In depth

UNDP supports the creation of an enabling environment for formal and innovative employment and decent jobs, catalyzing investment for sustainable and resilient livelihoods for men and women throughout the country, including across the conflict divide. UNDP supports groups with limited access to the labour market, including but not limited to youth, women, people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and refugees, by helping them to benefit from training, better access to finance, and enhanced digital infrastructure, improved links between social protection schemes, employment measures and public services. UNDP aims to strengthen policies that address barriers for the inclusion of women in the labour market by tackling social stereotypes, ensuring access to affordable services, including care services and promoting women's access to entrepreneurship support schemes. Moreover, by supporting human capital development, UNDP promotes improvements in the education system and lifelong opportunities, including through digital transformation, to meet the demands of the labour market.

To enhance the accessibility of local public services across the country, particularly in rural areas, UNDP seeks to further strengthen local governments’ capacity to engage community members, private sector and diaspora in the planning, coordination, resource mobilization, delivery and monitoring of improved services. Community empowerment, focusing on women and marginalized groups, is prioritized.

Private sector support and engagement

UNDP sustains the private sector to grow and embrace environmental, social and governance standards, through innovations, mainstreaming of digital technologies, and through targeted support and facilitation of partnerships. We help improving the competitiveness and export capacity of businesses from both banks of the Nistru River using the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) opportunities, including through new partnership formats, such as economic clustering based on value chains. Fostering inclusive business development for the generation of sustainable jobs at local level and strengthening of the local public authorities’ capacities to manage autonomously such processes are high on the UNDP agenda. UNDP explores new emerging opportunities in further engaging with the private sector for new products and services, including new digital solutions and improved and more resilient business models, that incorporate elements of sustainability, digital and financial innovation, and inclusion.

Education

UNDP has been a central partner in advancing the development of the education system in Moldova, contributing to both the physical transformation of schools and the broader educational reform agenda. UNDP is actively involved in reforming the national education system's core components through supporting the ongoing review and modernization of national curricula. UNDP supports the implementation of the Model Schools initiative, which envisages the transformation of schools from urban and rural areas into Model Schools, designed to serve as hubs of educational excellence, equipped with modern facilities, staffed by highly trained educators, and managed through inclusive, student-centered governance. 

Importantly, these infrastructure improvements do not occur in isolation but are closely integrated with broader educational reforms, including the reconceptualization of teacher professional development, extensive teacher training, and a comprehensive review of the national curriculum. This holistic approach ensures that infrastructure advancements directly contribute to fostering active learning environments, enhancing student engagement, and improving overall educational outcomes. 

Local governance

In close cooperation with civil society and community members, UNDP helps enhance the capacity of local public authorities to efficiently plan and implement local development priorities, improve local public services and contribute to the local socio-economic development. Advancing reform agenda towards country modernization, reengineering and digitalizing local service provision is a priority. 

UNDP helps design sustainable models for joint decision-making and delivering services closer to citizens, for both women and men equally, including migrants, vulnerable and marginalized groups, such as the elderly, women, and people with disabilities.

UNDP shifts local governance development paradigm, capacitating them to tap into the existing opportunities for economic advancement. It sustains local governments to foster partnerships with the local private actors and diaspora, that are empowered to contribute to shaping and implementing local economic policies. UNDP supports the creation of employment opportunities through favorable conditions for attraction of investment, job creation and entrepreneurship.

Confidence-building

UNDP addresses development and conflict situations through targeted geographical actions. In this regard, UNDP supports people on the two banks of the Nistru River, by implementing comprehensive, conflict-sensitive area-based interventions, funded by the EU, Switzerland, Sweden, United Kingdom and France, that address critical pressing needs across divides and reduce development gaps.

UNDP fosters partnerships and creates synergies among different stakeholders at local and regional levels. It sustains sectorial dialogue and civil society actors' cooperation, facilitating the exchange of knowledge and experience and generation of solutions to conflict-generated issues.

UNDP spurs smart, inclusive and sustainable economic development in the focal regions by fostering their role as growth poles.