UNICEF IN MOLDOVA

NEwsLEttEr #3 / 2016

“In serving the best interests of children, we serve the best interests of all humanity.”Carol Bellamy, UNICEF Executive Director, 1995–2005

IN tHIs IssUE:ThE GovErNmENT CommITs To sTrENGThEN ThE BIrTh rEGIsTraTIoN sysTEm aND To proTECT ChIlDrEN From oNlINE aBUsE

molDovaN proFEssIoNals BENEFITED From a UNIQUE lEarNING EXpErIENCE IN sCoTlaND

a NEw sTUDy oN ECD CosTING To provIDE a vIaBlE moDEl For FINaNCING oF prE-sChool EDUCaTIoN

ChIlD vICTIms wIll Now BENEFIT From a saFE havEN wITh sUpporT From UNICEF molDova

loCal proFEssIoNals BETTEr EQUIppED To assIsT ChIlD vICTIms

FosTEr parENTs rECoGNIzED oN ThE INTErNaTIoNal Day oF ThE FamIly

UNICEF molDova TraINED a GroUp oF TEENaGErs aND yoUNG pEoplE IN vIDEo BloGGING For soCIal ChaNGE

aprIl 8 – INTErNaTIoNal romaNI Day

ImmUNIzaTI oN wEEk was markED IN molDova

molDova ElImINaTED moThEr To ChIlD TraNsmIssIoN oF syphIlIs aND CommITTED To ElImINaTE moThEr To ChIlD TraNsmIssIoN oF hIv

vUlNEraBlE ChIlDrEN aND ThEIr parENTs aTTEND a pUppET ThEaTrE show IN ChIsINaU

INTErNaTIoNal ChIlDrEN’s Day – FoCUs oN ChIlD rIGhTs

2

2

3

4

5

5

6

6

7

8

8

7

In the second half of 2016, UNICEF in moldova continued to address the systemic barriers and social norms that prevent the realization of child rights for all moldovan children, including the most vulnerable, while initiating the preparation of the next country programme and UNICEF’s support in 2018-2022.

To build the basis for the future work in moldova, UNICEF conducted a comprehensive analysis of situation of children in moldova. around 40 representatives of the national authorities and civil society organizations, as well as young people have participated in a validation meeting to discuss the findings of the study. The participants concluded that effective collaboration between all partners and strong inter-sectoral

Foreword

approaches will advance results for children in a harmonized and synergetic manner in the next 5 years.

In the summer of 2016 UNICEF initiated a new, 150 thousand euro project in partnership with the ministry of Justice and Institute for penal reforms, aiming to offer all children a justice system that is sensitive to their age and gender and that protects them from violence, abuse and neglect while preventing them from entering in conflict with the law. The initiative will ensure an increase in the number of children who are diverted from the criminal justice system by being referred to community services, thus contributing to children’s social reintegration.

as children left without adequate parental care have the right to a family environment, guaranteed by the Convention on the rights of the Child, this Newsletter highlights a successful partnership between local authorities

in Colibași village with the church and the community, which has made possible reintegration of vulnerable children into family, school and society.

year 2016 also saw UNICEF nurseries model being replicated in seven localities with educational guides for parents and teachers distributed nationally. It is worth mentioning that a nation-wide implementation of the model would respond to the needs of parents and children, including the most vulnerable ones.

all achievements brought in this issue would not be possible without our partners in the Govern-ment, parliament, civil society, media, international organizations and our donors. we have reached numerous results together, and UNICEF moldova looks forward to more joint efforts in the remaining months of 2016 to advance the rights of every child.

Nune Mangasaryan, UNICEF Representative to Moldova

Better healthcare services for all Children and mothers

NUNE MANgAsAryAN, UNICEF rEprEsENtAtIVE tO MOLDOVA, EMpHAsIzED tHE IMpOrtANCE OF qUALIty HEALtHCArE FOr ALL CHILDrEN

2

over 20 thousand inhabitants of the city Dnestrovsk, situated on the left bank of the Nistru river, have access to a renovated clinic with trained medical staff and equipped in accordance with modern standards and practices.

