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Republic of Moldova - Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under Article 44 of the Convention: Second and third periodic reports of States parties due in 2005 [2008] UNCRCSPR 11; CRC/C/MDA/3 (10 July 2008)

COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES
UNDER ARTICLE 44 OF THE CONVENTION

Second and third periodic reports of States parties due in 2005

REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

[17 October 2007]

CONTENTS

Paragraphs Page

Introduction 4

I. GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION 1- 42 5

II. DEFINITION OF THE CHILD 43 - 50 14

III. GENERAL PRINCIPLES 51 - 82 16

A. Non-discrimination 51 - 61 16

B. Best interest of the child 62 - 63 19

C. Right to life, survival, and development 64 - 79 19

D. Respect for the opinion of the child 80 - 82 23

IV. CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS 83 - 120 24

A. Right to name, citizenship and preservation of identity 83 - 101 24

B. Freedom of expression 102 - 106 27

C. Freedom of thought, consciousness and religion 107 - 109 27

D. Freedom of association and peaceful assembly 110 - 111 28

E. Protection of personal and private life 112 - 113 28

F. Right of access to information 114 - 117 29

G. Right of not being subjected to torture or inhuman or
degrading treatment, including corporal punishment 118 - 120 30

V. FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE 121 - 224 30

A. Parent orientation/guidance 122 - 125 31

B. Parental responsibility 126 - 128 31

C. Separation from parents 129 - 137 32

D. Reuniting families 138 - 141 33

CONTENTS (continued)

Paragraphs Page

V. (cont’d)

E. Illegal placement/transfer and hindrance of child return 142 - 143 34

F. Payment of child support 144 - 146 34

G. Adoption 147 - 163 34

H. Children deprived of family environment
and parental care 164 - 209 38

I. Periodic verification of placement conditions and needs 210 - 211 53

J. Abuse and neglect, including physical and psychological
rehabilitation and social reintegration 212 - 224 54

VI. BASIC HEALTH AND WELL-BEING 225 - 298 57

A. Children with disabilities 225 - 232 57

B. Health and health services 233 - 257 59

C. Social security and social benefits 258 - 284 64

D. Living standards 285 - 298 72

VII. EDUCATION, CULTURAL AND RECREATIONAL
ACTIVITIES 299 - 362 75

VIII. SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES 363 - 448 86

A. Children in conflict with the law 364 - 405 86

B. Exploited children, including physical and psychological
rehabilitation and social reintegration 406 - 449 93

IX. DISSEMINATION OF THE REPORT 450 101

References 101

Annexes 102

Introduction

The information for the report on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child was collected by a working group of representatives of central public authorities established by the Government of the Republic of Moldova. The group submitted the data to the Ministry of Social Protection, Family and Child which analysed it and drafted this report. Throughout this process, the Ministry received support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Despite the limited opportunities and difficulties the Republic of Moldova faces, progress has been achieved in the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child especially in certain areas, and in commitment to overcome economic and social challenges has been demonstrated. Many issues related to children’s rights have been frequently included on the agenda of government institutions, as can be seen in this report. This includes legislative efforts and the implementation of a great number of activities and programmes to improve the situation of children by State bodies with financial support from international agencies.

In 2002-2003, the Government of Moldova underwent administrative reform, and a new local public administration authority was created. During the administrative reform, two great changes took place: the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection was turned into the Ministry of Health and Social Protection (July 2005) that was later split into the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Social Protection, Family and Child (Government Decision No. 52 of
18 January 2007). The latter is responsible for protecting the rights of families and children. As a result, it was necessary to restructure the activities and organization of specialized central public authorities and to review and adjust them to the new requirements of local public administration which lead to staff changes including staff on the working group. These changes delayed the drafting of the report and affected the quality of some information and content in general.

During the reporting period, the Government implemented a number of projects financed by the European Union following the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (2 October 2002) on preventing institutionalization; improving social assistance for vulnerable families with children at risk; and reintegrating children into families and communities. Nevertheless, issues remain to be solved by means of activities planned by government agencies in partnership with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), an essential resource for child protection in the Republic of Moldova.

Standardized procedures for record keeping and data processing in local authorities continue to be a critical issue. For that reason, the information presented for this report is at times fragmented. The lack of well-structured data explains why information on children was not appropriately used to assess achievements more effectively and to develop policies on child rights. This report does, however, contain approximately 90 per cent of the required information though some is anecdotal. It should be noted that due to the higher level of social and economic development of Chisinau Municipality and to the existence of a structured administration supporting child protection, the information collected by the Municipal Directorate for Child Rights Protection (MDPCR) is more comprehensive and qualitative and in certain parts of the report is listed separately.

In drafting this report, we became aware of the special attention that must be paid to children in extremely difficult situations as well as to areas poorly covered or not covered at all such as:

• Preventing and combating violence, child abuse and neglect (including of children whose parents are working abroad)
• Social integration of homeless children
• Directing resources towards people in need, especially towards persons/families at high risk

Special attention must also be paid to issues some consider not to be critical, for example children participating in decision-making on issues related to children within the community and in relevant institutions, thus ensuring protection of their interests.

Considering these facts, the Government considers it necessary to undertake the following measures when developing the next periodic report:

• Adopt an action plan based on the Committee’s recommendations and implement it step by step in order to avoid gaps in information as much as possible
• Designate a person from each institution to be responsible for the implementation of the Convention who will monitor the implementation of the corresponding segment based on a previously established methodology that will allow for an efficient qualitative and quantitative analysis
• Include representatives of civil society in the working group in order to ensure different opinions and views on measures taken for implementation of the Convention

The existence of a secessionist regime which was illegally established in an unconstitutional manner in the mid-1990s in the eastern part of Moldova - the Transnistrian region with an area of 4,163 square kilometres and a population of about 555,000 - made it impossible to apply the provisions of the Convention and other international treaties to which Moldova is a party throughout the country. In this context, Moldovan authorities hope that the Committee on the Rights of the Child will understand the inability of the Government to control activities in the Transnistrian region. Currently, only incomplete data about the activities of certain NGOs involved in protecting the rights of children that report in Moldovan using the Latin alphabet are available.

I. GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION

Harmonization of legislation with principles and provisions of the Convention

1. Any international document on human rights the Republic of Moldova adheres to (including documents on children’s rights), automatically becomes part of its legislation. If any national legal provision contradicts the international document, authorities have the right and obligation to directly apply the international document.

2. By Government Decision No. 727 of 16 June 2003, the National Strategy on Child and Family Protection was approved. One of its objectives is to develop/harmonize the legal framework on child and family protection and ensure the implementation of the Convention and other national and international legislation on child and family rights.

3. According to established procedure, any law that regulates human rights (including children’s rights) must be revised by the Council of Europe Venice Commission. During the reporting period, several laws in this field were passed which, when compared to former laws, contain a number of provisions meant to ensure a more proper application of children’s rights in various areas (the Family Code, Criminal Code, Civil Code, Execution Code, etc.).

