Support to the Bureau for Reintegration Moldova

The overall objective of the project was to facilitate the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict by fostering the approximation process between the two sides. The project built the capacity of the Bureau for Reintegration (BfR) to undertake its core functions, thereby strengthening its strategic location and unique role within the Transnistrian settlement process. In doing so, the project supported the Bureau to raise the awareness and interest of the general public and political establishment with respect to the Transnistrian issue as well as foster the engagement of civil society and other stakeholders in the technical dialogue process. Recognition was also made of the need to mainstream reintegration efforts into existing Government of Moldova (GoM) strategic planning and policy making processes, contributing to the long term sustainability of the project.

The main components of this project were:

Component 1 – Capacity Building
Strengthening the institutional capacity of the BfR to perform its core functions and address the main institutional weaknesses by working to ensure that:

• The BfR had a clear Strategy, tactical planning and ability to support the development of detailed sector action plans for country reintegration
• The BfR was effectively and efficiently organised in line with the overall BfR strategic objectives
• Line ministries and other relevant institutions involved with the technical dialogue were adequately prepared for the working groups to meet effectively and achieve tangible results and
• Clear inter-institutional coordination mechanisms over the country reintegration policies were established and coordinated by the Bureau.

Component 2 – Communication and Awareness Raising
This component will aim to build the capacity of the BfR to manage communications and information concerning the Transnistrian issue, so that:

• The Bureau are abled to use public communication and information as an effective tool to support its wider strategic objectives
• Public awareness and interest in the Transnistrian issue is increased and
• Information is available to the public, civil servants and other stakeholders on the Transnistrian issue.

Component 3
Addressing capacity constraints to facilitate the effective integration of civil society groups and other relevant stakeholders into constructive and informative open dialogue in relation to socio-economic and technical reintegration matters. While it was not within the scope of this project to address specific capacity constraints within civil society groups or local administrations, it facilitated this process by strengthening the capacity of the BfR to integrate them more effectively into policy dialogue, thereby providing common ground and incentives for greater cooperation across the groups. As such, the overall objective of this Component was to ensure that civil society and other relevant stakeholders were consulted and involved in the technical dialogue process. This included ensuring that:

• Concerned civil society groups were identified on both banks of the Nistru/Dniester and mechanisms for crossriver cooperation were created and coordinated with the Bureau for Reintegration
• Concerned local administration entities were identified and a mechanism to monitor the implementation of the Development programme for localities in the Security Zone was created
• Information and consultation events were organised to bring together relevant civil society entities, local administration representatives and experts from the technical Working Groups