The health facility in Dnestrovsk, as many others from both banks, is now equipped with cold-chain equipment. Within the confidence building, a cold storage room for keeping the vaccines in a centralized way has been set up and 70 refrigerators have been purchased for maternities

© UNICEF/2016 at the inauguration event of the primary healthcare facility in Dnestrovsk.

“This project brings to all women and children an improved access to quality mother and child health care, including perinatal care and immunization”

Nuné mangasaryan, UNICEF representative in moldova.

prOjECt HIgHLIgHts

Duration: march 2013 – october 2015total budget: 502,300 UsDFocus areas: perinatal care and immunization

targeted areas: Transnistrian regionDonors: European Union, swiss agency for Development and Cooperation

84 1590

© UNICEF/2016 The community mobilization event at the inauguration of Dnestrovsk.clinic

the clinic was officially inaugurated on 20 July 2016.

and primary health care units, as well as carriers for vaccine transportation and other equipment for rigorous monitoring of temperature in this equipment.

The Dnestrovskclinic, built in the ‹60s, have never been repairedbefore. Doctors didn’t have basic working conditions to serve the people fromDnestrovsk and the nearby villages. Now all of them have access to adequatehealth services. The beneficiaries of the improved healthcare services joined the

officials at the inauguration event. Children enjoyed activities organized for them by UNICEF volunteers while their parents had the opportunity to learn more about immunization.

The provision of the cold chain equipment and capacity building of health professionals was a result of joint efforts of the UN familyand donors: European Union, swiss Development Cooperation agency.

health professionals from Tiraspol, Bender, slobozia, ribnita, Grigoriopol Dubasari and Camenca are better prepared to act in obstetrical emergencies

health professionals from Tiraspol, Bender, slobozia, ribnita, Dubasari, Camneca and Grigoriopol imporved abilities in neonatal resusciation

clinical protocolsfor medical staffwere revised,translated intorussian languageand submitted to partners

The number of crimes committed by children halved: from 2,000 to 1,000 per year.

Five times fewer children were convicted: from 1316 to 290 per year

Four time fewer children were sentenced to prison: from 227 to 50 per year

Justice for children

tHE NUMbEr OF CHILDrEN IN CONtACt wItH tHE jUstICE systEM wILL DECrEAsE

3

UNICEF and the ministry of Justice aim to offer all children a justice system that is sensitive to their age and gender and that protects them from violence, abuse and neglect while preventing them from entering in conflict with the law. a new project will ensure the increase the number of children who are diverted from the criminal justice system by being referred to community services, thus contributing to children’s social reintegration.

The 150 thousand Euro project will ensure the diversion mechanisms are modeled and institutionalized.

Necessary tools and instruments will be developed for professionals working with children, at least 50 children offenders will benefit of specialized assistance, and 20 mediators will receive specialized training on working with children in criminal proceedings.

with UNICEF support, Irp will develop and test a national prevention program for diverted children, and will develop capacities of prosecutors, child protection specialists, psychologists, probation officers and social workers.The project is in line with UNICEF priorities for ensuring children’s access to child friendly justice, with the government priorities set up in the Justice sector reform strategy for 2011-2016, and targets the harmonisation with European trends.

at present, circa 1,000 criminal cases are initiated against children at annual basis with 50% of those reaching a court decision.

“The project wil ensure that there will be a qualified response in the case of every child coming in conflict with the law, in at least 5 districts: Balti municipality, Ungheni, orhei, Causeni and leova, through a strong inter-sectorial cooperation mechanism, which will be institutionalized over the next 1.5 years”

Nuné mangasaryan, UNICEF representative in moldova.

Duration: march 2013 – october 2015total budget: 502,300 UsDFocus areas: perinatal care and immunization

targeted areas: Transnistrian regionDonors: European Union, swiss agency for Development and Cooperation

2006 Vs. 2015 HIgHLIgHts

1

2

3

4

Turning lives around

There are 336 children in family type homes in Moldova. Children taken in family type homes often come from abusive or neglected backgrounds and caring for them can be a challenge. It can also be very rewarding. We have visited two family type homes in Colibași, Cahul, opened as a result of a successful partnership at the local level, to learn about the experiences of children and their caregivers.

