Welcome to the Romanian Expertise Database

The Romanian Expertise Locator is an interactive tool that allows you to explore and harness Romania’s expertise in democratisation. In the last 25 years Romania has undergone substantive changes, going from dictatorship and a closed societybehind the Iron Curtain, to EU and NATO membership, an open market economy, democracy and social liberties.With the experience of successful transition in several policy areas, Romania today continues to perfect its democratic record, while also seeking to share with the world best practices and lessons already learnt.

Thousands of Romanians work in the weirdest, poorest, most remote and dangerous corners of the globe. With their own experience of 26 years of reform, EU and NATO accession, they now help other countries develop and democratise.

Romania has transformed in a single generation…

…from political totalitarianism, economic deprivation and centralisation, isolation and corruption,

…to democracy, respect for human rights, the freedom to travel, work and study abroad, market economy, public institutions and a civil society intent on establishing rule of law

There is still much to be done. But much of the road has been travelled already. Romania is now an EU and NATO member and a contributor to development assistance and peace missions around the world.

Beyond these official efforts though, many more Romanians are working abroad in an individual capacity, for international organisations or on NGO projects whereby they share the living memory of lessons learnt and best practices – so valuable in helping others tailor solutions to their own needs and avoid making mistakes.

Many other Romanian NGOs and public institutions continue working domestically to push ahead with reforms. Sharing experiences with counterparts engaged in similar processes in other countries can only strengthen their respective capacity to effect the change they work for.

They know what works and what doesn’t.

They have met the obstacles and understand what drives and incentivises change.

They empathise with the specific cultural, economic and historical circumstances of different countries.

In today’s fast changing world, Romania’s experience has become a valuable asset and requests for the transfer of its expertise are growing in scope and number.

GlobalFocus Centre has built an integrated, open database to make these resources of knowledge directly available to both potential beneficiaries and sponsors of transformation processes worldwide.

This is a comprehensive, permanently updated, carefully selected community of individuals, NGOs, public and private organisations with significant expertise in tenbroad sectors of reform.

Their expertise is clearly identified and described, as are their management and linguistic skills, geographic and cultural experience, achievements and availability for employment or collaboration etc.

Anyone (any natural or legal person) can register to join the database, at any time. Just click the JOIN button and your application will be reviewed by a select board of experts to check your credentials, qualifications, references and track-record. The general validation criteria and the board members can be found here. We don’t impose a fixed set of requirements, but we aim to make sure that your experience is relevant, substantive and gathered in the course of actual projects implementation – that it is practical, not just theoretical.

We encourage persons and entities wishing to make use of this experience to either contact the experts/organisations directly or get in touch with the GlobalFocus Centre team, who will do their best to make sure you get exactly what you need in terms of resources and counsel.

Our partners, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania and the Regional UNDP Centre for Eastern Europe and Central Asia will assist whenever necessary.

Individuals and organisations applying to join the national roster of expertise are expected to meet the following criteria:

– demonstrated professional track-record in a relevant reform field

– verifiable results in project implementation (conferences and events debating reform and development processes do not constitute appropriate experience)

– sound work ethics, communication and interpersonal skills

– tolerance, cultural sensitivity and a capacity to work in diverse environments

– integrity, responsibility, good professional conduct and sound management practices

– excellent professional reputation and positive appreciation from peers, partners and funding bodies

– no track-record of racism, corruption, discriminatory practices, extreme views, incitment to violence or intolerance and the like

Your application will be reviewed by the project team and a board of experts. Compliance with the above criteria will be determined on the basis of references, existing written evidence and peer reviews. Sources will be kept anonymous for peer reviews, but assessments will always be made on the basis of multiple sources.

This database is open to all qualified experts and organisations. Its value lies in the richness of its members’ experience and knowledge. However, we do aim to include only those who can honourably represent the Romanian community of experts and make an effective contribution to development and reform processes worldwide.