Action plan – Leova, Republic of Moldova, 2025 – 2027

At-a-Glance

Duration

Nov 2027

Date Submitted

2nd October 2025

Foreword(s)

At a time when trust in democratic institutions is being tested across the region and globally, Leova chooses to lead by example. Through our OGP Local membership, we commit to making transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More, accountability, and citizen participationAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, citizen participation occurs when “governments seek to mobilize citizens to engage in public debate, provide input, and make contributions that lead to m... More the pillars of local governance.

The voluntary amalgamation of Leova with neighboring communities is more than administrative reform. It is a unique opportunity to build stronger, more inclusive governance where citizens from all localities shape priorities and decisions that affect their lives. We aim to turn the challenges of amalgamation into opportunities for innovation, cooperation, and shared progress.

Our ambitionAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should “stretch government practice beyond its current baseline with respect to key areas of open government.” Ambition captures the po... is clear: to expand and innovate participatory budgeting as a lasting pillar of local democracy. We will use digital tools and face-to-face engagement to reach every household, making climate action, youthRecognizing that investing in youth means investing in a better future, OGP participating governments are creating meaningful opportunities for youth to participate in government processes. Technical ... More involvement, active ageing, accessibility, and green urbanism areas citizens can directly influence. A digital platform with real-time monitoring will be supported by community visits, youth-led studies, and public reports. Accountability will be institutionalized through citizen monitoring groups and open exchanges with other Moldovan communities and OGP Local peers.

Implementation will be shared. City Hall, the local council, civil society, schools, and community leaders will co-lead actions, track progress, and ensure transparency. Citizens will not only be consulted—they will be co-creators and watchdogs. We count on our partners for continued support, expertise, and facilitation.

This vision aligns with Moldova’s public administration reform (SRAP 2023–2030), the SDG, and the EU accession goal for 2030. By embedding EU values of openness and participation at the local level, Leova aims to be a model of democratic resilience and innovation.

Together, we reaffirm our commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action...: in Leova, open government will be daily practice—building trust, community, and a European future.

Open Government Challenges, Opportunities and Strategic Vision

What is the long-term vision for open government in your context and jurisdiction?

Leova’s long-term vision is to build an open, inclusive, and resilient local government that serves as a model for democratic governance in Moldova. By embedding transparency, accountability, and civic participation into all aspects of administration, Leova local government administration seeks to ensure that every resident of the amalgamated community can shape local priorities and monitor results. Participatory budgeting will become a permanent pillar of decision-making, supported by digital services, innovative platforms, thematic rounds, and regular community consultations. Transparency will be strengthened through open access to information, citizen monitoring, and annual public reporting. This vision also relies on close cooperation with central authorities to harmonize reforms, ensure interoperability of digital systems, and secure sustainable resources. It is fully aligned with Moldova’s national public administration reform, the Sustainable Development GoalsOGP countries are experimenting with open government innovations to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 16+ which includes peaceful, just and inclusive societies..., and the country’s aspiration to join the European Union by 2030, anchoring local development in European values of openness, participation, and trust.

What are the achievements in open government to date (for example, recent open government reforms)?

Leova has made significant progress in opening the government. City Hall modernized its official portal, ensuring access to council decisions, minutes, procurement data, and other public information. Since 2020, council meetings have been livestreamed and archived, while social media communication was strengthened in response to assessments identifying gaps in access to information and procurement.

A flagship reform has been participatory budgeting, launched in 2021 with an initial MDL 200,000 allocation. Citizens have proposed, debated, and voted on community projects, supported by both paper and online applications. A dedicated platform (bugetareparticipativa.md) was created (now needing revitalization), and by 2025, the program reached its fifth edition, fostering civic dialogue and more transparent use of local funds. Complementary initiatives like “Live with the Mayor” and online groups enhanced engagement beyond formal hearings.

Leova has also advanced digital innovation. By joining the national Alerte.md platform in 2021, residents gained tools to report problems, launch initiatives, and track responses in real time. Online services for local taxes, permits, and certificates were introduced, with plans to extend access to amalgamated villages through Unified Public Service Centers.