4. The Republic of Moldova not only tries to comply with international standards, but also tries to provide a better legal framework. Therefore, some provisions of the national legislation are more favourable and detailed than the provisions of the Convention:

• The Family Code contains the following favourable provisions: the right of minor parents to live with their children and participate in their upbringing; right to adoption regulated by the Convention and complemented by the Family Code with the right to request the cancellation of an adoption. The national legislation exemplifies methods of separation from parents, when children’s interests are at stake: deprivation of parental rights and separation from parents without loss of parental rights.
• The Civil Code gives children the right to apply for legal capacity until they reach 18 years through emancipation; the right to children aged 7 to 14 and 14 to 16 to obtain the right to sign certain legal documents without the presence of legal representatives and the right to inheritance, allowing even a newborn to use this right.
• Criminal Procedure Code. Besides the right granted to minors by the Convention to be assisted in court by a legal representative, minors also have the opportunity to have a representative provided by the State in case a child’s interests are different from those of his legal representative. Civil procedure legislation gives the child the option to independently file a complaint in court in order to defend his/her legal rights and interests.
• The Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code contain provisions meant to ensure favourable treatment of children in conflict with the law. The maximum term of imprisonment for minors was reduced by half; it cannot be more than 12 years and 6 months if one crime was committed and no longer than 15 years if more than one crime was committed. Detention as a form of procedural constraint cannot last longer than 24 hours.

Resources from international assistance and development programmes

5. In 2003, 185 technical assistance projects were implemented, 23 of which were in the social area. In 2004, 168 projects were carried out, 34 in the social area. In 2005 the volume of external technical assistance continued to increase, constituting 196 projects at the end of

the year. A total of 24 technical assistance projects amounting to US$ 22.1 million were implemented in 2006 with support from DIFID, Sida, USAID, UNDP, IOM, the Swiss Government, the European Union and GTZ. In 2006 over 650,000 euros were spent. Assistance in the field of social protection, including assistance for protecting children’s rights, increased every year.

6. During the reference period, the United States of America, the European Union, United Nations, Sweden, Great Britain, Switzerland and other donors have provided assistance for protecting children’s rights.

Assistance in 2000

7. Great Britain assisted the Chisinau mayor’s office in organizing a series of activities for the rehabilitation of homeless children by building the Youth Residential Centre in Chisinau for homeless children and children from families at risk of abandonment, by building the Vatra Day Care Centre for temporary post-institutional placement for orphans and young people, and building the Attention Centre for socializing and developing children with special needs. Germany financed the construction of the Centre for Children and Young People in Budesti village of Chisinau Municipality which provides guidance to local authorities in promoting and developing a healthy lifestyle for young people and serves as an example for other regions in the country.

Assistance in 2003

8. Switzerland provided emergency assistance through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDA) in winter by donating food and hygiene products to over 4,600 persons and by delivering 54 tons of powder milk to orphanages (40 social institutions). The Summer Camp for Disadvantaged Children project financed by SDA benefited some 1,200 children from orphanages and large families and children with disabilities. Switzerland also financed the “Health for Mother and Child” project in which 400 people (family doctors and nurses) received training according to WHO-UNICEF standards, and 100 people other than health-care staff were trained to carry out an information campaign for 11,000 families of reproductive age. Several teaching materials on family planning were published. These activities resulted in a decrease in the maternal and infant mortality rates and in hospitalization of children in severe condition in Ungheni district where the project was piloted.

9. The European Union financed the implementation of the project “Promotion and development of social assistance for children with neurological and psychiatric diseases”. Employees were trained to work in day-care centres throughout Moldova, and an international conference on child reintegration was organized. In addition, the first two of three volumes on the PORTAGE method for taking care of children were published.

10. The “Moldova. Social Protection Policy” Project financed by the Swedish Agency for International Development (Sida), aims at providing assistance for the implementation of a more efficient social assistance system for children and families. In the Sida-financed “Children and Adolescents at Risk” project, seminars, conferences and on-the-job training on child protection

and on promoting new social assistance policies were organized for social assistants who work with people with disabilities and children at risk. Two-week training sessions were carried out in Ostersund (Sweden) for 14 social assistants from Ungheni, Chisinau and Peresecina.

Assistance in 2003

11. The Sida-financed project “Social Assistance Development. Children and Adolescents at Risk” continued. It promoted a new approach in protecting young people at risk from abuse and neglect.

12. The United Nations implemented the programme “Combating Child Labour” for planning, monitoring and evaluating measures to combat exploitation, which covered two areas. The first was capacity-building, improving legislation, mobilizing and spreading information. The second included preventing child exploitation through labour, rehabilitating children and social and educational reintegration.

Assistance in 2005

13. Sida financed several technical assistance projects with a budget of US$ 7 million including “Development of Social Assistance in Moldova” and “Children and Adolescents at Risk”.

14. An initiative of the German Technical Cooperation Bureau (GTZ), the project “Improving Assistance for Students with Special Needs in Schools and Specialized Institutions” promoted ideas on school integration among specialists, teachers, parents and students. The project aims to strengthen partnerships between educational institutions and organizations that provide services for children with special needs and their families; to stimulate local initiatives through small grant contests for educational institutions, NGOs and parent associations that work with children with special needs and to raise awareness on school reintegration issues. Four educational institutions were selected to build access ramps and equip special halls for the multifunctional rehabilitation of students with special needs (implementation period April 2005-2007, total budget US$ 0.18 million).

15. Assistance was also received in this respect from the Austrian Development Agency (ADA). Hilfswerk Austria, an Austrian partner, implemented a five-phase three-year project. The first phase which lasted from September 2004 to August 2007 with a budget of 810,000 euros was implemented by the Austrian Government via ADA. Rehabilitation activities were organized in the orphanage in Tiraspol and measures were taken to combat problems such as institutionalization, child neglect and abuse, trafficking in human beings, poverty and poor education.

16. The Department for International Development of the United Kingdom (DFID) and Sida donated US$ 66,000 and US$ 500,000 respectively to the Social Investment Fund of Moldova for improving the lives of children at risk and their families by creating alternative social services and preventing the institutionalization of children in difficulty.

Assistance in 2006

17. The number of technical assistance projects increased to 244 with a total budget of US$ 310 million; 18 on children’s rights with a budget of US$ 19.4 million were implemented with support from DFID, UNICEF, IOM, GTZ and SDA.

18. In 2006, the World Bank contracted the Social Investment Fund of Moldova to perform a technical assessment of 93 nurseries in various districts. The assessment was complex and included organizing trainings for more than 50 persons (representatives of local public administrations from 33 districts). The seminars provided information on increasing access of preschool children to education in the framework of its Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (EGPRSP); on methods to collect data and the methodology for making a quick social and technical evaluation and on the role of local public authorities in data collection for a quick social and technical evaluation. The Consultative Group of the Project (comprised of ministry experts, representatives of UNICEF, UNESCO, World Bank and preschool education specialists) recommended 33 nurseries to the Project Management Committee. The list of nurseries selected for renovation was approved by the Ministry of Education and Youth; consultants were identified and contracted. The reference period was established and coordinated with donors and the selection procedure was initiated to: (a) develop educational and professional standards; (b) develop an interior and exterior design for nurseries in order to ensure the visibility of the project and to renovate nurseries in the same style; (c) build a pilot centre for children in one of these nurseries; (d) develop a monitoring and evaluation system of the preschool educational system and provide nurseries with books; (e) develop technical requirements according to best international practices for equipping renovated nurseries and creating educational centres; and (f) develop a communication and social mobilization strategy. Consultants from the Science and Education Institute and international experts received assistance in reviewing and completing the curriculum for early and preschool education. The curriculum was approved by the ministry and will be piloted within the project.

19. The Mother and Child Health project (financed by SDA) aims at reducing the rate of maternal mortality and improving the health of future mothers and newborn children. A total of 14 five-day training sessions were organized for 293 employees in primary health care. In all, 26 obstetricians received training in essential obstetric care and 50 midwives received training in essential newborn care. According to the COMBI plan (Communication for Behavioral Impact), health-care providers, teachers, mayors and other members of communities actively distributed informative messages and materials and information on prenatal care was also disseminated via radio and TV.

