Activity report for 1999(PDF) - Soros Foundation Moldova

1999 was a year that marked a turning point in the Foundation’s activity. It
was shaped by the radical changes that occurred in the Soros foundations network
caused by the evolution of events in Moldova and other various parts of
the world and the awareness of the role and place of the foundations in social
development.
In view of these events, the Foundation had to rethink its strategy, review its
mission and vision and develop new activity directions for the next few years.
The mission of the foundation has remained the same: to promote values of
an open society, i.e. a society where no one is in possession of ultimate truth
and everyone’s opinion is heard, listened to, and taken into consideration.
However, this right has to be ensured by the development of relevant democratic
institutions and by fostering critical thinking and a new mentality. To
this end, we decided to focus our activity on the following priority areas: education,
legal reform and criminal justice, local governance and economic
reform. We think that the irreversibility of reforms in these areas could guarantee
the irreversibility of democratic reforms in the country. We will also
continue to actively support the areas in which the Foundation has successfully
implemented a series of very important projects.
Ensuring a high quality and efficiency of the projects was another focus area
of the Foundation which I would like to mention. I guess the most frequently
used word by the board members was the word “problem”. While reviewing
projects seeking financial support we tried to find answers to the following
basic questions: what problem and needs does the project address, how does
it contribute to attaining the Foundation’s goal, how will it impact the development
of open society in the country? The same criteria were used while
evaluating projects after implementation.
Finally, I would like to thank the staff, expert committee members and the
National Board for their efforts made in 1999.
Arcadie Barbãroºie
National Board Chair
1999 ACTIVITY REPORT
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