The Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Family, in collaboration with the Partnerships for Every Child, held the National Conference “A strong family for every child: actuality, lessons learned, and perspectives for the development” on 9th April this year.
The conference gathered professionals and decision makers from 35 territorial – administrative units of the country, and its goal was to disseminate positive practices and experience gained during the recent three and half years by “Partnerships for every child”, in the USAID-supported project “Ensuring the right of the child to a family and his protection from abuse and neglect”, implemented with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Family, and local public authorities of Calarasi, Ungheni, and Falesti within the child care reform.
Stela Grigoras, president of Partnerships for Every Child:
“Partnerships for Every Child”, in close collaboration with the national and local partners, supported the deinstitutionalization of 958 children, working in 15 residential institutions, closing and transforming into social services centres 10 of the 21 institutions closed up to the present in the Republic of Moldova, and prevented the family separation of 2000 children at risk, through family and community support programs”.
The key elements of the reform were analysed and included into case studies, presented to professionals and decision-makers from across the country. The case studies were focused on different topics: reorganization of the residential institution and reallocation of funds to social and educational services, development of social services and school inclusion of deinstitutionalized children, capacity building and shift of attitudes among professionals, child participation indecision-making.
Valentina Buliga, Minister of Labor, Social Protection and Family:
“It is important that we continue the reforms, through the extension of positive practices to the national level. At the same time we need to ensure the synergy of the policies promoted by the central public authorities. The Ministry presented to the Government the Child Protection Strategy, with its general objectives: to ensure necessary conditions for the up-bringing and education of children in a family environment; to prevent and eliminate violence, neglect, and exploitation of children, to promote non-violent practices of child upbringing and education, to ensure professional consultancy to a family, in order to secure harmonious upbringing and development of the child. This strategy will ensure the continuity of the residential child care reform, the development of family-type alternative services, and, importantly, prevent children’s separation from family and consolidate the role of the family in raising and educating children”.
At the Conference the new project was launched “Strong Family for Every Child”, supporting the Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Family, and the Ministry of Education, as well as local public authorities, in the consolidation of the results obtained up to the present and their dissemination in the whole country by the year 2017.
Presentation from conference
Communication in the reform process. Shift of perceptions and attitudes.
Human resources capacity building.
Reorganization of the child care system:school inclusion.
Deinstitutionalization of child care.
Results and perspectives in the development of the child care system in the Republic of Moldova.
Reconfiguration and integration of the system of services for children.