A Memorandum of Collaboration between the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research and UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund was signed on Tuesday, November 7, 2017, aiming to increase adolescents' access to quality information on their participation, reproductive health, prevention of HIV/AIDS and gender based violence. The document stipulates the areas of collaboration ahead of the new 2018-2022 UNFPA Moldova Country Program.
Igor Sarov, Secretary General of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, thanked UNFPA for providing continuous support to the Republic of Moldova. "Youth health education topics are very important and can’not be missed on our agenda. We are in the process of curriculum revision now, and the Memorandum we have signed today gives us new opportunities for collaboration," the official stated.
Rita Columbia, UNFPA Representative in Moldova, expressed appreciation to the Ministry for the commitment to ensure the right to quality education and reiterated its suport for the alignment of health education to international standards. "We will continue to support teachers’ training, informative sessions for young people, as well as curriculum revision to ensure the quality of information in line with young people’s needs for life skills education and resilience building," she noted.
According to the Memorandum of Collaboration, both Ministry of Education and UNFPA will work together to improve access of young people to and quality of age-appropriate and culture-sensitive health education, increase awareness among parents, teachers, faith-based organisations, local public authorities, and mass-media on the importance of health education among young people, build national capacities in the use of disaggregated data on youth development and health behaviors. Partnerships with youth-friendly health centers, non-governmental and youth organizations, as well as other development partners, will be also further developed for the promotion and realization of quality health education in schools.
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, has been active in Moldova for more than ten years, supporting programmes for health education, reproductive health, youth participation, population and development. As part of 2013-2017 UNFPA Country Programme, more than 50,000 young people from the Republic of Moldova were informed about their health and human rights, while school nurses were trained to better respond to their informational needs.