20. According to the joint UNICEF-TACIS project “Development of Integrated Social Services for Vulnerable Families and Children at Risk” the final draft of the national strategy and of the action plan for the reform of the residential childcare system was developed. The project’s outcomes are the following: the legislative framework for the reform in child and family protection was revised; the financing mechanism of the residential childcare system was evaluated and recommendations for changes in these mechanisms were drafted; training was organized for managers of boarding schools from six regions (21 persons), LPA representatives

from 6 regions (61 persons), social assistants (51 persons), educators from 5 residential institutions (100 persons); 51 social assistants from 6 districts were employed in 48 positions in 6 districts, 11 in residential institutions; 6 offices for the newly employed workers from 6 districts were repaired and equipped.

21. Some children in Moldova are at risk of becoming victims of trafficking through begging, labour or sexual exploitation. Therefore, UNICEF and SDA supported the implementation of the “FACT Fight Against Trafficking in Children” project initiated by the NGO Terre des Hommes. The number of child victims of trafficking decreased in Chisinau, Soroca and Ungheni by approximately 100 children. Half of them were reunited with their families and another half joined social institutions. Trafficking of 4,000 children at risk was prevented, an information campaign which targeted 30,000 families (at medium risk) was organized; the agreement on child protection was signed and efforts were made to fight trafficking in children in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Youth, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Social Protection, Family and Child and district authorities from Soroca and Ungheni.

Information on measures on violations of children’s rights and children’s access to it

22. To a large extent, cases of violation of children’s rights are solved by the supervisory authorities operating in every raion (municipality). By law, children at the age of 14 can directly address these institutions if their rights are violated. Children can also file a direct complaint to the court.

23. The Municipal Directorate for Child Rights Protection (DMPDC) of Chisinau Municipality is a good example of the activities of supervisory authorities. Taking part in court hearings on cases related to protecting children’s rights is one of the Department’s priorities. In 2006, the employees of the Directorate participated in 978 court trials protecting children’s interests, (451 in 2001, 487 in 2002, 640 in 2003, 755 in 2004 and 922 in 2005).

24. Labour migration has had a negative impact on family relations and has caused problems between parents, increasing the number of family conflicts. In order to protect the best interests of children, a commission for examining and solving conflicts was created within the Directorate to deal with issues such as a child’s reintegration into his biological family, supporting requests for depriving parental rights, participation in a child’s upbringing by parents living separately, the opportunity of establishing/cancelling supervision and the need to place a child in a residential care institution.

25. The Municipal Council for Child’s Rights Protection was established in 2004 to enhance collaboration among the subdivisions of the Municipal Council on Child Rights Protection. For the same purpose, councils for protecting children’s rights were established at level I of Chisinau local public administration. Violations of children’s rights are investigated by the Service for Psychological, Social and Legal Assistance within the MDCRP.

Independent monitoring structures

26. As mentioned in the initial report, in order to ensure the observance of all constitutional rights and liberties of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova, the Institute of Parliamentary Advocates (Ombudsman) (Law No. 1349 of 17 October 1997) and the Centre for Human Rights of Moldova were established. The Institute of Parliamentary Advocates does not replace other executive bodies and does not overlap with them. Parliamentary advocates exercise their authority, or, on request persons claiming that their rights and liberties have been violated inform competent bodies. The Institute accomplishes its objectives in the following ways:

• Hearing citizens whose legitimate interests and rights have been violated in the Republic of Moldova
• Receiving and examining petitions and reinstating the rights of citizens (including children)
• Informing and educating community members about human rights
• Organizing editorial activities
• Collaborating with local and foreign social partners to accomplish the established objectives

27. At the beginning of each year, the Institute of Parliamentary Advocates submits a report to Parliament on the observance of human rights in the Republic of Moldova, during the previous year.

28. Children’s rights, as an inalienable part of fundamental human rights and liberties, are the permanent concern of parliamentary advocates.

29. In 2001, the Institute of Parliamentary Advocates was addressed by the inhabitants of the villages of Valea Florii and Capriana from Lapusna to help students who had to walk 10 kilometres to reach school which caused a serious school attendance problem. As a result of the involvement of the parliamentary advocates and with help from the local public authority, the problem was solved and the students were provided with necessary transportation.

30. In 2003, a parliamentary advocate defending the interests of a deaf child sued the Medical Territorial Association of the Botanica sector of Chisinau and the doctor who had treated him. Forty-three thousand two hundred lei were required to buy a hearing device for the child. The Court upheld the action of the parliamentary advocate.

31. In 2004, the parliamentary advocates examined the petitions of a group of citizens whose children wanted to return to their studies abroad but were banned from leaving the country because they did not observe the rules for leaving Moldova according to which minors have

the right to leave or enter the territory of the Republic of Moldova only accompanied by a legal representative or by a person appointed by a notarized declaration. Aware that this was an effort by the State to prevent and combat trafficking in children, the parliamentary advocates still considered that prohibiting minor students or students registered in foreign educational institutions from leaving the country without a person accompanying them seriously violated their right to education and their right to free circulation, rights granted by the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, and they advocated a more simplified procedure for that category of people. For this purpose, they asked Parliament to amend the legislation so that students and students registered in foreign educational institutions would be able to leave the country by presenting registration documents issued by their educational institutions and a notarized declaration signed by one of their legal representatives allowing them to leave that indicated the country of destination, the purpose of the trip, the period of time to be spent in the foreign country and the validity of the declaration. After a lobbying period, the proposal was adopted on 23 December 2005.

32. In 2005, the employees of the Institute of Parliamentary Advocates conducted investigations regarding the number of children not attending school, the level of preparation of educational institutions for the academic year 2005-2006 and the most serious problems faced by the educational institutions in Moldova.

33. During the reference period the CFHR conducted a number of activities related to human rights, some of which paid special attention or exclusively focused on child rights:

• The round table “The Rights of the Child: Current Situation and Prospects” (2004, Chisinau).
• The round table “The Observance and Protection of the Rights of People” (2005, Chisinau) focusing on the legal framework for observing and protecting the rights of people (including children) as well as on social assistance and protecting people.
• Annual lectures (1-10 December) in schools and high schools as part of the Decade for Human Rights Education on human rights especially children’s rights.
• Materials on human rights including the CFHRP calendar with a description of events related to children’s rights (2002); the booklet “Illegal Labour Migration: A Source of Trafficking in Human Beings” (2004), the booklet “The Rights of the Child” (2004), the booklet “Some Aspects Regarding the Legal Framework on Prevention and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings” (2006).
• The hotline on human rights established in 2004-2005 to inform citizens who request information or who need urgent legal advice about their constitutional rights and liberties and mechanisms to protect them.

NGOs and civil society

34. As result of the Committee’s comments on the initial report, the Republic of Moldova undertook specific steps to involve NGOs in the implementation of the Convention and improved cooperation between State institutions and NGOs.

35. During the reference period, many important programmes were implemented by NGOs with the support and/or direct involvement of government institutions. It is worth mentioning that the Institute for Penal Reforms, in partnership with Parliament, the Ministry of Justice, the General Prosecutor’s Office and the Superior Council of Magistrates implemented many relevant programmes in juvenile justice.

Dissemination and training

36. Several NGOs supported by UNICEF Moldova organized training sessions on many issues in the Convention, including the participation of young people in decision-making, preventing high-risk behaviour among children and young people, social inclusion and juvenile justice. Children and specialists, i.e., teachers, people working with young people, psychologists, social assistants, doctors, lawyers, prosecutors and criminal prosecution officers, judges and employees of the penitentiary system all attended the training sessions.

37. Taking into account the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and focusing on the needs of the child and the family in the Republic of Moldova, the National Strategy for Child and Family Protection was developed, which defined the priorities for child protection and the direction of activities for 2003-2008.