HOMEs FOr CHILDrEN wItHOUt ADEqUAtE pArENtAL CArE

In Colibași children benefit from family type care as a result of a local partnership

with her siblings, lives with Nina Cojan, who has two biological children and has taken four others in her care. when she decided to become a teacher parent, Nina Cojan did not think about benefitting from additional incomes, but rather about making a difference in a child’s life: „I knew it is not going to be easy, but I thought I would be able to do it. I knew am not alone. Getting the kids to fit in can be a bit of a challenge. It was hard at the beginning, but as time passed, we learned to get together.” Today Nina admits that she doesn’t feel any difference between her biological children and the ones in her care. “It feels like they are all mine”, Nina says.

The youngest child in her care is sandu, of only one year and four months old. The challenge with young children is keeping up the energy: Nina says she tends to be tired all the time. as most young children without adequate parental care, sandu had some health and developmental problems: when taken in the care of Cojans at

the age of nine months, he weighed only six kilograms. Today sandu is a joyful toddler, enjoying the company of both children and adults in the house.

Galina maranda, another teacher parent from the same village, takes care of 7 children, with ages from 15 to 4 years old, including two of her biological children. Galina wakes up at 5 am to cook for the entire family and says she is not afraid of hardship or financial difficulties.

© UNICEF moldova/2016 Nina Cojan, a professional parental assistant, holding sandu, a young child in her care.

© UNICEF moldova/2016 viorica and ana*, two sisters who are living in the family type home of Galina Maranda, from Colibași, Cahul.

“I believe that there is no big difference in feeding five other children additionally to the ones I already have”, Galina said. her main motivation, however, has an emotional connotation. she herself has grown up without a father. “I could hardly imagine what it means for a child

maria* has had many difficult moments in her life. Unlike most children, maria did not have a loving, nurturing family. For three years she lived in a community center in Cahul, as her parents were deprived of parental rights. The best solution in her case was to place her in a family type home. maria is 12 years old and now, together

to grow without both parents”, Galina says.

The successful partnership between the local authorities in Colibași village with the church and the community, has made possible reintegration of these vulnerable children into family, school and society.

The mayor of Colibași say that, as a local authority representative, he tried to be as open as possible and support the local initiative to build two houses that will accommodate up to 12 children each. Necessary funds were collected by the community and the members of the local protestant church to cover for the construction works and materials.

”people with big hearts contributed financially to this initiative”, says zaharia vasilache, the local protestant church leader. ”Even the elderly have contributed from their small pensions, or have sold their land to be able to make the donation”, he added.

The two family type homes in Colibași, Cahul, is an example of successful partnership and community mobilization for a good social cause: giving a fair chance to every child to grow in a family. one more house to serve as a family type home for other children without parental care is currently being built in the same community.

representatives of NGos active in the field of child protection recently visited Colibași to learn about the success story and the possibilities to replicate the model in their own communities. The study visit was supported by apsCF, through a project supported by UNICEF, aimed at strengthening the capacities of NGos to build successful partnerships at the local level.

*all the names are changed

UNICEF CONDUCtED A COMprEHENsIVE ANALysIs OF sItUAtION OF CHILDrEN IN MOLDOVA

on June 19th, UNICEF organized a validation meeting with major partners to discuss the preliminary findings of the study. around 40 representatives of the national authorities and civil society organizations, as well as young people have participated in the meeting to discuss the findings. During the meeting, the participants expressed their views on the study, emphasized the need to focus on areas of improved parenting and increased attention to young children, to end violence and bullying, and stressed the importance of quality local services and life skills education. The study will become a basis for the preparation of the next country programme and UNICEF’s support to further realization of Child rights in 2018-2022. The participants of the meeting concluded that effective collaboration between all partners and strong inter-sectoral approaches will advance results for children in harmonized and synergetic manner in the next 5 years.

“Discussion with partners on future country programme that will guide UNICEF’s efforts are critical to ensure alignment of our programmes with children’s needs”

Nuné mangasaryan, UNICEF representative in moldova.

