A project funded by the European Union that will facilitate the promotion and protection of the rights and wellbeing of children at risk was launched on Tuesday, March 30, in Chisinau. The project will be implemented both at national and local levels, during the years 2021-2024 - in the districts of Cantemir, Cimişlia, Taraclia and Ştefan Vodă.
Eduard Pesendorfer, Project Manager, the EU Delegation to the Republic of Moldova, thanked representatives of the national government and local public authorities from four districts for their commitment to implementing this project, which promotes children's rights and child protection in the Republic of Moldova. "This project has several target groups, it cooperates closely with the government, local public authorities, professionals, mass media, so that 500 children at risk in four districts are protected and safe in their family and community, ”said the EU Delegation official.
Daniela Mămăligă, Director of Partnerships for Every Child, thanked all the partners for openness and the European Union for the financial support and trust provided to PPFC, emphasizing that “the EU assistance will contribute to the development of sustainable solutions for the wellbeing of all children. Today, even in the context of the pandemic, it is more important than ever to come up with these solutions and to continue the initiated reforms in the field of child protection, so that they become irreversible”.
Natalia Grîu, Secretary of State, Ministry of Education, Culture and Research / MECR /, mentioned that “due to the complexity of the EU-funded project we will be able to ensure the continuity of the reform actions initiated both in the education and child protection systems, so as to make sure that we have non-violent environments for children in the community, school, services of any kind. The support provided will help to develop innovative practices that will contribute to the creation of a friendly and supportive school environment, including for children affected by the consequences of migration or violence ", said Ms. Grîu.
According to Vasile Cușca, Secretary of State, Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection / MHLSP /, the project comes to fill the gaps in child protection system, including cooperation between key actors responsible for child protection and wellbeing, as well as the development of services / programmes necessary to prevent violence against children at an early stage.
The project is funded by the European Union and implemented by Partnerships for Every Child and the National Center for Training, Assistance, Counselling and Education of Moldova in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection as well as local public authorities from the districts of Cantemir, Cimişlia, Taraclia and Ştefan Vodă.
Nota bene
The project actions will be carried out focusing on several major objectives.
At national level:
Foster synergies &coordination across sectors to ensure the protection of children’s rights &their wellbeing, by the end of 2023 by:
- Supporting the Government to review legislation to address issues related to violence against children and their wellbeing;
- Supporting the MECR and the MHLSP as well as 35 LAs to expand and enforce the inter-agency cooperation mechanism on primary risk prevention to timely address the child’s wellbeing concerns and prevent risks of violence;
- Developing and implementing raising awareness campaigns.
At local level:
Enable 4 local authorities (LAs) from Cantemir, Cimişlia, Taraclia and Ştefan Vodă to strengthen their social protection system to timely address the child’s wellbeing concerns &risks and to provide sustained assistance to children and families by:
- Supporting 4 LAs to develop an effective and coherent social protection system by developing a range of family support and family type alternative care services;
- Supporting 4 LAs to develop innovative practices (Mellow Parenting programme, Psycho-social assistance programme PANDA and other educational practices providing counselling and support) targeting children at risk, victims of violence and those left behind by migrant parents;
- Strengthening child participation in childcare provision and scale up Advisory Board of Children as a child participation platform;
- Facilitating sustainable partnerships between LAs and CSOs al local level to ensure the effective implementation of preventive and specialised programmes in 4 districts.