A landmark moment came in 2024 when Leova became the first locality in Moldova to join OGP Local and co-create its own Action Plan with residents, civil society, and diaspora.

What are the current challenges/areas for improvement in open government that the jurisdiction wishes to tackle?

Leova’s ongoing amalgamation offers a unique opportunity to further embed open government principles across all localities. Building on the success of participatory budgeting, the municipality seeks to extend its benefits to the entire community, ensuring equal access and engagement. Strengthening digital infrastructure remains a priority, with plans to create more integrated platforms for service delivery, citizen participation, and feedback. Developing the skills of public servants in transparency, digital tools, and participatory practices will enhance institutional capacity and long-term sustainability. Expanding participatory mechanisms—through standardized consultations, community monitoring, and thematic rounds—will make citizen engagement more inclusive and systematic. Close cooperation with central authorities will support alignment of fiscal policies, interoperability of systems, and resource mobilization. These areas of improvement are seen not as obstacles, but as opportunities to advance innovation, strengthen trust, and build a resilient, citizen-centered local government.

What are the medium-term open government goals that the government wants to achieve?

Over the next two years, Leova aims to institutionalize participatory budgeting as a core mechanism of local democracy, expanding it to the entire amalgamated community and securing a fixed share of the municipal budget. A dedicated digital platform will be in place to provide transparent access to projects, enable online voting, and integrate feedback and monitoring tools. Citizen participation will be broadened through regular community consultations, youth-led initiatives, and thematic rounds on climate change, youth engagement, active ageing, accessibility, and green urbanism. Standardized mechanisms for public input and citizen monitoring groups will be established to strengthen accountability. At the same time, investment will be made in staff training, digital infrastructure, and cooperation with central authorities to ensure interoperability and equitable fiscal policies. These goals align with Moldova’s national reform agenda and the aspiration for EU accession by 2030, positioning Leova as a model for inclusive and transparent local governance.

How does this action plan contribute to achieve the Open Government Strategic Vision?

Leova’s Strategic Vision aspires to build an inclusive, transparent, and digitally enabled local government aligned with European values and Moldova’s 2030 EU accession path. This Action Plan translates that vision into practice by embedding participatory budgeting as a permanent mechanism of citizen influence and accountability. Through concrete measures—developing a dedicated digital platform with open dataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici... and real-time monitoring, extending consultations to all amalgamated localities, introducing thematic rounds on climate, youth, ageing, and accessibility, and publishing annual progress reports—the plan creates the structures needed to institutionalize openness. Capacity buildingEnhancing the skills, abilities, and processes of public servants, civil society, and citizens is essential to achieving long-lasting results in opening government. Technical specifications: Set of ac... for staff and close cooperation with central authorities further ensure sustainability and policy alignment. In doing so, the Action Plan operationalizes the Strategic Vision’s long-term goals, turning principles of transparency, participation, accountability, and innovation into everyday governance practices.

How does the open government strategic vision contribute to the accomplishment of the current administration’s overall policy goals?

Although the current administration’s mandate ends in October 2025, the Open Government Strategic Vision directly supports its key priorities of strengthening transparency, improving service delivery, and building citizen trust during the amalgamation process. By launching Leova’s first OGP Local Action Plan, expanding participatory budgeting, and advancing digital platforms, the administration has anchored reforms that reflect Moldova’s national public administration reform and EU integration agenda. The Strategic Vision ensures that these priorities are not short-term initiatives but part of a longer trajectory of inclusive and transparent governance. In this way, it consolidates the accomplishments of the outgoing administration while providing a clear roadmap and institutional mechanisms for the next leadership to continue building on open government values for the benefit of all residents.

Engagement and Coordination in the Open Government Strategic Vision and OGP Action Plan

Please list the lead institutions responsible for the implementation of this OGP action plan.

• Investment attraction service – Svetlana PETICA, Natalia CARAMALAC, Cătălina GHERMAN
• Leova Culture House – Aliona CREȚU

What kind of institutional arrangements are in place to coordinate between government agencies and departments to implement the OGP action plan?

