In October – November, 5 training sessions were held dedicated to the growth and development of the capacities of the members of the National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, the RM-EU Platform and the Domestic Advisory Group on Trade and Sustainable Development.

The first session was dedicated to advocacy tools for civil society organizations in the context of the Europeanization agenda. During this training, the participants became familiar with the advocacy practices applicable at the local, national, and European Union level, how to develop an advocacy plan, but also, the mechanisms that can be used to increase the success rate of the implemented tools .

The second training focused on the importance of effective and transparent communication for any civil society organization. Participants learned more about the communication tools needed by civil society organizations to cover their communication needs and increase visibility. The participants actively engaged in the discussions and shared practical advice from their own experience regarding the communication plan – essential for the visibility of the organization and the principles of communication with the media.

The training series continued with a theme dedicated to financial, operational and human resource management for civil society organizations. The trainers talked about financial planning and reporting practices, procurement and internal financial control, highlighting the key elements of effective financial management. The organizational processes and the mapping of the main operations carried out within the CSOs were also presented. Another key topic concerned aspects of human resource management, namely staff recruitment and selection, motivation and human resource development.

In the fourth session, the central topic was – attracting funds. The participants got familiar with various fundraising methods, focusing on context assessment and fundraising message creation, fundraising strategy and plan, project writing. Also, during the training, the key elements in the successful implementation of special fundraising and sponsorship events, online donations and fundraising in the network of friends were presented.

The series of training sessions ended with an important theme for every organization, namely good governance. During the session, participants learned more about the concept of institutional governance for non-commercial organizations, the importance of separation of powers within civil society organizations, governance issues and how they can be resolved. Also, the consequences that may occur in case of neglecting the establishment of rules and control mechanisms within the organization were discussed.

More than 70 organizations participated in the trainings, they took place in physical format, but also online, offering the opportunity to participate to all interested organizations, and were facilitated by both national and foreign experts. Through these trainings, we aim to capitalize even more on the potential of these Platforms, and respectively, to stimulate the pro-active involvement of civil society in the decision-making process.

These training sessions were conducted as part of the "Civil Society for European Integration" project, funded by the European Union and co-financed by Friedrich Ebert Foundation. The project is implemented by Expert-Grup Independent Think Tank, as the main partner, in partnership with the Institute for European Policy and Reform, Institutum Virtutes Civilis NGO (IVC), and Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Moldova.

All details about the project and the informative resources presented are available at: euromonitor.md