The ‘Digital Skills Connect Generations’ program that promotes intergenerational dialogue and active ageing has been extended in Chisinau municipality. At an event organised today, 24 June, by HelpAge International Moldova in collaboration with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the Moldcell Foundation, the Czech Development Agency and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, 130 elderly people from Chisinau received mobile phones and are going to learn how to use them with the help of 50 volunteers from the Municipal Youth Centre. The phones were donated by the General Division of Medical and Social Assistance of the Chisinau Mayoralty which had been previously used in another project.
The launch event took place in the public garden ‘Sarmisegetuza’ in Chisinau and was attended by partners, representatives of municipal authorities, elderly and young volunteers participating in the program. Immediately after the event, the elderly attended the first training on how to use a smartphone, access communication and social networks such as Viber, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook or Messenger.
UNFPA launched the ‘Digital Skills Connect Generations’ program in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program is supported by national and international partners, civil society and the private sector – the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, the Moldcell Foundation, the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Chisinau, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Bayer and Help Age International.
Over the last two years, this initiative has gained momentum and has become very popular among older people and young volunteers. The program, which aims to promote active ageing and intergenerational dialogue, has been repeatedly extended and is now in its third phase:
- Year 2020, Phase I
200 older people were helped to overcome social isolation by learning advanced technologies with the support of 50 young volunteers
- Year 2021, Phase II
another 100 women and men over the age of 60 received smartphones and were trained by groups of 25 young volunteers on how to use them
- Year 2022, Phase III
Nationwide expansion: 200 seniors and 75 volunteers from several villages and towns of Moldova were involved.
Extension in Chisinau municipality: at the request of the General Division of Medical and Social Assistance of Chisinau municipality, UNFPA extended the phase III in Chisinau municipality for 130 elderly people, with the involvement of 50 young volunteers of the Chisinau Municipal Youth Centre.
With the extension in Chisinau municipality, a total of 630 elderly people and about 200 young volunteers from 26 localities in 7 districts of the Republic of Moldova are involved in the program. Young volunteers train the elderly on how to use their mobile phones and provide constant support when they need it.
In addition to being trained in the use of the smartphone, the elderly who participate in the program are trained in how to use the online services of the National Social Insurance House (NSIH) to be able to submit an online request for pension reallocation or to make an online appointment with the offices the Territorial Social Insurance Houses and learn how to use the electronic services of the e-Governance Agency such as the use of digital signature. Such trainings will take place again this year. The elderly also benefit from information sessions on healthy ageing, how to prevent and report cases of violence, neglect and abuse faced by the elderly and psychological support sessions.
According to the data of the Generations and Gender Survey, conducted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection and UNFPA, the digital divide between older and younger people is huge – only 34% of the population aged 60-79 used the Internet, compared to 82% of the population aged 15-59.
The ‘Digital Skills Connect Generations’ program aims to promote active ageing and support social and digital inclusion of older people with the help of young people. The program is funded by UNFPA Moldova, the Moldcell Foundation, the Czech Republic and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and implemented by HelpAge International Moldova in partnership with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Republic of Moldova in 26 localities.