38. The strategy adopts a holistic approach towards children and the problems they face from the perspective of their best interests. The National Council for Child Rights Protection, an NGO, was in charge of monitoring and insuring the observance of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, implementing the provisions of the Law of the Republic of Moldova on the Rights of the Child and of developing and coordinating the implementation of policies in child rights protection. It also coordinated activities at the central and local levels and developed effective partnerships with international organizations (UNICEF, UNDP, UNAIDS, DFID, the World Bank), NGOs and other sectors of civil society.

39. In the period 2000-2006 the National Council guided the development of policies in child protection and the consolidation of human resources:

• National Strategy on Child and Family Protection (2003)
• National Plan to Prevent and Combat Trafficking in Human Beings (prevention, assistance and combating trafficking in children) (2004)

• Minimum Quality Standards for childcare and education within child protection services (family homes, temporary placement centres, residential institutions for childcare and education) (2002-2006)
• Promotion of professional training of specialists in the field of child protection (essential knowledge of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, prevention and combating of violence against children, child rights protection within childcare and protection services etc.)
• Promotion of family services for protection of children in difficulty (day-care centres, community centres, family homes, professional parental assistance, etc.)

40. The National Council also organized local councils for child rights protection which directly assist children in difficulty and look for best solutions to protect children in their family environment. These local councils are to be analysed and consolidated to become more efficient. Administrative reforms carried out during the reporting period negatively affected their functioning.

41. The Government undertook measures to strengthen the capacity of the National Council by including representatives of competent government agencies and representatives of national and international partners (e.g., UNICEF, Save the Children, the Alliance of NGOs working in child and family social protection). Nevertheless, maintaining adequate human and financial resources for the Council continues to be an issue.

42. The UNICEF Representative in Moldova provides technical assistance to the Government to strengthen and develop capacities of the National Council, particularly of its permanent secretariat.

II. DEFINITION OF THE CHILD

43. According to the Law on the Rights of the Child No. 338 of 15 December 1999, a person shall be considered a child from the moment of birth until the age of 18 (art. 1, para. (2)).^[1]

44. According to the Civil Code, a person acquires full legal competence after the age of 18. This rule has two exceptions: attribution of full legal competence (emancipation) to a child and marriage.

45. The attribution of full legal competence (emancipation) to a child is a new basis for recognizing a minor who has reached the age of 16 as having full legal competence. For this purpose the minor must have his/her own income generated from employment or business activity. The emancipation of a minor is approved by a decision of the supervisory authorities;

with the consent of parents, adoptive parents or guardian or, if the parents do not give their consent, by court decision. The emancipated minor obtains and fully exercises all the rights of a person with full legal competence and personally assumes and fulfils civil obligations, including personal liability for any obligations that result from an injustice caused by him/her. However, the emancipated minor neither obtains the rights nor assumes the obligations for which an age limit is set by law.

46. The second exception refers to persons who married before reaching the matrimonial age. According to article 14 of the Family Code, the matrimonial age is 18 years for men and 16 years for women.

47. Unlike previous legislation, the Republic of Moldova has made a step forward in making women and men equal as far as the minimum age for marriage is concerned. Thus, the age for marriage can be reduced for men by at least two years if there are strong reasons to do so. The reduction is approved by the local public administration on the basis of the request of the minor who wants to get married and the consent of his parents.

48. If the marriage dissolves before the minor reaches majority, the minor maintains his full legal competence.

49. According to statistical data, the number of marriages among minors is decreasing. Thus, from 2000 to 2006 their number dropped by 236. Marriages in which one party is a minor are more frequent but also decreased from 1,975 in 2000 to 1,000 in 2006 (table 1).

Table 1
Marriages among minors 2000-2006

50. Minors aged 14 acquire limited legal competence with the right to conclude legal documents that become valid only with the consent of legal representatives. The Civil Code also stipulates a number of grounds on which minors of 14 have the right to personally conclude certain legal documents without the consent of their parents, adoptive parents or guardians:

• Use their wage, scholarship or other income generated from their own activities
• Exercise intellectual property right (copyright) for a work of science, literature or art, invention, or any other result of intellectual activity protected by law

• Deposit money in banking institutions and use it according to the law
• Conclude current low-value legal documents that are implemented at the moment of their conclusion and legal documents for obtaining benefits free of charge that do not need notarization or State registration of the rights granted on their basis (according to the Civil Code, these contracts can be concluded by minors between 7 and 14 years old as well)

III. GENERAL PRINCIPLES

A. Non-discrimination

51. The Constitution of the Republic of Moldova ensures the observance of all rights and freedoms of all people with no form of discrimination. This provision refers to children as well, and the State guarantees the implementation and observance of the rights of all children. A number of other laws (Law on the Rights of the Child, Law on Education, etc.) expressly prohibit discrimination and provide for a number of anti-discrimination guarantees.

52. In 2005, the Republic of Moldova submitted its periodic report on the implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. On the basis of the information presented by the Bureau of Inter-Ethnic Relations, the National Bureau of Statistics, the Ministry of Economy and Trade, the National Bureau of Migration, the Ministry of Education and Youth, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the then Ministry of Health and Social Protection, the Ministry of Information Development, the State Service for Religions, the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Coordinating Council of the Audiovisual Media, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, “Teleradio-Moldova” Company, the Ministry of Reintegration, the Centre for Human Rights of Moldova and civic ethno-cultural associations of national minorities, it became clear that the Republic of Moldova effectively implements the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and no confirmed cases of discrimination in the context of the Convention have been reported.

53. Activities carried out in different programmes and action plans aim at combating all forms of discrimination against any category of children. For example, cultural events periodically organized by the Bureau of Inter-Ethnic Relations (e.g. New Year, Christmas, International Day of Child Protection on June 1 include discussions on various topics with child representatives from around 20 ethnic groups. It is worth mentioning that children of different ethnic groups also take part in cultural events organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and local public administration authorities.

54. Before the Republic of Moldova became independent in 1991 only Romanian and Russian schools were functioning in the country; there were no schools where Ukrainian, Gagauzi, and Bulgarian were studied. As a rule, national minority children studied in Russian. Currently three models for studying languages for national minorities have been established in the Republic. Model II is the most widespread:

• Model I: Russian schools which national minorities traditionally attend: 280 schools and high schools (108,358 students) - 20.3 per cent.

• Model II: Russian schools where Ukrainian, Gagauz and Bulgarian and other languages are studied as a school subject three times per week and a new subject History, Culture, and Traditions of Russian/Ukrainian/Gagauz/Bulgarian Nations is offered once a week:
  • − Ukrainian 54 schools and high schools, 7,091 students, 24.3 per cent;
  • − Gagauz language 52 schools and high schools, 25,087 students, 102.7 per cent;
  • − Bulgarian 32 schools and high schools, 6,953 students, 87.8 per cent;
  • − Polish 1 school, 118 students;
  • − Hebrew 2 schools, 633 students;
  • − German 1 school, 199 students.
• Model III: experimental schools and high schools where in separate primary classes all subjects are taught in the native language (Ukrainian 2 institutions with 396 students, 0.06 per cent; Bulgarian 3 institutions, 114 students (0.02 per cent).

55. In order to observe the right to study in the native language, the Ministry of Education and Youth developed the following teaching materials for Russian, Ukrainian, Gagauzi and Bulgarian:

• Language and literature standards for grades 1-12
• Language and literature curriculum for grades 1-12
• Methodological manuals for curriculum implementation
• Language and literature manuals for grades 1-9
• Syllabi and tests for national testing in grades 1-9
• Language and literature syllabi for baccalaureate
• “History, Culture, and Traditions of Russian/Ukrainian/Gagauz/Bulgarian Nations” grades 1-4

56. All national minority children have the right to choose the language of study at any level of education, and in localities with mixed population, if there are at least 15 children present, conditions for studying the native language as a separate discipline are created.

