Several civil society organizations, journalists, experts and independent monitors from the Republic of Moldova will strengthen their efforts to involve and monitor public procurement by founding the Coalition of monitors in public procurement. In this respect, on June 29, the first meeting to establish the Coalition took place. It is created by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, jointly with the Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF) from the USA, as part of Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement in Moldova project, which aims to support reforms in the field of procurement public in Moldova.

The Coalition of monitors in public procurement will carry out its activity for a minimum of 12 months (regulated by its own strategy and Organization and Operation Regulation), with the possibility of continuation if the members are interested.

"The Coalition's mission is to consolidate and coordinate the efforts of civil society that monitors public procurement in the process of participating in the dialogue with public authorities. The purpose of the Coalition is to ensure a synergy of the efforts of the civil society that monitors public procurement in identifying problems and proposing solutions to remedy them to the competent public authorities. The aim of these efforts is to influence public policies, increase the transparency and integrity of public procurement, ensure efficiency in the use of public money, minimize the risks of public authorities, and finally, provide citizens with quality public goods, works and services", said Carolina Ungureanu, Deputy director IDIS Viitorul and the Project manager.

For his part, Hady Fink, the Project director from the PTF, emphasized "We very much hope that the Monitoring Coalition will represent a cornerstone in building a robust infrastructure for monitoring public procurement in the Republic of Moldova. The coalition will develop the capacities of civil society through the exchange of experience and will ensure that the findings and recommendations from the monitoring activities contribute to the improvement of the public procurement system".

"The coalition established today is a platform to make our voices heard, to be stronger and to have a greater impact on increasing the transparency and integrity of the public procurement sector. The coalition remains open to other organizations and monitors who want to join our efforts," urged Diana Enachi, Project coordinator and public procurement expert at IDIS "Viitorul".

And for the regulation of public procurement monitoring efforts, including through the exchange of monitoring practices and techniques, the members will be guided by the Coalition Strategy, but also by its Organization and Operation Regulations. The regulation defines the mission, purpose and objectives of the Coalition, among which we can mention: ensuring a participative and inclusive discussion environment, with permanent/systematic debates on issues in the field of public procurement; developing a common vision of civil society on the priorities and main directions of development of the national public procurement system; influencing the decision-making process in the field of public procurement, through active and transparent involvement in the dialogue with regulatory authorities; participation in the elaboration of public policies in the field of public procurement, monitoring and evaluation of their implementation; studying and discussing the relevant European and international experience in the field of public procurement; promoting transparency in the activity of public authorities with attributions in the field of public procurement; elaboration of studies, analyses, researches and reports in the field of public procurement; participation in training and education actions in the field of public procurement and their monitoring, etc.

"We aim to contribute to the transparency of public procurement and to come up with recommendations for improving procurement processes at all stages of implementation", Vadim Ţurcan, the associate expert of IDIS Viitorul, emphasized in this regard.

The members of the Coalition are representatives of civil society organizations, investigative journalists, independent monitors, experts and other people interested in public procurement monitoring. They will receive support from the IDIS Viitorul team and PTF to apply in a consolidated way the expertise, experience, advocacy campaigns and recommendations formulated in order to improve public procurement in Moldova.

  "We will have the opportunity to collaborate more and we will be a strong platform that will be able to submit policy proposals, initiate discussions with decision-makers and authorities to contribute to the improvement of the legal framework and the way in which the legal provisions in the field of public procurement are executed", is the opinion of Olga Diaconu, Project Coordinator within the Association for Efficient and Responsible Governance AGER.

Valeriu Rusu, the Executive Director of the Habitat Association mentioned "We want to join our efforts so that the taxpayers' public money is used in a positive trend, a fact that will contribute to the development of our localities".

For her part, Lilia Zaharia, director of Transparency International Moldova, emphasized the importance of the partnership for procurement integrity: "I am glad that you have this initiative to coagulate civil society in the field of procurement, highlight, call out and combat illegalities in the field."

And Dumitru Cimpoeş, president of the Feedback Association from Basarabeasca, said "The authorities are not as transparent as we think, and we do not know how public money is really spent. For this reason, we are motivated to monitor public procurement to ensure local transparency".

 "The educational field is very affected by corruption and at the country level we see a negative trend in the use of money, not taking priority needs into account. Through the Coalition, we will join our efforts and maybe we will be able to stop this trend", wants Ala Revenco, president of the Părinţi Solidari Association,

"I want to contribute through my knowledge and experience to the consolidation of the integrity of public procurement for greater transparency, for the efficiency of public money, the prevention of fraud and corruption in public procurement", added the independent monitor, Ion Bulmaga.

Also, within the Coalition, various materials should be encouraged (articles on public procurement monitoring, best practices, results of recommendations proposed to public authorities in the field, etc.), and some materials will be remunerated. The materials developed and the recommendations formulated by the members of the Coalition will later be publicly communicated and transmitted to the decision-makers, thus contributing to the improvement of legislation, policies and practices in the sector.

For more information, please contact the project's Press Officer, Ana-Maria Veveriță, at ana.veverita@viitorul.org or veverita.maria@gmail.com or (022) 221844.

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The Increasing the Integrity of Public Procurement project is implemented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul, in partnership with Partnership for Transparency. The project aims to support public procurement reforms in Moldova that will increase transparency and fairness in public procurement by empowering citizens to hold relevant institutions accountable.

IDIS Viitorul is an independent think tank established in 1993 that combines social, political, and economic research with strong advocacy components. The institution conducts applied monitoring research in several areas: economics, social policy, EU policies, regional development, security, and foreign policy risks.

Partnership for Transparency (PTF) is based in Washington, DC and its mission is to promote innovative civil society-led approaches to improve governance, increase transparency, promote the rule of law, and reduce corruption in developing and emerging countries. Since 2000, PTF has supported over 250 projects aimed at promoting NGO involvement in decisions, processes, and laws that enforce transparency and accountability in public procurement.