Within Leova City Hall, a dedicated coordination mechanism has been established to oversee the implementation of the OGP Action Plan across the amalgamated municipality. An OGP focal point, supported by the participatory budgeting team, coordinates a multi-departmental working group composed of representatives from finance, public services, IT/digitalization, and communication. This group meets regularly to align activities, track milestones, and prepare progress reports. Coordination will be further reinforced by involving local council members from amalgamated villages, civil society partners, others, in quarterly review sessions. A shared action calendar and internal reporting templates will ensure consistency across departments, while results will be communicated upward to the mayor’s office and outward to the community. This arrangement will ensure cross-sector alignment, shared ownership, and accountability in implementing the Action Plan.

What kind of spaces have you used or created to enable the collaboration between government and civil society in the co-creation and implementation of this action plan? Mention both offline and online spaces.

Leova combined online and offline spaces to enable meaningful co-creation of its local open government commitment and strategic vision. Online, a survey was distributed via social media in June 2025, accompanied by a video message from the mayor encouraging broad participation. Thirty-eight residents completed the survey, and their input directly shaped the agenda for the next stage. Offline, a co-creation workshop was organized on 28 July 2025 with over 30 participants from civil society, local councils, and community groups. The workshop included group work, presentations, and a voting process to identify top priorities, ensuring shared ownership of the plan. In addition, thematic discussions with the Leova City Hall team provided further opportunities for exchange. Digital tools such as the participatory budgeting platform and Alerte.md will also continue to serve as collaboration spaces during implementation, complementing in-person meetings and ensuring ongoing engagement across the amalgamated community.

What measures did you take to ensure diversity of representation (including vulnerable or marginalized populations) in these spaces?

To ensure broad and diverse participation, Leova team promoted the co-creation survey and event through all official and community social media groups and pages, aiming to reach residents across the amalgamated municipality and beyond. The June 2025 survey showed encouraging results: 70% of respondents were women, reflecting strong female engagement in local decision-making, and 13% were members of the diaspora, highlighting the importance of connecting with citizens abroad. At the same time, the findings indicate the need to increase outreach to men and other underrepresented groups, which will guide future efforts. An offline co-creation workshop was organized in an accessible venue and included a mix of youth, community leaders, local CSOs, and staff of the City Hall. Going forward, the local team plans to strengthen outreach through various means such as local partnerships and collaborations, targeted invitations to elderly residents, people with disabilitiesA government is not open unless it is accessible to all, and governments are working to ensure people with disabilities are afforded equitable services and opportunities to participate. Technical spec..., and minority groups, ensuring that open government processes remain inclusive and representative of the whole community.

Who participated in these spaces?

The co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive... brought together representatives from across the amalgamated municipality. Citizens from Leova town, the villages of Sîrma, Tochile-Răducani, and Sărata-Răzeși, as well as diaspora members, contributed through the online survey and in-person workshop. The survey showed strong participation of women (around 70%), young adults (ages 19–34 were the largest group, and residents working in both the public (55%) and private (26%) sectors. More than 30 participants attended the July 2025 co-creation workshop, including local councilors, civil servants, community leaders, and social service providers. In moving forward, emphasis will be put on strengthening the participation of youth groups, the elderly, vulnerable groups, but also entrepreneurs in decision-making processes.

How many groups participated in these spaces?

10

How many public-facing meetings were held in the co-creation process?

7

How will government and non-governmental stakeholders continue to collaborate through the implementation of the action plan?

Collaboration between government and non-governmental stakeholders will remain central throughout implementation. Leova City Hall will coordinate actions, while civil society organizations, local council members, the local high school, and community leaders will co-lead specific activities such as citizen outreach, documenting the participatory budgeting case study based on previous editions through engaging youth in data collection and case study writing. A community monitoring group will play an active role in tracking progress and providing independent feedback. Regular multi-stakeholder meetings and visits to amalgamated villages will create opportunities to review results and adjust actions together. Digital tools, including the participatory budgeting platform and social media channels, will ensure ongoing two-way communication with residents and diaspora. CALM, Council of Europe, State Chancellery, and other development partners will continue to support peer learning and capacity building. This shared implementation model strengthens accountability, builds trust, and ensures that open government becomes a joint responsibility across all sectors of the community.