57. Training and educating children from national minorities in preschool institutions is carried out in Russian in 207 kindergartens (16,260 children) and additional classes are provided in Ukrainian in 5 kindergartens (317 children), in Gagauz in 58 kindergartens (6,321 children) and in Bulgarian in 6 kindergartens (348 children).

58. In 2001, the Ministry of Education and Youth and the Roma Women’s Association Juvlia Romani, with direct involvement of employees of education departments, conducted a survey on the situation of the Roma in Moldova. The survey examined the opinion of Roma regarding the opportunity to study their mother tongue in pre-university educational institutions. The results of the survey showed the lack of interest on the part of Roma in studying their mother tongue. In this regard educational departments were recommended to undertake efficient actions to integrate Roma children into society, to combat ethnic stereotypes and prejudices against them, to promote values for which Roma are distinguished and to ensure studying and promoting Roma traditions, culture and folklore in the localities they densely populate. In order for Roma to learn their language, the Ministry recommended studying Roma as an optional discipline in schools in localities densely populated by Roma.

59. The problems of integrating Roma children into the educational system are reflected in the Action Plan for the Support of Roma People of the Republic of Moldova for the years of 20072010, approved by Government Decision No. 1453 of 21 December 2006. Plans for specific actions to support Roma will be developed and approved every year. The Action Plan stipulates developing a curriculum for the subject Romani Language, History, and Culture and including it in the syllabi of pre-university educational institutions in the localities densely populated by Roma, in addition to developing a legal framework to support the organization and activities of Sunday schools for Roma children.

60. In 2004, activities of the Bureau of Inter-Ethnic Relations were organized in all districts with the participation of representatives of local public administration, NGOs and mass media institutions. With the support of the Council of Europe, the Bureau of Inter-Ethnic Relations assessed the situation of Roma in Moldova and developed an action plan
for 2006-2010.

61. On Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the Bureau of Inter-Ethnic Relations organizes children’s festivals; on the International Day of Child Protection on June 1 it holds the multiethnic festival for children and the Festival of Ethnicities at which children participate in artistic and entertainment activities. In order to facilitate the participation of Roma children and youth, the Bureau supports the creation and functioning of Roma associations. In 2006, the Union of Young Roma from the Republic of Moldova was operating, within which the Network of Roma Children was created. The network united Roma children 12 to 16 years old and aimed at stimulating school attendance by school-aged children, as well as their participation in community life. Starting in 2005, the Union of Young Roma supported the organization of summer holidays for children in summer camps.

B. Best interest of the child

62. Various provisions in the legislation of the Republic of Moldova emphasize the need to take into account the best interest of children when making decisions which concern them. Thus, the Family Code stipulates that any decision regarding children shall be made by taking their best interests into account. A number of other laws provide for procedures or contain regulations meant to implement this principle. For example, the Criminal Procedures Code stipulates the possibility of children testifying under conditions that differ from general procedures in order to reduce the need for repeated testimony, thus reducing their victimization and when decisions are made in the adoptions, continuity in upbringing is taken into account, considering their ethnic, cultural, linguistic origin and observance of the fundamental rights and freedoms of the child.

63. State institutions must take into account the interests of children when making decisions regarding them. In various cases, problems related to children are examined together with representatives of organizations that carry out activities promoting children’s rights.

C. Right to life, survival, and development

64. The essence of this principle is reflected in the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova acknowledging the inherent right to life, survival and development. These provisions are also present in other legal acts. For example, the Family Code directly guarantees and protects the child’s right to life, survival and development (child’s right to live and be brought up in the family (art. 51), right to communicate with parents (art. 52), right to be protected (art. 53)).

65. A number of guarantees were instituted to ensure the healthy development of children. According to current legislation on compulsory medical insurance, children under 18 benefit from free medical assistance within the limits of the standard package of basic medical services, with costs fully paid from the State budget. Thus, the Single Compulsory Medical Insurance Programme approved yearly by the Government provides for the supervision of children’s physical and psychomotor development in compliance with other regulations approved by the Ministry of Health, for children’s immunizations in accordance with a vaccination calendar and epidemiological indications; for youth-friendly services in reproductive health based on current regulations; for home medical care and prescription coverage for children aged 0-5 undergoing medical treatment for various diseases. Thus, children have a medical insurance policy financed by the public budget. As a result of regular medical examinations of children, timely treatment and rehabilitation are possible. In addition, certain categories of students receive food for free or for low prices (see section VII below).

66. Officers for minors in regional police departments and representatives of education directorates and social protection directorates and of medical institutions regularly visit high-risk areas or places for children. As a result of 5,021 visits, 37 child drug users, 35 children using

toxic substances, 474 children with alcohol intoxication, 407 homeless children and 105 begging children were registered. Also, as a result of these actions, 154 families consuming alcohol and 298 socially vulnerable families were identified and registered and 82 children were taken to special schools. Altogether, there are 5,175 juvenile delinquents and 1,565 broken families registered with the police.

67. In order to reduce the level of juvenile delinquency, the numbers of homeless children and road accidents and to prevent cases of drowning and to combat crimes in secondary and higher educational institutions, police officers organized 7,108 lectures and discussions with children and with the staff of educational institutions. Moreover, in the secondary education institutions, activities on these issues are included in the curriculum of various subjects or programmes.

68. In order to prevent road accidents and reduce the number of serious accidents involving children, the Road Police Directorate, the Ministry of Education and Youth and the Drivers Union organized a number of activities in pre-university educational institutions related to the study of road rules and the development of appropriate behaviour of road users.

69. In order to improve the discipline of road users, the following activities were organized in 2006:

• 10,371 lectures in preschool and educational institutions as well as driving schools (1.2 per cent more than 2005)
• 2,409 radio and TV programmes were broadcast (22.3 per cent more than 2005)
• 1,092 articles published in local and national media (11 per cent more than 2005)

70. The Road Police Directorate and TV and radio channels organized a number of activities in preschool institutions and work collectives for road accident prevention and education of road users: 178 TV programmes, 635 radio programmes, 99 articles, 149 lessons and video-lectures and contests.

71. In order to prevent and reduce the number of serious road accidents, to improve the discipline of all categories of road traffic participants and to encourage correct behaviour on roads, the Road Police Directorate organized and developed nine special operations at the national level as well as some preventive activities under the aegis of the European Traffic Police Network.

72. In the same context, in order to improve the discipline of road users, and specifically of children, a week of road education for the young generation was organized throughout Moldova from 1-7 May 2006 during which 519 lessons for students were organized to teach them about road traffic regulations, 41 contests among students were organized to verify their knowledge of road traffic rules, 87 radio and TV programmes were broadcast and 11 articles were published.

73. At schools and preschools, road signs and markings for pedestrian crossings are renewed, and during rush hours, crossing guards and traffic police are placed at those intersections

and pedestrian crossings to control traffic and to provide practical help to people in crossing the road. Also, in order to manage the traffic at pedestrian crossings when students are
coming to school, young traffic agents who work under the surveillance of road police officers act as crossing guards.

74. Specialists from the Road Police Directorate and from the Ministry of Education and Youth drafted teaching guidelines for primary school teachers “Road Traffic Safety” and a number of teaching aids to be used in class that were approved by the Decision of the National Council for Curricula and Evaluation No. 6 of 22 December 2003 and by the Order of the Ministry of Education and Youth No. 42 of 30 January 2004, as well as other teaching materials for primary school students (classes I-IV) provided for in the above-mentioned guidelines. In 2006, the course “Road Traffic Safety” was included in the syllabuses of both primary and secondary educational institutions as an optional course with 15 lessons per year.

