Ministry of Justice to receive support from US Government and UNDP Moldova to promote justice sector reform
13 September 2023, Chisinau – The Ministry of Justice will strengthen its institutional and operational capacities to fulfil its mandate and promote justice sector reform in line with best practices and European standards. The support will be provided under the project “Strengthening the Capacity of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Moldova to Achieve the Goal of Justice Reform”, with a budget of $820,000 from the US Government, through the Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Section.
“Justice sector reform is one of the most important commitments that the Republic of Moldova has undertaken with the achievement of EU candidate country status. The Ministry of Justice does not have sufficient capacity to successfully implement this reform on its own and to keep up to date on all the actions and measures that are being implemented or are forthcoming. It requires strengthened efforts, including the support and expertise of development partners,” said Minister of Justice Veronica Mihailov-Moraru at the signing ceremony.
“We are grateful to the US Government, which, through UNDP Moldova, is providing us with support to facilitate access to justice for people from vulnerable groups, to digitize certain justice processes, to create the necessary infrastructure for people with disabilities. We also greatly appreciate the support to be given to us, because we have a lot to do in a rather short period of time”, the minister added.
The project will help the ministry to set up an internal system for coordination, communication and monitoring of the implementation of the justice sector reform strategy. This will contribute to greater credibility and support for reform.
Also as part of the project, the Ministry of Justice will strengthen its cyber security to protect data and information when communicating internally and externally. An audit will be carried out, under which the Ministry will be equipped with tools and equipment and staff will be trained.
“We, UNDP Moldova and the US Government are committed to providing support to the Ministry of Justice to become more resilient and inclusive and to fulfill its justice reform mandate. This new project we are launching today will contribute to the core elements of reform: strengthening the cyber sector, increasing accessibility and better institutional coordination. All this will lead to greater transparency, integrity and efficiency of this important public institution. Strong institutions are at the heart of SDG 16, which is a cornerstone of the sustainable development agenda,” said Daniela Gasparikova, UNDP Resident Representative in Moldova.
Another focus of the project will be to make the Ministry of Justice more accessible. Using a “user-safari” approach, with the involvement of people with disabilities, accessibility experts and ministry officials in the decision making process for the redesign of the space, technical solutions will be co-created and implemented to facilitate access to the ministry building.
The project runs until February 2025 and will be implemented by UNDP Moldova.
