ObjectivesFund scope
Low birth rates, living standards and lack of jobs, especially in rural areas, have led to large-scale emigration and an annual population decline of 1.8% in Moldova. Additionally, weak economic diversification, especially a heavy reliance on agriculture and lack of compliance with international and European quality standards, has affected exports. In the face of this, Moldova has experienced boom and bust periods; the most recent being when the COVID-19 pandemic caused a contraction of 8.3% in GDP in 2020 to only bounce back by 13.9% in 2021. Changes in GDP were driven by investments, private consumption, higher wages, social transfers and remittances.
With eight years left to achieve the SDGs, Moldova is at a crucial stage of national development. Significant investments are required to improve fiscal opportunities and social security, attain 2030 Agenda outcomes, halt or reverse negative climate change outcomes, and deliver on the promise to leave no one behind.
Leveraging the successes of the pilot and first phases of the fund, stakeholders use the pooled fund mechanism, Moldova 2030 SDGs Partnership Fund II, to accelerate implementation of the 2030 Agenda and achieve the SDGs, while supporting country’s European Union accession process. The Fund supports integrated and coherent resource mobilization through the centralized and transparent allocation of resources for strategic interventions that inspire sustainable development policies, practices, and actions. In support of UNSDCF implementation, the Fund inspires more joint United Nations action—planning, programming and implementation—in line with UN reform and the push to make the Fund a platform for partnerships.
Strategic framework and theory of change
The thematic focus of the Fund is aligned to the first two strategic priorities of the new UNSDCF 2023-2027 for Moldova. Fund stakeholders—government partners, private sector, academia, local organizations and the United Nations—support acceleration of the European Union accession process by aligning actions with the 2030 Agenda framework and supporting synergetic opportunities between the two transformational agendas:
- Outcome 1: By 2027, institutions deliver human rights-based, evidence-informed and gender-responsive services for all, with a focus on those who are left behind.
- Outcome 2: By 2027, more accountable and transparent, human rights-based and gender-responsive governance empowers all people of Moldova to participate in, and contribute to, development processes.
The overall strategy of the Fund is guided by United Nations development system reform guidelines and drive to strengthen system-wide coherence, as well as promote integrated solutions for more strategic and transformative support to national, priority development needs. The theory of change for the Moldova 2030 SDGs Partnership Fund II follows the rationale that IF a framework for value-based contributions is created alongside strategic partners, and IF a funding mechanism is established for interventions that accelerate implementation of the UNSDCF 2023-2027, implementation of the National Development Strategy “European Moldova 2030” and European Union accession efforts, and IF more opportunities and means are created for the United Nations and development partners to jointly address complex development and humanitarian challenges, THEN the priority development needs of Moldova can be addressed more strategically, which includes filling critical development gaps and providing holistic and advanced support to the government and people to deliver on reform commitments towards the European Union membership and achievement of SDGs.
This theory is applicable as Moldova has insufficient nimble financing and coordination mechanisms that can address contemporary and ever-changing development challenges. As such, the Fund is designed to attract new partnerships that unlock national development potential and offers a space for strategic partners to closely collaborate. Stakeholders of the Moldova 2030 SDGs Partnership Fund II will only finance strategic interventions related to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and European Union accession process in ways that strengthen the implementation of country-level United Nations reform approaches and instruments.
> $55M 
$55M - $25M
$25M - $5M
< $5M
