova: Switzerland and Moldova development cooperation marks 15 years. This is also the time when SDC scrutinizes potential strategies for a new cooperation program for Moldova. The present Cooperation Program focuses on three main domains -- water and sanitation, health, migration and development.
In order to gain a deeper understanding of the current situation in Moldova from both external and internal perspectives, the Swiss delegation met with heads of international missions that finance development projects in Moldova as well as with representatives of think tanks and civil society activists. Among the topics of discussions were the EU-Moldova accession agenda, minority issues, aid harmonization and development prospects of the country.
The Swiss executives went on several field trips to see a paediatric hospital in the capital of Chisinau and a youth-friendly health centre in the town of Cimislia, southern Moldova. They met with professionals and beneficiaries to understand how the Swiss support made a difference in people’s working conditions and lives, what challenges they were still facing and how well the SDC programs reflected the real needs. During a visit to Cioresti village, central Moldova, they witnessed how innovative solutions to water supply and sanitation problems in rural areas were implemented and managed at local level.
To discuss about the Moldovan Government’s development agenda and potentials for future cooperation, including in the breakaway Transnistrian region, the SDC delegation had meetings with the Moldovan prime minister, parliamentary officials, heads of ministries and agencies.
During the meeting with the Prime Minister Pavel Filip, the SDC Director reiterated Switzerland’s commitment to further assist the Moldovan Government in the implementation of projects designed to improve living conditions and promote democratic values. “It is important for the Moldovan Government to assist citizens living abroad and develop optimal solutions for people to stay in the country. In this respect, we see our role in contributing to ensuring a pluralist and more inclusive society,” Manuel Sager said.
Discussions with the minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration focused on the SDC assistance projects implemented over the last 15 years. The minister noted that the Swiss projects made a substantial contribution to the socioeconomic development of Moldova, in general, and to the implementation of the national strategies in the fields of health, migration and inclusion, in particular.
The three areas of the SDC support in migration and development – enhancing capacities of national and local authorities; linking migrants, authorities and the private sector; and providing integrated services to migrants, were talked over with specialists of the Bureau for Relations with Diaspora of the State Chancellery, the International Organization for Migration, the Association of Local Authorities and the SDC projects in migration.
Issues related to governance, pending reforms and accessibility of healthcare services were discussed with the minister of Health. The main topic of talks held with the ministers of Environment and Regional Development was the consolidation of the water and sanitation sector institutional framework.
The four-day working visit ended up with the participation of the SDC director-general and deputy director to an official reception attended by the SDC partners in Moldova and an open-air public event dedicated to the anniversary of the Swiss Development Cooperation in Moldova.