75. Despite these measures, 2,298 (+0.4 per cent) road accidents were registered in 2006, with 382 (-2.3 per cent) deaths and 2,807 (+1.3 per cent) injuries. However, the number of road accidents in which children were injured decreased by 7.6 per cent compared to 2005, as 316 such accidents (13.83 per cent of the total number of road accidents) were registered resulting in 28 (-3.4 per cent) deaths and 305 (-9.8 per cent) injured children.
A total of 78 accidents took place because of children, which is a decrease of 13.3 per cent compared with 2005, resulting in 6 (+50.0 per cent) deaths and 72 (-16.3 per cent) injured children.

76. The number of deaths among children decreased from 1,047 in 2000 to 910 in 2006 (table 2).

Table 2
Child mortality (including 18-year-olds)

77. In the Republic of Moldova the registration of death certificates is performed by the Civil Registry Office under the Ministry of Information Development in community town halls. To ensure the registration of death certificates in due time, a number of facilities are provided:

• Deaths can be registered with the Civil Registry Office in the area were the death occurred or where the deceased lived or where the body was found or with the medical institution that issued the certificate confirming death.

• Deaths can be declared verbally, presenting the medical certificate confirming death, which should serve as grounds for registering for a death certificate.
• Starting in 2004, registration of death certificates was performed automatically, thus creating automatic civil State registers. Moreover, the record of deceased people is kept automatically both by issuing death certificates and by registering notifications of the issuance of medical certificates confirming death. Such notifications confirm the fact of death and the issuance of the medical certificate confirming death. The effect of the measures undertaken jointly with local public authorities is that unregistered deaths are identified by comparing the number of death certificates with the number of registered medical notifications.

78. Statistical data on the mortality of children aged 0-17 years in the Republic of Moldova caused by illness, including AIDS, tuberculosis, hepatitis, acute respiratory illnesses and road accidents, are provided in table 3 (data for 2000-2002 refer to children aged 0-14 years 11 months and 29 days).

Table 3
Child mortality by cause of death

79. Although the child death rate is decreasing, the situation of child suicide is alarming even though from 2004 to 2006 the number of such cases decreased as can be seen in table 4.

Table 4
Number of suicides by age and sex 2002-2006

D. Respect for the opinion of the child

80. The principle according to which the child’s opinion should be taken into account in court or during any other administrative procedure that affects him/her is of critical importance. There is legislation that guarantees the right of every child to have an equitable trial in any criminal case or of any other nature.

81. According to the provisions of article 54 of the Family Code, children have the right to express their opinions while settling family problems affecting their interests and to be heard during legal or administrative proceedings. The opinion of the child who has reached the age of 10 years old shall be necessarily taken into account if this does not come in conflict with his/her interests. The Family Code provides for a number of provisions that invokes the need to respect the opinion of the child, undertaking as a result measures that take into account the best interests of the child. According to article 56, paragraph (4) changing the name of a child who has reached the age of 10 years may occur only with his/her consent. The consent of a child who has reached the age of 10 years to be given for adoption (article 127, paragraph (1) of the Code) is also very important.

82. In order to make children’s opinions heard regarding various problems that are relevant to them, the State encourages the creation of organizations for children and youth. Within the period 2000-2006, the Ministry of Justice registered 233 organizations for children and youth (table 5).

Table 5
Organizations for children and youth

IV. CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS

A. Right to name, citizenship and preservation of identity

Birth registration

83. According to legislation, the registration of a child’s birth is compulsory. The child’s birth registration with the registry office ensures the rights of the child and the obligations of his/her parents and, correspondingly, the rights and obligations of parents vis-à-vis the child.

84. Births are to be registered not later than three months from the date of the child’s birth. The responsibility for registering the birth lies with one or both parents, but if the parents cannot do so personally, the declaration shall be made by:

• Parents’ relatives
• A person authorized by parents
• Administration of the health-care unit where the birth took place or where the child is found
• Supervisory authority
• Other persons

85. The birth certificate shall be submitted to the registry office in the area in which the birth took place or where the child’s parents live. No State tax is collected for registering a child’s birth.

86. About 36,000 children are registered on time every year, but some 1,400 are registered after the three-month deadline (table 6). The reasons why births are not registered during the established time frame vary from case to case. In most of them this happens with socially vulnerable families who have a careless attitude toward the registration of the child’s birth or in cases of extramarital birth and delayed establishment of paternity.

87. In order to combat this phenomenon, the General Civil Status Directorate of the Ministry of Information Development undertook a number of measures including informing the population about the conditions and terms established for birth registration, rendering services at home, automatically registering birth documents as well as notifications issued by the healthcare institution where the birth took place that confirm the fact of birth and issuing a medical certificate confirming birth - a document that serves as the basis for birth registration with registry offices.

Table 6
Number of birth certificates issued by year 2000-2006

Establishing paternity

88. For the protection of a child born in wedlock, the father is considered to be the mother’s husband or former husband if the child was born within 300 days from the date of divorce or annulment, or the death of the husband or of the child’s mother. This presumption can be rebutted when the birth is registered only by means of a common declaration of spouses/former spouses personally submitted to the body that shall register the corresponding birth. If the mother is deceased, declared deceased, incapable or her location is not known, paternity shall be established on the basis of the father’s declaration and the written consent of the supervisory authority.

89. For establishing paternity in the case of a child born outside wedlock, the procedure of submitting the parents’ common declaration regarding the establishment of paternity was set. This declaration can be also submitted before the child’s birth (article 47, paragraph (7) of the Family Code). The number of children born outside marriage is around 8,000 annually, with 8,739 cases in 2006.

90. The rights and obligations regarding parents of children born within marriage are the same as those of children born outside marriage. Provisions that stipulate preservation of these rights and obligations even in cases when parents’ marriage was annulled or their divorce was registered or when parents live or do not live separately (article 58 (1) of the Family Code) are established.

The name of the child

91. According to article 55 of the Family Code, the child is given his/her parent's surname, but the name is chosen by the parents. If parents have different surnames, the child shall be given the surname of his/her father or mother as they agree. Once the child is born, the chosen name shall be declared to the registry office. If parents cannot agree, this decision is left to the supervisory authority.

92. On the basis of one or both parents’ common request, the registry office can change the surname and/or name of the child who has not reached the age of 16.

93. In case of disputes between parents, changing the child’s surname or name shall be done by the registry office with the participation of the supervisory authority from the area where the child lives, taking into account the child’s interests.

94. The change of surnames of both parents results in the change of the child’s surname, but in the case of changes in the surname of one parent, the child’s surname can be changed by the common consent of parents. In the absence of consent, the decision is left to the supervisory authority.

95. After adoption, a child can keep his/her surname and name. Upon the request of adoptive parents, the court can change the surname and name of the adopted child, giving him/her the surname of adoptive parents or of one of them if they have different surnames. The name can be chosen by adoptive parents.

96. The surname and/or name of the child who has reached the age of 10 can be changed in all cases with his/her consent (art. 56, Family Code).

The right to citizenship

97. The grounds for acquisition of citizenship of the Republic of Moldova are stipulated in article 10 of the Law on Citizenship No. 1024 of 2 June 2000. The citizenship of the Republic of Moldova shall be acquired by: birth, recognition, adoption, recovery, or naturalization.

98. Citizenship of the Republic of Moldova may also be acquired on the basis of international agreements to which the Republic of Moldova is a party.

