Moldova is stepping up efforts to strengthen its public employment services and expand access to active labour market measures, with new technical support aimed at helping the National Employment Agency (ANOFM) better respond to the needs of jobseekers and employers.
On 1 September, representatives of Switzerland, the Republic of Moldova and the International Labour Organization (ILO) launched the new "Employment Support Switzerland-Moldova" initiative, which complements the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) financed ILO project "Inclusive and Productive Employment in the Republic of Moldova - Phase II".
The initiative comes as Moldova works to strengthen the institutions needed to implement employment reforms in the context of its European Union accession process. Under the EU-Moldova Growth Plan, the country has committed to significantly expanding the number of people benefiting from active labour market measures - by 400 percent, according to Minister of Labour and Social Protection Natalia Plugaru - with specific targets for women and persons with disabilities.
Minister Plugaru welcomed the continuity of support from Switzerland and the ILO. She stressed the importance of moving beyond the transposition of legislation towards building the institutional capacity needed to put reforms into practice.
The new expert support will focus on priorities jointly identified by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, ANOFM, and the ILO. These include strengthening services for the long-term unemployed and developing a performance-based management system, supported by practical training and relevant European good practices.
Raisa Dogaru, Director of ANOFM, highlighted the Agency's recent work to implement a new legislative framework and introduce new employment services and measures, and welcomed the additional expertise in these priority areas.
Martin Godel, Deputy Head of the Labour Directorate at SECO, highlighted the cooperation's distinctive setup, and he also noted that Moldova's move towards more individually tailored employment services closely reflects the direction of Switzerland's Strategy 2030 for public employment services.
The support builds on the bilateral Labour Dialogue between Switzerland and Moldova and contributes to priorities under the Swiss Cooperation Programme 2025-2028, as noted by Valérie Berset Bircher, Ambassador and Head of International Labour Affairs at SECO.
Jérôme Cosandey, Head of the Labour Directorate at SECO, underlined Switzerland's commitment to inclusive and productive employment, social dialogue and decent work. Drawing on the Swiss social partnership model, he stressed the importance of making social dialogue work not only on paper, but also in practice, through cooperation between governments, employers and workers.
Claire Harasty, Director of the ILO Office for Central and Eastern Europe, emphasized that strengthening ANOFM's institutional capacity is an important part of the wider transformation of Moldova's employment system. The expert support complements ILO assistance for the forthcoming National Employment Programme 2027-2030, which is expected to integrate measures needed to further advance ANOFM's transformation. Strengthening ANOFM's institutional capacity is also one of the priorities of the Decent Work Country Programme for the Republic of Moldova (2023-2027).
Public employment service experts will now begin providing technical assistance under a joint workplan designed by ANOFM, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, and the ILO. The first set of results under this new initiate is expected by December 2026.
