150 participants, representatives of central and local public authorities in charge of children’s rights, and civil society representatives met at the National Conference entitled “Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the Republic of Moldova: from Wishes to Reality”.The Conference was organize by the Ombudsperson's Office, supported by UNDP and UNICEF Moldova, as well as by the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In the opening of the conference, Ombudsperson Mihail Cotorobai highlighted the importance of the topics tackled at the Conference, as they affect the about 690,900children from the Republic of Moldova who – given their age – cannot defend their rights unless helped by adults. For more than 20 years our country has been taking measures to guarantee the rights of the child. The accomplishments and challenges in this respect were discussed during the four sessions of the National Conference. The Ombudsperson mentioned that the most serious challenges in the child protection area were included as topics on the Conference agenda.
During the 22 years, since the Parliament of Moldova ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, a lot has been achieved. Many more children grow up at home with their parents, not in institutions, and more schools opened their doors to children with special needs. We need to make more progresses and provide equal opportunities to children from vulnerable groups, such as Roma children, minors in residential institutions, and children with disabilities. No child should be left behind, said Nune Mangasaryan, UNICEF Representative in Moldova.
Dafina Gercheva, the UN Permanent Representative in Moldova who attended the event, said that the Republic of Moldova made strategical steps towards the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child over the last twenty years, although there still are challenges to deal with. Political will and joint efforts are needed to ensure the absolute observance of the rights of every child in Moldova, regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion, social or health status. “We have to build an inclusive society for all children, including for the ones with disabilities, who are integrated in mainstream schools”, said Dafina Gercheva.
Children’s right to social assistance and protection was the topic of the first session of the Conference, which was chaired by the head of the Municipal Directorate for Children’s Rights Protection, Svetlana Chifa. Representative of the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Protection, Viorica Dumbraveanu, spoke about the development of the national legal framework on ensuring children’s right to social assistance and protection from the perspective of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The role and duties of the guardianship authorities in ensuring the observance of the right to social assistance and protection was the topic of the message delivered by representative of the Chisinau Municipal Division for Children’s Rights Protection, Liliana Balan. In connection with every child’s right to a family, Domnica Gancu – project manager at LUMOS NGO, spoke about the de-institutionalization model implemented by her organization. The message of Lina Botnaru from “Copil, Comunitate, Familie” NGO (“Child, Community, Family”) was about observing the children’s right to family: “A family for every child”. Representative of ”Keystone Human Services Moldova Association” tackled the issue of social assistance and protection to children with disabilities during the de-institutionalization process, family support and social inclusion. Another topic discussed during the first session was about the participation of children in making decision that concern them; this presentation was made by Natalia Semeniuc – consultant in child participation in “Parteneriate pentru fiecare copil” NGO (“Partnerships for Every Child”).
Issues related to the observance of the rights of children to education, opinion, spare time and rest were debated during the second session chaired by the Director of the Republican Psycho-Educational Assistance Center, Virginia Rusnac. The Head of the Pre-University Education Division – Valentina Chicu, spoke about the observance of children’s right to education. Mrs Svetlana Curilov – Depty Director of the Republican Psycho-Educational Assistance Center focused on educational inclusion of children with special educational needs from the perspective of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Representative of the National Public Health Center made a presentation entitled “Providing optimal conditions in educational institutions considering the pupils’ and kindergarten children’s right to health”. Mrs Irina Gusan, from the Information and Documentation Center on Child Rights from Moldova spoke about the children’s opinion regarding the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Children's activities during their spare time and their rest time was the topic that Dorina Besleaga from “ARTICO” Republican Center for Children and Youth focused on.
The third session of the Conference entitled “Justice for Children” was chaired by Sergiu Ursu, PhD in Law, Associate Professor. The session was about “Progresses made in the implementation of the reform in the field of justice for children” (Cristina Melnic, Head of Division, Ministry of Justice); preventing juvenile delinquency in the Republic of Moldova (Daniela Josanu-Groza, Criminal Justice Reforms Institute); impact of the phenomenon of torture and ill-treatment on the development of children (Ludmila Popovici, Executive Director of “Memoria” Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture); hearing of children victims/witnesses of crimes (Diana Teberneac, lawyer, National Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse).
The issues concerning the observance of children’s rights to health, protection against abuse, trafficking and exploitation were debated on during the fourth session. The Head of the Center for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Sergiu Nani, spoke about child protection against trafficking and exploitation. The Head of the Legal Division of the Ministry of Education, Rodica Josanu, focused o preventing child abuse, reporting of cases of abuse at school. Neli Revenco, PhD in Medicine, university professor, tackled the issues about ensuring the observance children’s right to quality health care, while Tatiana Nuianina, psychologist in the “La Strada” International Center, spoke about the children who are victims/witnesses of sexual abuse/exploitation.
The participants in the discussions agreed unanimously that the situation concerning children’s rights protection and the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child can only be improved if joint efforts are invested by the public authorities and the civil society.
The participants expressed their hope that the discussions during the conference will contribute to the identification of new approaches and possible solutions for the protection of the rights of children in the Republic of Moldova.
MATERIALELE CONFERINȚEI:
SESIUNEA I
4. O FAMILIE PENTRU FIECARE COPIL DE LA PLANURI LA ACTIUNE ( prezentarea CCF Moldova)