99. A child will be given citizenship of the Republic of Moldova at birth in the following cases:

• When the child is born, one or both of his parents are citizens of the Republic of Moldova
• The child is born on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, and his/her parents are stateless persons
• The child is born on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, and his/her parents are citizens of another State, or one of them is stateless and the other one is a foreign citizen

100. A child found on the territory of the Republic of Moldova shall be considered its citizen, unless otherwise proven, before the age of 18.

101. As regards other aspects related to the right to preserve identity see section III and the paragraphs referring to non-discrimination.

B. Freedom of expression

102. The right of a child capable of reason to freely express his/her opinion regarding any problem that is of his/her concern is reflected in the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova. This constitutional provision is complemented by article 8, paragraph (1), of the Law on the Right of the Child No. 338 of 15 December 1994 which stipulates that the rights of the child to freedom of thought, opinion and confession may not be violated in any way. Paragraph (2) provides that the State shall guarantee to a child capable of formulating his/her opinion the right to freely express those opinions on any problem that is of his/her concern. The opinion of the child who has reached the age of 10 shall be obligatorily taken into account if it does not conflict with his/her interests.

103. According to article 54 of the Family Code, the child has the right to express his/her opinion in the family when decisions are made on issues of his/her concern and to be heard during legal or administrative proceedings. The opinion of the child who has reached the age of 10 shall be obligatorily taken into account, if it does not conflict with his/her interests.

104. Article 63 of the Family Code establishes the right of children to express their opinions regarding residence when their parents live separately.

105. According to article 58 of the Code of Civil Procedure, a minor who has reached the age of 16 can exercise his/her procedural rights and fulfil his/her procedural obligations independently by declaring full legal capacity (emancipation) or by marrying. Legal rights, freedoms and interests of minors aged between 14 and 18 as well as adults whose legal capacity is limited shall be defended in court by their parents, adoptive parents or guardians, the court being obligated to involve in such cases the minors or adults with limited legal capacity.

106. Children shall be encouraged to freely express their opinions not only regarding decisions on specific issues related to them but also regarding their active participation in the social life of their locality or country. For example, the majority of schools have school newspapers with children on the editing team.

C. Freedom of thought, consciousness and religion

107. Freedom of thought is stipulated in article 32 of the Constitution which states that, “all citizens enjoy freedom of thought ...”. Article 31, paragraph (1), stipulates freedom of consciousness which is to be manifested in a spirit of tolerance and mutual respect. Freedom of religion is guaranteed by paragraph (2) of article 31 which provides that religious organizations are free and are organized according to their own statutes in conformity with the law.

108. According to article 8, paragraph (1), of the Law on the Rights of the Child, the rights of the child to freedom of thought and consciousness may not be violated in any way. Paragraph (4) provides that no child may be constrained to convert to one religion or another contrary to his/her convictions. The freedom of consciousness of the child shall be guaranteed by the State and shall be manifested in the spirit of religious tolerance and mutual respect.

109. A special contribution to the spiritual development of detained children is the cooperation of the Department of Penitentiary Institutions with religious institutions which offer the prisoners spiritual counselling and advice.

D. Freedom of association and peaceful assembly

110. According to article 40 of the Constitution, meetings, demonstrations, manifestations, actions or any other assemblies are free and may be organized and carried out only in a peaceful manner, without any weapons. Though it is not expressly mentioned, this right is considered to be guaranteed to children as well.

111. Article 13 of the Law on the Rights of the Child stipulates that children have the right to associate and form civil organizations according to the provisions in the legislation. The order exercising this right is described by the Law on Civil Associations No. 837 of 17 May 1996 which limits children’s right to association in its article 15 but stipulates in paragraph (7) that children who have reached the age of 10 can be members (participants) of children’s associations, and those aged from 14 to 18 according to paragraph (6) can be members (participants) in youth organizations. Children under 10 cannot be members (participants) of civil organizations.

E. Protection of personal and private life

112. For the purpose of protecting personal and private life, according to legislation, children in prisons are granted the following:

• Children have the right to receive visits of relatives or other persons (article 32 of the Execution Code) at least once a month (from 1 to 4 hours) and at least four times a year (from 12 hours to 3 days). The number of meetings with lawyers, with persons who have the right to provide legal assistance or with other persons provided by the law is not limited.
• Children have the right to correspondence and telephone conversations (art. 299, Execution Code) i.e., to independently receive and send letters, telegrams and petitions. Also, they have the right to at least one telephone conversation every two weeks of 10 minutes duration with spouses or other persons.
• Child prisoners have the right to develop intellectual skills and to study (articles 9 and 10 of the Law on the Rights of the Child) including the right to attend secondary school. About 160 minors attend school in Penitentiary No. 2 in Lipcani.
• Children in prison also have the right to work (article 11 of the Law on the Rights of the Child). To that end, vocational orientation and training for minors are carried out in penitentiaries. Thus, in penitentiaries No. 2 in Lipcani and No. 7 in Rusca there are vocational schools, each training about 60 people a year.

• Children have the right to rest (article 12 of the Law on the Rights of the Child). In order to allow participation in cultural and artistic life, national holidays are observed and national and international competitions are carried out in penitentiaries, especially for minors.

113. In cooperation with NGOs, meetings were organized with imprisoned minors with their parents or relatives who do not have financial resources to visit them frequently.

F. Right of access to information

114. Legislation stipulates the common right of children to be informed about their rights and to have access to information of general interest. Thus, various actions are undertaken to provide children access to information that corresponds to their interests and level of development for the purpose of enriching their knowledge. These actions include establishing libraries (table 7).

Table 7
Number of libraries for children and contents

115. In order to ensure access to information of children in prison, according to article 227 of the Execution Code they are provided with radio and television programmes and subscriptions to national newspapers and magazines.

116. Also in order to ensure prisoners’ access to information by means of information boards in penitentiaries, the prisoners are informed about legislation that regulates the execution of criminal penalties, their rights and obligations, procedures for submitting various petitions and appeals to different government and non-government organizations. Information boards contain general information (addresses of State agencies, NGOs that work in human rights), legal information, national and district newspapers and are placed in bedroom areas and in production areas ensuring free access to them.

117. There are libraries in the penitentiaries including at Penitentiary No. 2 in Lipcani and Penitentiary No. 7 in Rusca. According to the provisions of article 259, paragraph (5), of the Execution Code, resources for increasing the book collection are allocated from the income of the Department of Penitentiary Institutions, the income of the penitentiary administration as well as from sponsorship and donations with the help of interested institutions and organizations. The number of books in the above-mentioned libraries varies from one penitentiary to another. The library of Penitentiary No. 2 has 377 books. In 2005, the collection of the library of this penitentiary increased by 290 books. In 2006, the OSCE Mission donated law literature (codes), newspapers and magazines to Penitentiary No. 2. In October 2006, the collection of the library of Penitentiary No. 2 increased due to a number of books, newspapers and magazines donated by the Department of Penitentiary Institutions. The library in Penitentiary No. 7 has 3,600 books. In 2006, all penitentiaries had about 10,000 books. Starting in 2007, each prisoner was allocated 6,000 lei for the subscription to the Official Monitor of the Republic of Moldova and to certain magazines. The book collection of the penitentiaries is rich in law literature, fiction, religious literature, magazines and newspapers. The five pretrial units of the Republic where minors are detained also have libraries with a collection of 4,000 books.

