Government, United Nations Children's Fund strengthen partnership for children's welfare in Moldova

The government and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will continue their collaboration, in order to ensure the protection of children's rights, reduce child poverty rates and improve access to quality services. Projects conducted in Moldova to promptly respond to children's needs have been discussed at a meeting of Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu with the UNICEF Resident Representative in Moldova Maha Damaj.

The PM appreciated the outcomes of the partnership with UNICEF, highlighting the importance of collaboration in strengthening the children’s protection system and promoting effective and well-targeted policies and programmes, including for the most vulnerable groups. According to the prime minister, the government and UNICEF share the same vision and goal: for all children to grow up in a harmonious, responsible society, prepared to ensure their necessary development.

In this regard, UNICEF conducts numerous programmes in Moldova, focused on education, early development, health, poverty reduction and creating safe conditions for children's welfare. Thanks to the partnership between UNICEF and the Government of Germany, schools of Moldova benefit from modernized water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure.

At the same time, UNICEF supported the implementation of the social assistance system reform – RESTART. The reform allowed for increased accessibility to social services in all localities, the development of more efficient early intervention mechanisms and personalized support for each family. Moreover, over 100 children from 37 residential institutions have been returned home or placed in family-type care services under UNICEF's Better Care for Children project.

The officials also discussed priority actions for the coming period, focused on identifying mechanisms to prevent and reduce poverty among children. It is important that all children, including those from vulnerable groups, have access to quality health, nutrition, protection and education services, in order to provide  everyone with opportunity to reach their potential.