Chicu: The UN Is One of Our Country’s Main Development Partners

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On October 12, Ion Chicu held a meeting of the Coordination Committee of the UN Framework Agreement on Partnership in Ensuring Sustainable Development of the Republic of Moldova for 2018-2022 with the UN Resident Representative in the Republic of Moldova Simon Springett. According to the Government’s Press Relations and Protocol Office, the event was attended by members of the Coordination Committee, as well as representatives of UN agencies in our country, moldpres.md reports. The meeting highlighted the progress made in 2019 in the context of the UN-Moldova Partnership Framework Agreement, joint activity plans for 2020, as well as plans to be implemented in the context of the Action Plan for COVID-19 Response and Socio-Economic Recovery. In his welcoming speech, the Prime Minister stressed the importance of cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Moldova and the UN family in various fields, aimed at ensuring well-being and respect for human rights, strengthening the education and health systems, promoting a circular economy, protecting the environment and building society. “The United Nations is one of the main development partners of our country. We express our gratitude for the valuable and long-term assistance provided to Moldova in moving forward on the path of modernization and implementation of the internal reform program adopted by the government,” Prime Minister Ion Chicu said. UN Coordinator Simon Springett reviewed the most important projects that made progress in 2019 through the combined efforts of UN agencies and the responsible Moldovan authorities. Priority areas in this regard include: governance, human rights and gender equality; sustainable, inclusive and equitable economic growth; environmental sustainability and environmental protection; inclusive and equitable social development, as well as providing support to finalize drafting of the First National Voluntary Report of the Republic of Moldova on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Representatives of UNDP, ILO, FAO, United Nations Population Fund presented plans for joint work in these areas for 2020 and an estimated budget for the control activities implementation. An important topic on the agenda was the UN Action Plan to Combat COVID-19 and Socio-Economic Recovery. Simon Springett clarified that the document contains 99 projects designed to provide immediate support, as well as a long-term socio-economic response and recovery from this pandemic crisis. The total cost of the Plan is over $ 100 million. The head of the Moldovan government thanked for the development of the Plan and expressed the full openness of the Cabinet of Ministers for effective cooperation in order to implement the projects specified in this document. “Thanks to this plan, the citizens of Moldova, especially the most socially vulnerable, will be able to get access to basic, especially to medical services. We remain committed to working with the UN to firmly contribute to the achievement of national priorities in the field of human rights, development and improvement of the living conditions of all citizens of our country,” the prime minister stressed. Ion Chicu also expressed gratitude to the Swedish and Swiss agencies for the financial contribution to the implementation of projects in the Republic of Moldova. Simon Springett said this partnership framework is strategic. The UN Resident Coordinator confirmed the interest of his organization in further developing fruitful cooperation with our country and thanked the government for effective cooperation in a number of areas.