On 6 May 2025, the Congress launched a four-year project as part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova 2025-2028. Titled “Promoting Multilevel Dialogue, Open Government and Human Rights at Local Level in the Republic of Moldova”, it complements an ongoing project focused on enhancing civil participation in the country.

In her opening remarks, Congress Director Claudia Luciani emphasised the importance of a balanced multi-tier system of governance to enhance democracy and improve the quality of services delivered to citizens as enshrined in the European Charter for Local Self-Government. She also underlined the Congress’ support to Moldova’s integration path to the European Union.

On this occasion a first Joint Steering Committee meeting was organised with the participation of key national stakeholders, including the State Chancellery, the Parliament, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Equality Council, civil society organizations, local authorities, and the Congress of Local Authorities from Moldova.

As stated by the Ceslav Panico, People’s Advocate, “Human rights will help us build local communities, bringing cohesion, safety, and security to our society.”  Participants reaffirmed the need to further strengthen both institutional capacity at the local level and the broader human rights protection system in the country with a particular focus on the most vulnerable groups of citizens.

The new project aims to strengthen local governance by fostering multilevel dialogue, supporting public administration reform, promoting open government principles, and integrating a human rights-based approach into local decision-making processes. The Congress is currently implementing two projects: Promoting multilevel dialogue, open government and human rights at local level in the Republic of Moldova” and “Promoting civil participation in political decision making in the Republic of Moldova”. These project are implemented within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova 2025-2028.