CHILDrEN OF MINgIr VILLAgE ENjOy UNICEF MODEL kINDErgArtEN

6

Currently the crèche at mingir kindergarten has 21 children aged 1.6 to 3 years old in its care, the resource Center for parents on ECD services is functioning and kindergarten staff throughout the rayon continue to use the methodology developed under the project.

Sofia Bordeianu, kindergarten principal, along with 2 educators and the kindergarten’s educational specialist had taken part in all the trainings under the project. “We received 2 manuals developed by The Centre for Education and Information of Young Families (CNETIF) that, unlike older methodologies focusing mainly on the care aspect for pre-schoolers, highlighted developmental tools for 2-3 year olds in equal measure,” the principal said. “Within the workshops we practiced various exercises and games for stimulating both intellectual and physical development. We also received inputs on nutrition and positive disciplining practices. Our staff returned inspired and we had multiplied and distributed the manuals among rayon preschool staff.”

“In 2013 we had 170 children aged 2- 3 in the village and no dedicated services for them. Mothers and fathers came to me asking for a solution,” said haralambie lazar, former mayor of mingir village, hinchesti rayon. “Luckily, the rayon authorities were looking for a kindergarten to join the UNICEF - FISM project of modelling ECD services for children under 3. It seemed the perfect opportunity for us. We pride ourselves on having raised the required community contribution of 15% (129,000 MDL) in only a few months” added mr. lazar.

another key aspect of the project was co-opting parents as partners in the educational process. The staff of mingir kindergarten opened a resource Centre for parents with informational leaflets and manuals from UNICEF and partners.

Early Childhood Development

Kindergarten “Garofita’ is a vast two storied building in the center of mingir village. Two wings of the building stand in sharp contrast – one with freshly mended walls and new windows while the other is visibly worn. The renovated side of the building dates form 2013 when the kindergarten entered the UNICEF and social Investment Fund of moldova (FIsm) project of modeling Best practices in Early Childhood Development (ECD) services.

“We have a collaborative relationship with parents,” said principle Sofia Bordeianu. “Every Wednesday an Open Doors Day is held and every parent is encouraged to come and spend time with children and observe their daily routine. Every week at least one visits, engaging with the children in games, reading, writing and sports.”

one such parent is Dorina Gelos, mother of three, youngest of which, a boy of two and a half, is currently enrolled in the crèche: “Two years ago it was very difficult for me to balance care of my boys with work. I could not spend as much time with them as needed. When the kindergarten began accepting younger children we were so glad to receive a place. My boy was two and a half then. Shortly after he began speaking and was much more sociable. He even teaches me the words and little poems he learned. I was as able to find part time work and feel much better knowing that my boy is well cared for and is learning something new every day.” olga Bumbu, also a mother of three, with the youngest being almost two years old continues: “My little girl is the first of my children to go to the village crèche and I noticed that she started speaking and walking earlier, she seems much more at ease with other children now. Every morning she goes with joy to kindergarten. I think it’s largely due to the positive approach of the educators, when I visit I always see children engaged in educational games and everyone is participating. Kindergarten’s menu provides them with good nutrition, something we cannot always provide at home.” The local authorities are committed to build on the results of this project. The successful model needs to be scaled up given existing demand– there are more than 100 more children aged 2-3 in the village needing a place in the crèche.

7

around 50 representatives of national and local authorities, as well as civil society organizations discussed the findings and recommendations of the evaluation report at a validation round-table on the project “modelling of services for children under 3”. The round-table was organized by UNICEF with partners from the ministry of Education, ministry of Finance and other line ministries, local public authorities, educators and parents with the aim of supporting and scaling up services for young children.

parents rated highly the improvements achieved in the nursery facilities.

oleasea sajin, Nisporeni Educational Directorate employee and parent of a two year old boy enrolled in one of the targeted nurseries said: “Before the project we had mixed preschool classes were 30 children of mixed ages were cared for by one educator and shared the same space. of course, the facilities were not suitable for younger children and the educators had difficulty responding to the needs of different age categories. Now we have a dedicated space for younger children, smaller groups, and preschool employees who received training on the new methodologies of child centered

10 nursery facilities from 9 raions, including Gagauzia Region, benefited from renovation.

