Project title: National Human Development Report 2012 “European Aspirations and Human Development of Republic of Moldova”;

Implementation period: November 1, 2011 – January 31, 2013;

Funded by: UNDP - Moldova;

Project goal: European integration has been identified by Moldova’s Government as the most feasible alternative for the long-term development of the country. However, the implications of this vector on the human development are not fully clear. The NHDR 2012 has been conceived as a policy-oriented analytical and advocacy tool showing how Moldova’s European integration and human development agendas, processes and achievements influence each other and what are the policy options to adopt in order to maximize the positive synergy and minimize the related risks and costs;

Main activities:

• Reviewing relevant literature; developing and delivering the preliminary research outline;
• Organizing a policy workshop to discuss the preliminary research outline with a wider audience, including NGOs, UN agencies, ministries and universities;
• Developing research tools, collecting and processing existing data, conducting qualitative and quantitative analysis; preparing the first draft of the NHDR;
• Conducting national social opinion survey and experts’ interviews, preparing the final draft of the NHDR;
• Launching the NHDR at national conference;
• Organizing policy advocacy campaign; discuss the NHDR during two thematic policy workshops;
• Organizing media campaign to reflect and promote the NHDR results;

Main outputs and outcomes:

• National Human Development Report 2012 “European Aspirations and Human Development of Republic of Moldova”;
• Media toolkit (guide to the NHDR) including key facts and figures;
• Presentations delivered and discussions held at the final conference and at two policy workshops.

Project impact:

The 2012 National Human Development Report “European Aspirations and Human Development of the Republic of Moldova” concentrates on the impact of trade-liberalization, visa-liberalization and EU-motivated human rights and justice sector reforms. The project has clearly demonstrated that for Moldova, the European integration process and its outcomes support the country's human development and modernization. The economic impact of the deep and comprehensive trade liberalization is, indeed, expected to be positive, although unevenly distributed across society. The project has also shown that the anticipated boost of the visa-free regime on migration outflows is considerably overblown. The Moldova’s European aspirations create a positive environment for empowering individuals with real liberties, and a smooth European integration requires better-trained human capital in public and private sectors alike. In general, by more deeply engaging in furthering the European agenda, Moldova may benefit from a significant boost in human development. At the same time, the project showed that enlarging people's choices, fostering a continuous progress in human development and improving the institutional infrastructure of the economy are preconditions for an efficient and 'high-quality' European integration for Moldova and that education plays a key role in this regard.