Democratic Governance

UNDP Romania has taken a lead role in promoting decentralization and good governance from presidential to local levels, as well as in providing the tools for meeting EU integration requirements. UNDP has helped improve transparency, accountability, and service delivery -- key elements for the country’s transition to well-functioning and client-oriented institutions. It contributed to the formulation of development strategies and action plans that incorporated sustainable development principles; and trained public managers in international standards.

Strengthening citizen participation in the decision-making process at all levels has been of particular importance to Romania, where democratic institutions are still in the process of development, and civil society structures continue to need strong support and encouragement. To this effect, UNDP provided Romanian decision-makers with an National Human Development Report (NHDR) dedicated to local governance, an important operational instrument for municipal level service delivery. UNDP in all probability had activities in a wider range of municipalities than any other donor in Romania. Given the municipal-level engagement by UNDP Romania, many local officials became acquainted with the procedural requirements of external partners.

In terms of advocacy and capacity-building for the protection of the rights of vulnerable groups, UNDP supported policy formulation and implementation concerning:

• Combating human trafficking and protecting the victims.
• Elimination of gender and ethnic discrimination (with emphasis on the Roma community); 
• Protection of people living with, or at risk of, HIV/AIDS;
• Developing the capacity to cope with crisis situations.

Since Romania is now a new member of the EU, there are a number of emerging challenges in the area of good governance that may require UNDP’s continuous support. Taking into account the limited institutional and administrative capacity of the government as well as the insufficient absorption capacity of EU funds, especially at local level, UNDP is ideally positioned to facilitate Romania’s alignment with EU standards and rules, as well as to help implement and manage EU structural funds.