Please describe the independent Monitoring Body you have identified for this plan.

For the first OGP Local Action Plan cycle, the Leova team has opted for a self-monitoring arrangement coordinated by the City Hall team. This approach will allow the local administration to learn first-hand what works, identify challenges, and build the necessary internal capacity for future independent monitoring. The process will follow OGP guidelines, with three mandatory reporting stages: an inception assessment once the Strategic Vision and commitments are finalized, an end-of-commitment assessment upon completionImplementers must follow through on their commitments for them to achieve impact. For each commitment, OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) evaluates the degree to which the activities outlin... More of activities, and a final learning exercise to capture lessons and produce a case study or report. To ensure transparency, the self-monitoring process will include consultations with citizens and civil society at each stage, and results will be shared publicly online and in community meetings. In subsequent cycles, Leova intends to broaden the monitoring body to include other stakeholders, building on the lessons learned from this first self-assessment.

Provide the contact details for the independent monitoring body.

• Natalia CARAMALAC, investment attraction specialist, [email protected]
• Svetlana PETICA, investment attraction specialist, [email protected]
• Cătălina GHERMAN, investment attraction specialist, [email protected]

What types of activities will you have in place to discuss progress on commitments with stakeholders?

Progress will be reviewed through a structured monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) framework based on KPIs and measurable indicators, ensuring that implementation is tracked consistently. Quarterly multi-stakeholder meetings and rotating community forums across the amalgamated localities will provide spaces for dialogue and feedback. Civil society and schools will help engage youth, women, and vulnerable groups. An annual “Open Government Progress Report” will be published and discussed at a public event. In addition, a communication plan will guide transparent reporting, including regular news items, newsletters, and social media updates, with contributions also shared through the OGP global newsletter. Online surveys and the participatory budgeting platform will allow ongoing citizen feedback. This combined monitoring and communication approach will ensure that progress is both measurable and visible, fostering accountability and learning throughout the Action Plan cycle.

How will you regularly check in on progress with implementing agencies?

At the local level, regular progress will be coordinated by the OGP focal point and participatory budgeting team within Leova City Hall. Implementing departments and partner institutions (e.g., local council members, the high school, community monitoring groups) will provide short monthly updates using a shared reporting template based on agreed KPIs and indicators/and the Action Plan with a timeframe. These updates will be consolidated into an internal progress dashboard, allowing the City Hall team to track activities in real time and identify delays or capacity needs. Quarterly coordination meetings will bring all implementing partners together to review progress, while bilateral check-ins will be organized whenever specific support or adjustments are required. Citizen feedback gathered through community visits, surveys, and the digital platform will also feed into these reviews, ensuring that monitoring is both institutional and community-driven. 

How will you share the results of your monitoring efforts with the public?

Monitoring results will be shared through multiple accessible channels to ensure transparency and broad outreach. Summary reports and progress reports (accompanied by visuals) will be published on the Leova City Hall website and the participatory budgeting digital platform, accompanied by regular updates on social media. An annual “Leova Open Government Progress Report” will be presented at a public event and discussed in community forums rotating across the amalgamated villages, allowing residents to ask questions and provide feedback. Local media will be engaged to amplify key findings. Simplified versions of monitoring results will be made available in citizen-friendly formats, such as infographics and newsletters, while contributions will also be shared with the OGP global newsletter to connect Leova’s experience internationally. This approach ensures results are visible, understandable, and accessible to all segments of the community.

Endorsement from Non-Governmental Stakeholders

• Aliona CREȚU, Leader of the Leova Culture House
• Svetlana BURUIANĂ, Leova Day Care Center Manager

Strategia de dezvoltare socio-economica a or Leova 2021-2026.doc.pdf
Co crearea angajamentelor locale iunie-2025

Commitment:

• Expand and innovate participatory budgeting in Leova to ensure broader citizen inclusion, transparent decision-making, and sustainable community development. (MDLEO0001)