Former Ambassador Pamela Hyde Smith Speeches

Ambassador Pamela Hyde Smith's remarks at a Donation of Computers to assist in Poverty Reduction Efforts

June 30, 2003

Thank You, Prime Minister Cristea, First Vice Minister Saincuc, Vice Minister Afanasiev, Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is a pleasure for me to be with you today and to announce the donation by the United States Government of computers and related information technology valued at $140,000, to the Ministry of Economy and Reforms, Ministry of Labor & Social Protection, the National House of Social Insurance, and the Department of Statistics and Sociology. These are the Moldovan government agencies that deal primarily with poverty reduction strategies.

This grant, along with the $100,000 grant for new computers given to the National House of Social Insurance last year, will help create the necessary information technology infrastructure for Moldovan Government programs aimed at helping needy families.

These grants have been offered through USAID's Low-Income Energy and Social Assistance Project program, implemented by Counterpart International.

In addition to the computers and software, an important part of the LIESAP program is training. We are pleased that today, here at the Labor Institute, Counterpart International has resumed training of Ministry of Labor employees. In the next three weeks, a total of 150 Ministry of Labor employees from throughout Moldova will complete extensive training: basic computer skills, the Unified Application Form, and the Vulnerable Households Database.

The Unified Application Form - or UAF - represents a substantial improvement in the administration of the Labor Ministry's social assistance programs. Previously a person seeking assistance had to complete seven different applications, each one requiring him or her to attach photocopies of government documents costing as much as $3. The UAF will replace all of these, and be the single form required for all social assistance programs.

The UAF is the result of a significant collaboration with the Labor Ministry and the National House of Social Insurance, as well as with other international donors including the DFID and the European Union's Food Security Program.

Information obtained through the UAF will be used to build a database of information about vulnerable households. This database was designed to improve the targeting of all social assistance programs.

Currently, the local offices of social assistance use the same methods used twenty years ago for targeting both social assistance and humanitarian aid. As a result, many of the most needy citizens of Moldova do not receive either social assistance or humanitarian aid because they do not fit into one of the eligible categories. With the introduction of the Vulnerable Households Database, this will change.

Today's donation will allow the local offices administering social assistance programs to identify those most in need. And the computers and network linking these agencies in Chisinau will allow policy-makers to better understand necessary changes in programs.

With this information, the Moldovan Government will have the information it needs to determine which families most need help. We hope that the resources saved through this improvement in targeting can then result in more meaningful assistance to those most in need.

Again thank you for the opportunity to be with you today. It is an honor to assist you in your efforts to reduce poverty in Moldova.