heks

HEKS has not been working in Moldova for very long. The first pilot phase was set up in 2004. The geographical focus was on the north of the country and the contextual focus was on the social and economic development in the villages. The initial two-year project phase was co-financed by the SDC.

The Republic of Moldova has now become a HEKS primary-focus country. The experiences of the first few years were evaluated when structuring the programme. The resulting insights formed the foundation stone for the aid programme for the country. The contextual focus remains the same while the geographic focus has moved to the south of the country.

The Republic of Moldova is the poorest country in Europe. Since Romania joined the EU it has been the external frontier of the Community and is torn between Europe and Russia both in political and in economic terms.
One of the biggest challenges is the high level of work-related migration to other countries. The poor economic situation has driven up to 40 per cent of the population to work abroad, often on bad terms and under illegal conditions. The labour haemorrhage opens the floodgates for a spate of social and economic problems. HEKS therefore intervenes in strategic ways to try to improve the social situation of those who stay behind and to try to motivate farmers to make worthwhile investments in their businesses and thus improve production and marketing.

Aims, points of focus, initiatives:

HEKS has set itself the goal of making a contribution to improving the economic and social conditions in the rural areas in the south and north of Moldova. Interventions are required at several levels to attain this goal, therefore HEKS targets its support at farmers, helping them to improve production and improving their access to resources and access to the market. The social and economic integration of the population is supported and civil society strengthened.

The following activities are to be the means to the end:

• Rehabilitation of small social infrastructures
• Development of social services
• Support with the development of small, mostly agricultural enterprises
• Further education and training with a special focus on youth