28 July, Chisinau – each of the 44 youth centres from districts and rural areas of the country received a consignment of protection products and disinfectants for youth workers, to prevent and combat the epidemic caused by COVID-19.

 The action takes place under the Joint Fund for Developing Youth Centres and Strengthened Participation and Civic Engagement of Young People in the Republic of Moldova, set up by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the United Nations Population Fund.

A total of 2,420 of reusable masks, 46 infrared thermometers, 585 litres of disinfectants and 666 packs of wet wipes with alcohol to disinfect the working surfaces within youth centres, as well as 324 litres of liquid soap, products that help to comply with the recommendations on protection measures against COVID-19. The consignment is worth over MDL 133 thousand.                     

 ‘Definitely the pandemic made us review our activity goals, one of our main aspirations being to ensure the health of students and young people. This consignment of protection equipment for youth workers will help create safe spaces for young people in the youth centres’, said Igor Sarov, the Minister of Education, Culture and Research, during the event when the products were donated.

This action is part of the commitment of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to support the Republic of Moldova, including the public institutions in responding tho the COVID-19 pandemic and in providing the support necessary to prevent it among the employees and among the entire population.

 ‘Youth centres are institutions that are friendly to the development and participation of young people and this donation will help youth workers to provide youth services in safe conditions for their health. The conditions imposed by COVID-19 made us find alternative sources and means to maintain our programs and activities, to continue our education and raise future leaders’, mentioned Nigina Abaszada, UNFPA Resident Representative in the Republic of Moldova. 

UNFPA, as part of the UN Moldova team, together with the development partners support the national response to the pandemic by means of activities aimed at protecting people, building the capacity of the health care system and reducing the economic and social shocks.

 ‘This support is important for Straseni Youth Centre and for the entire network of centres because it gives the opportunity to work with young people in a safe environment and with all the precautions’, specified Alina Darangiu, manager of Straseni Youth Centre who is among the first beneficiaries of this consignment of protection equipment.

Youth centres are public institutions that provide development and participation services for youth throughout the country. To prevent and avoid the spread of the virus and to protect the public health, youth centres will continue to be guided, in their work, by the decisions of the Extraordinary National Commission for Public Health, the orders and the decisions of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection and by the documents issued by competent public health authorities. 

Contact: Irina Dragutanu, Communication Assistant of the Joint Fund for Developing Youth Centres and Strengthened Participation and Civic Engagement of Young People in the Republic of Moldova, set up by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the United Nations Population Fund. Tel.069694246, dragutanu@unfpa.org