April 20 (SeeNews) - The Council of Europe (CoE) said it signed a 13.7 million euro ($16.45 million) four-year action and cooperation plan with Moldova in order to assist the country in carrying out legislative and institutional reforms in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy.
The 2021–2024 plan action plan will support Moldova to fulfil its obligations as a Council of Europe member state, CoE said in a press release on Monday.
The beneficiaries of the cooperation programmes within the plan will be state institutions, civil society and the public at large, as the Council aims to reinforce ownership by national stakeholders and to ensure sustainability of outcomes through a 'multi-institutional approach'. This will allow it to target governmental stakeholders, independent governance institutions, local and regional authorities, and civil society, in order to create a unique leverage for comprehensive, inclusive, successful and sustainable reforms.
Building on the work achieved by previous action plans, measures will be taken to enhance the independence and accountability of the judicial system, develop the capacity of law enforcement and other agencies to respond to corruption and money laundering and improve electoral legislation and practice.
A number of initiatives are aimed at reforming the prison system and promoting alternatives to detention, advancing the compliance with European media and internet governance standards, enhancing data protection, aligning national legislation and practice with anti-discrimination and gender equality European standards as well as strengthening the national child protection framework, CoE noted.
($=0.8294 euro)