Grant worth 10 million euros to be used to strengthen essential services for children, families of Moldova

The government of Moldova, the government of Germany, through the German Development Bank KfW, and UNICEF will join forces to strengthen and expand essential services for children and families across Moldova, including Ukrainian refugees and host communities. Thus, a grant of 10 million euros will be used to support an even larger number of children, both Moldovans and Ukrainians, in order to have access to protection services, healthcare, inclusive education, safe drinking water and sanitation in their communities.

The grant is provided under Phase II of the project, Child Protection and Access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Health and Social Services for Ukrainian Refugees and Host Communities of Moldova.

This new phase of the partnership focuses on facilitating access to services for children and on increasing the capacity to respond quickly to their needs. During the period 2026–2028, support will aim at expanding child protection and justice services, strengthening early intervention for young children with developmental delays, improving inclusion in schools and kindergartens, bringing health services closer to adolescents and modernizing water and sanitation conditions in early childhood education institutions.

“In recent years, we have modernized the infrastructure of more educational institutions, in order to ensure better learning conditions for both children and teaching staff. In the coming years, we will continue to support these initiatives to develop water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure in schools, so that all children, including refugees, can benefit from a safe and hygienic school environment,” said Dan Perciun, Minister of Education and Research.

According to the official, the new investments will lead to the creation of Resource Centers in six districts of the country, which will provide preschool-aged children with a friendly and inclusive environment to develop.

Health services will be expanded for both young children and adolescents. Early intervention centers will be modernized and equipped to more effectively support children with developmental delays, while adolescent-friendly mobile health services will reach more districts, providing mental health and psychosocial support, sexual and reproductive health services, as well as preventive information, including in rural areas.

For young children, water and sanitation conditions in kindergartens will be improved, with a focus on accessibility for children with disabilities and for communities hosting refugees.

“This partnership means turning public commitments into services that children can rely on every day. By investing in coordinated and sustainable services, we ensure that each child can grow up safe, supported and included,” said Maha Damaj, Representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Moldova.

A key priority is the expansion of the Barnahus model, so that children affected by violence can receive support in a safe and child-friendly environment. A new Barnahus center will be supported in the central region, complementing a national network of three regional centers (in the north, center and south of the country) and ensuring that no child will have to be sent from one institution to another to receive help.

“We stay committed to supporting services that make a real difference in children’s lives, from protection and justice to health, inclusive education and access to safe water and sanitation, reaching both children from refugee families and those from host communities,” emphasized Hubert Knirsch, Ambassador of Germany to  Moldova.

Preventing violence from an early stage is also a central pillar of this phase of the project. Nationwide, parenting support programmes will be expanded, helping caregivers create safer and more positive family environments, including for refugee families and for parents of children with disabilities.

In the first phase of this trilateral partnership, targeted improvements were supported in the areas of child protection, health, water and sanitation, as well as social services, benefiting more than 100,000 children and parents in Moldova and laying the foundation for the current scale-up.

The project is implemented by UNICEF, in partnership with the government of Moldova, with non-reimbursable financial support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), through the German Development Bank KfW.