Over 150,000 people from Gagauzia and Taraclia district benefit from better living conditions, following the implementation of the Support to agriculture and rural development in Gagauzia and Taraclia (SARD), funded by the European Union and implemented by UNDP. The results were presented yesterday in Comrat.
According to UNDP Moldova, at least one object of social infrastructure has been reconstructed in each of the 40 localities in Gagauzia and Taraclia, 63 small and medium enterprises have been launched or developed, over 180 jobs created. At the same time, seven inter-community waste management services were set up in the region and 105 rural development projects were carried out through the LEADER initiative.
Attending the event, Gintautas Baranauskas, deputy head of operations department of the EU Delegation to Moldova, said “successful projects under the programme will be sustainable due to the commitment of the population and the important financial contribution of regional and local public authorities.”
The 6.5 million euro-grant from the European Union in 2016-2018 contributed to the development of small business, social infrastructure rehabilitation, capacity building of local authorities and mobilizing communities in the region. “Building prosperous societies takes a long time, and UNDP is ready to continue to support all stakeholders in their efforts to meet people’s aspirations in Moldova, to advance national priorities and to achieve Sustainable Development Goals,” UNDP Resident Representative in Moldova Dafina Gercheva said.
Gagauz governor Irina Vlah said that SARD programme changed not only the living conditions but also the perception and attitude of people in the localities. “With the help of this program, community representatives identified local issues, cooperated with neighboring villages to solve them, involving residents in the decision-making process and in a short time managed to solve them successfully,” she said.
“The investment provided by the EU through the SARD programme represents half of Taraclia’s annual budget. The strategic partnership between the EU, UNDP and regional and local public authorities has materialized in decent jobs, new business development opportunities, quality public services, renovated infrastructure and stronger local communities. Now, the southern part of Moldova has new prospects for rural development,” Taraclia district head Chiril Tatarli said.
