The National Institute of Justice, partner in the new UNDP project to combat electoral corruption

The perspectives of cooperation within a new anti-corruption project, with a specific focus on electoral criminality, were discussed, today, April 16, 2025, by the management of the National Institute of Justice - Ramona Strugariu, Director, Ecaterina Popa, head of the Training and Research Directorate, and Octavian Bivol, head of the Continuous Training Section, - and UNDP representatives - Victoria Muntean, program specialist, department leader, Skye Christensen, Electoral Senior Technical Advisor, and Eva Bounegru, Project Manager. The initiative is in the preliminary phase of consultations with implementing partners, including the National Institute of Justice.

At the meeting, the concept of the "Democratic Resilience by Combating Corruption" (REDACT) project was presented, which aims to support the Government of the Republic of Moldova in strengthening the institutional and legal framework, as well as in strengthening the mechanisms of civic participation, in order to effectively fight electoral corruption and illicit political financing.

A central point of the discussions was the joint organization of training activities for prosecutors, judges and investigative officers, focused on preventing and combating illegalities in the electoral process and the financing of political formations. At the same time, the contribution of the National Institute of Justice, through its trainers, to the development of the necessary educational methodologies and materials, as well as to the identification of the most suitable forms of training, including blended learning, was addressed.

During the meeting, the parties emphasized the excellent existing collaboration between the National Institute of Justice and UNDP Moldova, highlighting previous initiatives that have resulted in remarkable results. They also mentioned the pioneering role of the Republic of Moldova in the field of managing electoral corruption, a topic that became an object of study for the INJ audience with a view to participating, this May, in the prestigious European competition "THEMIS" of the European Judicial Training Network.

The UNDP Democratic Resilience by Combating Corruption project will take place in the period 2025-2029 and is structured on three main pillars: strengthening the institutional capacities to detect, investigate, prosecute and judge cases of electoral corruption; improving inter-institutional coordination and law enforcement mechanisms; strengthening civic participation and public resilience.