Vadul lui Voda, 29 July 2019 - Personal development, vocational guidance, violence prevention in schools, online safety, ecology are just some of project themes proposed by young people from the 23 districts of the country, who presented their initiatives in a public event held in Vadul lui Vodă. Young people developed local initiatives with the support of Youth Centers and education specialists.

This is how Strengthened Participation and Civic Engagement among Young People in Moldova Project was launched. The project is funded by the Swiss Government and implemented by UNFPA and is part of the Joint Fund on the Strengthened Participation and Civic Engagement of Young People in the Republic of Moldova for 2017-2022.

Minister of Education, Culture and Research, Liliana Nicolaescu-Onofrei attended the event and highlighted the importance of involving young people, as well as the community in solving the youth issues in their communities: ‘Project sustainability is crucial and can be ensured not only by funds and funding, but also by community engagement, mobilisation of stakeholders and resources.’

‘Our goal is to help build an inclusive, peaceful and democratic society, with engaged people. Investing in young people is the first step in this process’, said Rita Columbia, UNFPA Representative in Moldova, welcoming the support of the Swiss Government, which supports the development of the youth sector in the Republic of Moldova.

Stefan Butscher, Deputy Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office, mentioned that the new project is part of the Local Government domain, aiming at strengthening the citizen-state relationship.

‘However, this can be achieved by enhancing the potential of youth workers and local public authorities of facilitating youth engagement’, said Stefan Butscher.

Elena Madan, Director of Terres des Hommes Moldova, one of the implementing partners of UNFPA, stated that: ‘This project is meant to provide opportunities for young people by empowering them to participate in all processes that concern them’.

The event culminated in assembling an enormous puzzle that represented the key project messages, such as #participation, #volunteering, #rights, #equal chances, #healthy behavior, # mobilization, #decisions, etc. The developed projects will be implemented this autumn by the youth teams in collaboration with Youth Centers, teachers of education for the society and other local stakeholders.

Note: Strengthened Participation and Civic Engagement among Young People in Moldova Project, funded by the Government of Switzerland, is part of the Joint Fund on the Strengthened Participation and Civic Engagement of Young People in the Republic of Moldova for 2017-2022. The Joint Fund, worth about USD 1.5 million, was set up by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research (MECR) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in 2017. In 2018, the Swiss Government joined the Joint Fund with an additional financial contribution of USD 1 million.