More than 2440 young people were involved in the development of community initiatives in 2022, with the support of 61 teachers and 45 youth workers, together with parents and representatives of the Rayonal Councils and local town halls from 30 communities in the country!
On the celebration of the 3rd year of initiatives carried out by young people for their peers, the representatives of the 34 teams consolidated and sustained by 20 Youth Centers, gathered for the totalization event hosted by the "Boris Dînga" High School in Criuleni.
For example, in the Criuleni district, 10 creative initiatives were carried out aimed at developing rural communities, but also contributing to the harmonious growth of young people in safe spaces. He is Sandu Batrîncea and he is 17 years old, he studies at the "B.Dînga" high school in the city of Criuleni. Together with his peers, they decided that they needed a creative place for young people, so the idea of building a gazebo near the school appeared. Assisted by the allied adults in the team, the youth workers of the "UniT" Criuleni Youth Center and the school teachers, they found solutions for the challenges encountered and united the young people in the community in fundraising activities: "Why wouldn't it be good to are lessons done outdoors? It's healthier and much more interesting. This is where the idea of the gazebo started. YouCreate granted us ten thousand lei, and from a fundraising event, we collected another 18,200 lei, and from the parents' and teachers' association they donated 26 thousand lei", said the young man in during the experience exchange visit with the YouCreate program teams.
Nicoleta Galescu is 16 years old and from the village of Chiperceni, Orhei, and she created the "Youth Room" initiative with her peers. "We wanted a space of ours, of the young people. Several young volunteers, as well as adults from the locality, participated in the construction works. Now we have a Youth Center in our village", said the young woman during the experience exchange visit with the teams from the YouCreate program. In the year 2022, several youth teams made 13 indoor spaces and set up another 10 friendly outdoor spaces for non-formal personal development activities for young people in their communities.
The YouCreate program is carried out in partnership with Terre des hommes - Moldova and the Network of Youth Centers from Moldova is the platform for the involvement and participation of young people at the local level, which allows the realization of creative community initiatives, and UNFPA advocates the involvement of young people in community development, because when empowered and given the right opportunities, young people are effective agents of change.
UNFPA together with its partners the Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Moldova and the Swiss Cooperation Office continuously invest in the creation and development of programs and platforms that increase the participation and civic involvement of young people in the Republic of Moldova and support the Network of Youth Centers in Moldova, so that young people to have opportunities to fully capitalize on their potential.
