REPORT ON THE RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE REGIONAL CSO`S CONSULTATIONS IN MOLDOVA

The CSOs Consultations on GMC and preparation to the UN Special Session for Children were held in Moldova from February 16 to March 22, 2001.

Five regional meetings were organized by a steering committee which included representatives of the National Youth Council, the "Youth for the Right to Life" NGO, "Save the Children"-Moldova, and UNICEF.

The objectives of the meetings were:

Х To strengthen the GMC process in Moldova;

Х To improve the CSOs involvement in activities addressed to children and initiate a networking process at national level;

Х To identify priorities, challenges and specific strategies in working for children at national, regional and localааа level and to make recommendations for better protection of child rights;

Х To define the Moldova CSOs vision for Regional CSOs Consultations. Regional Consultative Sessions were organized throughout Moldova.

Approximately 280 people participated to these sessions:

Хаааа 195 NGO representatives, leaders of local, national and regional NGOs dealing with education, health, protection and participation of children and youth, as well as women's organizations;

Хаааа 25 representatives of public administrations and local government;

"аааа 30 adolescents and young people involved in participatory programmes, such as Children's Parliament and Local Children&Youth Councils;

"аааа 15 representatives of academic institutions;

Хаааа 10 representatives of local media.

The Global Movement for Children process was shared and discussed with in Moldova and in the regions, and made proposals regarding the future agenda for children.

The consultations proved to be a valuable opportunity for improving and in some cases stimulating for the first time after the administrative reform of 1999, joint meetings and a constructive dialogue between local authorities and NGOs. From this perspective, the organization of consultations was highly welcomed as it initiated and facilitated an exchange of information on local priorities for children and ways for future cooperation.

In general, the participants expressed their concern regarding the complexity of the problems and the lack of financial resources allocated by the State for children's care, protection and development.

The main issues addressed by the participants were as follows:

a) Stringent need of collaboration between civil society and public/governmental institutions on child rights protection issues.

Participants agreed that there are no current mechanisms of efficient collaboration either among CSOs at local level, or between NGOs and local administrations. There is a need to channel the information on activities developed by different NGOs and academic institutions. Often organizations undertake overlapping activities being unaware of each other's presence in the field. Participants proposed to hold periodic meetings and requested UNICEF's support for the publication of a newsletter for NGOs working for children and young people.

Participants also stressed that the collaboration between NGOs and state structures is rather poor due to bureaucratic obstacles, lack of appropriate communication mechanisms and insufficient information on national legislation regarding associative sector. Moreover, it was recommended to improve the exchange of experiences between NGOs and to increase the number of seminars and training activities for local NGOs, in order to build the necessary capacities for better child protection and development. No clear definition on modalities of cooperation between public and non-governmental sectors at local level was reached, though the process of consultations will continue.

NGOs made the following recommendations for local administrations:

" To create local funds to support NGOs initiatives addressing child care and protection;

Х To appoint focal points responsible for the co-operation with non-governmental organizations within local and central administration bodies;

Х "To inform the public opinion and local NGOs on decisions taken by public administrations, in order to ensure a wider participation of civil society to the decision-making process;

Х To increase the local budget expenditures for social assistance to children and young people in need of special protection.

Reduced access of children to basic education, especially in rural areas, has been one major concern pointed out by the NGOs representatives throughout the country. The most affected areas proved to be the Southern region of Moldova. Children don't attend the school due to the fact that families cannot meet the costs of schooling, textbooks, clothing, footwear and food. Access to early childhood education was reduced drastically and it remains entirely at the discretion of local authorities. The phenomena of children, whose parents have left abroad to seek employment, has become an emerging issue especially in rural areas.

Participants stressed the lack of actions taken at local level to support children in need. Schools do not offer adequate conditions for child development according to their individual needs and potential. There is a critical lack of textbooks, teaching materials etc. This leads to a poor quality of education. Local authorities often do not have evidence of children who are temporary left without parents' care and there are no services available to support these children.

Children's care and health problems constitute an important issue to be addressed by CSOs and local authorities. Reduced access to basic health services minimizes the likelihood of their survival and full physical, cognitive and emotional development. Poor nutrition exposes children to stunting and illnesses. Unfortunately, many medical services are less accessible to rural families, and preventive medicine is underdeveloped.

In Central and Northern regions of Moldova, drug abuse, STIs and HIV/AIDS infection are rapidly increasing. Adolescents are being exposed to increasing risks while health education is almost missing from school curricula.

