Over 50 community leaders and representatives of local administrations discussed the importance of the cooperation between the social and public sectors on February 21, Info-Prim Neo reports. The meeting’s participants spoke about their cooperation in the past few months as a result of which they managed to produce significant changes in the settlements from which they come by implementing 15 joint projects financed by USAID/IREX – Citizen Participation Programme (CPP). By 20,000 dollars was allotted to each of the 15 projects. The aim of the CPP initiative of developing the social-public partnership is to provide the new elected mayors and community leaders with the instruments and methodologies that would enable them to strengthen the cooperation relations between them. Oleg Bursuc, CPP manager for interregional cooperation, said that one of the most important results of the meeting is that the participants reached a common conclusion and agreed on concrete activities that will contribute to a broader cooperation between the social and public sectors. The discussions at the conference focused on the methods of regaining the trust of the community and on the mutual advantages of the cooperation in different areas and of the civic participation for the social and public sectors. To date, the USAID/IREX Citizen Participation Programme supported more than 185 community groups and NGOs. The USAID-funded CPP is a five-year program to expand citizen awareness, promote civic engagement and encourage self-reliance while improving living and social conditions throughout Moldova. The programme is administered by the International Research and Exchange Board (IREX).