45 specialists in preschool education (educators, methodologists, principals) were trained on child-friendly methodologies and collaborative learning methods.

248 children aged 2-3 years old successfully included in preschool education.

2 methodological guides for education specialists and parents produced under the project and distributed nationwide by educators.

31 nursery facilities renovated by local authorities and community members following the success of the project.

© UNICEF/2016 local public authorities’ and partners’ discussion of the results of the evaluation of the “modelling of services for children 2-3 years old” project

tHIrty ONE LOCALItIEs ArE rEpLICAtINg tHE UNICEF NUrsErIEs MODEL

prOjECt HIgHLIgHts

education. most importantly, I see the improvement in my son’s development, he has become much more sociable and is overall a much happier child”.

local public authorities representatives addressed the sustainability of the project. Nicolae milnic, mayor of Calarasi, stated that for 300 toddlers the town had only one nursery facility. as a result of positive feedback received from the community for the services piloted under the project, resources were mobilized to renovate one more nursery.

a total of 31 localities are replicating the UNICEF model with nurseries under construction and educational guides for parents and teachers distributed nationally.

The partners concluded that a nation-wide implementation of the model would respond to the needs of parents and children, including the most vulnerable ones. among major recommendations was the need for a legal framework to facilitate development of quality preschool services: adequate facilities and training for staff as well as appropriate funding of the service.

For more information about the project, please contact: larisa virtosu, Early Childhood Development Officer. phone: 022 22 00 45; E-mail: lvirtosu@unicef.org.

Early Childhood Development

The project was launched in 2013 in partnership with National social Investment Fund of moldova (FIsm) and National Center for Early Childhood Education and parenting (CNETIF) as a response to the growing demand for nursery services. 10 preschool institutions were selected in order to improve access to quality services for children aged 2-3 years.

UNICEF moldova131, 31 august 1989 streetUnited Nations house Chisinau, republic of moldova

Telephone: (+373) 22 220 034web: www.unicef.mdFacebook.com/UNICEFmoldovaTwitter.com/moldovaUNICEF

how can someone help UNICEF, without actually donating money? It’s simple: all it takes is to get active for children: complete the 5km of walking or running challenge and unlock a donation of corporate partners to UNICEF.

To help children, participants synchronized a physical activity app with the online portal Team UNICEF and started getting active. That’s the idea behind the Team UNICEF campaign.

UNICEF MOLDOVA stAFF jOINED tEAM UNICEFIn July-september, 2016, more than 33 thousand people from 153 countries around the world ran and walked for children with Team UNICEF. Together, they have traveled 847,018 km, the equivalent of more than 2 trips to the moon, and have raised $ 75,369 for world’s children.

UNICEF moldova staff joined this global initiative. To help guarantee the rights of children and adolescents all over the world, staff, their families and children, walked and ran in valea morilor, a park in the capital of moldova.

During the breastfeeding week Nune mangasaryan, UNICEF reprezentative to moldova, together with ruxanda Glavan, the minister of health, visited the maternity ward of the municipal hospital Nr. 1 in Chisinau, a health facility that joined the Baby Friendly Initiative: a worldwide programme of the who and UNICEF, meant to enable mothers to breastfeed babies for the best start in life.

Breastfeeding is the best way to offer the newborn adequate nutrition for health band development. who and UNICEF recommend that children are exclusively breastfed during the first 6 months of life and continuously breastfed, with gradual introduction of complementary feeding up to 2 years of age.

AUgUst 1-7: gLObAL brEAstFEEDINg wEEk

The Global Breastfeeding week is celebrated annually in more than 175 countries. The activities related to the Global Breastfeeding week are coordinated by the Global Breastfeeding alliance – a global network aiming at protection and support of breastfeeding.

(c) UNICEF moldova/2016 a mother who gave birth to her fourth child says that now she has a lot more information and support to start breastfeeding compared to five years ago. From left to right: ruxanda Glavan, minister of health and Nune mangasaryan, UNICEF representative to moldova.