Recommendation:

Х Creation of day centers for children that can not attend the school, in order to offer them social assistance, counseling, information, meals and other support;

" Creation of community educational centers, which can replace closed kindergarten in rural villages;

Х Organization of feeding programmes in schools for children from poor families;

Х Elaboration of a study on the phenomena of children left without parent's support as a result of migration, elaboration of recommendations for dealing with it and creation of social services for children in need.

c) Institutionalized children

The situation of children in residential institutions was addresses in all-regional CSOs consultations. Local authorities are now having the responsibility of supporting large state institutions, after their transfer from central to local budgets. At the same time, with the exception of the Chisinau and Cahul judet, there are no models of alternative services or foster care services for children left without parental care. Local administrations are nor familiar with possible ways to reorganize the system. The representatives of social work departments in universities advocated in fhn maotinno fnr tho nood nf rointonratinn nf nhilrlrsn in families and develooment of

inclusion and socialization were also stressed. Specific social support for families with disable children is missing from agenda of local authorities.

The recommendations made by participants to CSOs consultation:

Х Creation of community based day care centers for children in need of special protection and disable children;

Х Creation of crisis centers for street children;

Х Reorganization of existing residential institutions for children in more child-oriented and friendly units, with more teaching and less administrative staff;

Х Support to alternatives to residential care at the local level and identification of local and community resources for vulnerable children.

d) Information and development of adolescents

The stringent need for life skills and health education and information of adolescents, as well as organization of their recreational activities, were high on the agenda of all CSOs consultations. Throughout Moldova, this social group proved to be limited in access to relevant and age-appropriate information. There are no safe and friendly spaces where children and young people can spend their time, communicate, receive information, etc. Former public clubs and libraries are closed or in advanced state of deterioration, while new facilities for children are not in place. Limited access to media and the lack of age-appropriate media, non-access to informational technologies and Internet, lack of models for participation and even lack of positive behavioral models proved to be negative phenomena.

In all the regions the absence of open spaces was highlighted, where adolescents can spend their free time, free of charge. In all educational institutions books and elementary sport equipment are missing, and extracurricular activities do not correspond to the children's wishes. Extracurricular activities are not well thought and organized, and usually are nobody's responsibility. There are few extracurricular activities in schools, but students do not attend most of them for the simple reason that the lessons are not interesting enough and are taught in an old-fashion way. Finally, no youth festivals were organized in Moldova for last ten years and the young people usually do not participate to the international meetings, gatherings and festivals, because of the lack of financial means.

Adolescents present at the meetings addressed children and youth participation issues. They stressed the fact that they are deprived of the freedom of expression and freedom of opinion in schools, as well as in their families. The participants from Southern region referred to the need of civic education, including child rights education for those adults, who work with children. They consider that democratic spirit is not dominant in schools, and children's opinion is not considered. Not all initiatives of adolescents are supported by the adults, and in many cases they confront with neglect from those responsible for their education.

In this context the participants recommend:

аCreation or re-opening, where possible, of local friendly and safe spaces for adolescents and youth, such as clubs, libraries, centers for creation etc, as an alternative to negative influences and a prevention measure to juvenile crime, drug abuse and other risky behaviors;

Х Creation of several mobile libraries to offer services for children and youth from faraway communities;

Х Support of the connection of schools and lyceums to Internet;

Х Elaboration of a study on young people opinions and interests and elaborate extracurricular activities in accordance with their needs and interests;

Х Re-establishment at the community level the relationship between the school-community-cultural institutions in order to organize adolescents development, and participation;

" Introduction of a civic education course in school curricula;

Х Support to local youth media projects;

" Creation and training of local groups of young volunteers in peer education and community participation;

Х Support of initiatives of groups of children and youth NGOs in working with their peers.

As an overall result of the consultations, several actions were planed:

Х UNICEF and National Youth Council decided to print a be-weekly newsletter for CSOs working for children and young people. This will include information on new initiatives, projects, and exchange of experience, etc.

Х The periodical consultations/meetings with NGOs&local public administration will be supported and stimulated. In the Southern Region of Moldova participants to the consultations agreed to hold monthly meetings of local administration and NGOs working for children, in order to join efforts and find solutions for the emerging problems.

Х UNICEF and National Youth Council of Moldova will take in consideration the possibility to organize capacity building training for local NGO leaders and public functionaries.

Х New groups of young volunteers will be trained in Orhei and Rezina.

Х UNICEF, National Youth Council and "Save the Children"-Moldova will prepare periodically information kits for NGOs involved in child rights protection.

" UNICEF will participate to the organization of third National Forums of NGOs, which will take place in November 2001, including the GMC related issues and the priorities for children in Moldova on agenda.