G. Right of not being subjected to torture or inhuman or
degrading treatment, including corporal punishment

118. According to information provided by the General Prosecutor’s Office, in 2006, 10 cases were registered in which children were victims of cruel treatment. Of these, six cases ended up in court. According to data provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in 2006, 95 crimes of a sexual nature were committed against minors which makes up 22.7 per cent of the 415 crimes committed against minors. These included 54 rapes (article 171 of the Criminal Code), 19 violent actions of a sexual nature (art. 172), 13 perverse actions (art. 175) and 11 crimes classified as sexual relations with a person who had not reached the age of 14 (art. 174).

119. In pretrial detention units, there are 24 people in programmes for rehabilitation and social reintegration (14 per cent). In Penitentiary No. 2 in Lipcani, the programmes for recuperation and social reintegration have 110 people.

120. Three programmes for preventing institutionalized violence are offered in penitentiaries:

• Psychological evaluation of prisoners to determine those with a high level
  of aggression
• Educational programmes for preventing violence in the penitentiary environment
• Introduction to social-legal sciences

Activities with new prisoners are organized and developed in the penitentiary, and the staff of each penitentiary undergoes 24 hours of yearly training on this subject.

V. FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE

121. In this regard the Republic of Moldova complied with the following international treaties:

• European Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions concerning Custody of Children and on Restoration of Custody of Children
• Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of International Adoption
• European Convention on the Legal Status of Children Born out of Wedlock
• Agreement on guarantees regarding the rights to receive social allowances for families with children and food allowances, signed among CIS member States on 9 September 1994 in Moscow
• Convention on the Recovery Abroad of Maintenance (in force since 23 August 2006)
• International Labour Organization Convention No. 183 concerning the revision of the Maternity Protection Convention of 1952

A. Parent orientation/guidance

122. The Government, in partnership with civil society and donor institutions, has measures to provide assistance to parents and has disseminated messages and information during communication campaigns aimed at guiding parents in taking care of and bringing up their children.

123. In July-August 2006, the MDCRP (Municipal Directorate for Child Right Protection), and the NGO Doctors Without Borders from Greece conducted an awareness-raising campaign for parents entitled “Life without Violence”. Meetings with children and parents in 30 centres for children in their localities were organized. About 1,500 parents were involved and received the “Life without Violence” guide for parents, and children received a pocket guide on the same topic.

124. The temporary placement centre for children Small Group Home with a capacity of 20 places has been working in Chisinau Municipality for five years. The objective of the centre is to prevent abandonment and institutionalization. Here children receive special care, their life skills are developed, and their parents receive psychological counselling and training in the care and socialization of children. In the past five years, 89 children have benefited from special care, 85 of whom were reintegrated into their biological families.

125. At the country level, maternal centres have been established to develop parenting skills and to prevent abandonment. They provide assistance to mothers and children facing the risk of abandonment and offer psychological, legal, social and medical assistance to both biological and extended families.

B. Parental responsibility

126. According to the Constitution and the Family Code, parents have rights and obligations toward their children whether they were born in or out of wedlock or whether they live with or apart from their parents. Parents have the right and obligation to bring up their children according to their own beliefs. Parents are also responsible for the physical, intellectual and spiritual development of children and have priority over any other person when it comes to their upbringing. Parents are obliged to ensure children’s school attendance until the end of the year in which they reach the age of 16. The institution of education and the form of education are chosen by parents, taking into account the opinion of the child.

127. The rights of parents cannot be exercised contrary to the children’s interest. Parents cannot cause damage to children’s physical and mental health. They cannot use any kind of abusive behaviour, insults, ill-treatment, discrimination or psychological or physical violence in bringing up their children. Likewise they cannot involve their children in criminal activities, teach them to abuse alcoholic beverages, to use drugs or psychotropic substances, gamble, beg or engage in other illegal activities.

128. All problems regarding the child’s upbringing and training shall be solved by parents, by common consent, taking into account the child’s interests and wishes. Parents bear responsibility if they exercise their rights to the detriment of the child’s interests.

C. Separation from parents

129. Parents are separated from their children and forfeit their parental rights in the following instances:

• They do not fulfil parental obligations, including payment of alimony
• They refuse to take the child from maternity or other health-care or educational institution, from a social assistance institution or a similar one
• They misuse their parental rights
• They treat the child with cruelty using physical or psychological violence or they infringe the child’s sexual inviolability
• They negatively influence the child through immoral behaviour
• They are alcoholics or drug addicts
• They have committed premeditated crimes against the child’s or spouse’s life and health, as well as in any other case when it is for the best interest of the child

130. Parents are deprived of their parental rights only by a court decision. The child whose parent or parents are deprived of his/her parental rights keeps his/her right to domicile and all patrimonial rights based on the relationship with his/her parents or relatives, including the right of succession. The supervisory authority shall take care of the child in case the child cannot be entrusted to the other parent or if both parents are deprived of their parental rights.

131. Parents deprived of their parental rights have the right to see their child only with the permission of the supervisory authority. Meetings are not allowed if the contact between the child and his/her parents can cause damage to the child’s physical and intellectual development, if it is obvious the parents are not able to participate in the meeting, if for any reason the contact is contrary to the best interests of the child or if during legal action the child had serious objections regarding contact with his/her parents deprived of parental rights.

132. Parental rights can be reinstated if the reasons for depriving them are removed and if it is in the best interests of the child.

133. At the request of the supervisory authority, the court can decide to take the child away from his/her parents without depriving them of their parental rights, i.e., if staying with them endangers the child’s life and health, and can entrust the care of the child to the supervisory authority.

134. In exceptional cases, if the life and health of the child are in imminent danger, the supervisory authority can decide to take the child away from his/her parents and communicate that fact to the prosecutor within 24 hours. In such cases, the authority shall initiate legal action for parents to be deprived of their parental rights within seven days, or the child can be taken away from the parents without their depriving them of their parental rights. If this deadline is not met, the child shall be returned to his/her parents.

135. If a child is taken away from parents not deprived of their parental rights, the parents do not have the right to communicate with the child, to personally participate in the child’s upbringing or to represent the interests of the child. They can see the child, in some cases, only with the consent of the supervisory authority.

136. According to data provided by Chisinau Municipality, the number of parents deprived of their parental rights is increasing. The number of cases increased from 320 in 2004 to 505 in 2006.

137. Children separated from their parents are usually cared for in residential institutions. Given the development of alternative forms of institutionalization, during the reporting period the number of institutionalized children continued to decrease. According to data presented by Chisinau Municipality, in 2001 1,214 children were institutionalized, in 2005 1,092 children and in 2006 873 children.

D. Reuniting families

138. If a foreign citizen seeks asylum in Moldova, the procedure for obtaining protection from the Republic of Moldova is regulated by Law 1286-XV of 25 July 2002 on the Status of Refugees. In order to be granted asylum, a person shall submit a request to the Department for Refugees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs asking for protection. The request can also be submitted to police stations or at border crossing points and is then sent for examination to the Department for Refugees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The information presented in the request is examined and a decision is issued to grant protection (the status of refugee or humanitarian protection) or to reject the request. The decision can be appealed in court on the basis of an administrative claim.

139. No cases of children entering or leaving the territory of Moldova for the purpose of reuniting families were registered nor were there any cases of unaccompanied child refugees seeking asylum in the country.

140. The procedure for reuniting families of persons granted asylum is the following. The refugee submits a request asking to reunite his/her family that includes comprehensive information on family members (by law, if the applicant is of age, his/her spouse or children are allowed to enter the country; and if the applicant is a minor his/her parents are allowed to enter).

141. The request is examined by the Bureau of Migration and Asylum of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which can issue an invitation for the nominated family members, allowing them to obtain a visa to legally enter the Republic of Moldova.

E. Illegal placement/transfer and hindrance of child return

142. During the reporting period, the State agencies in charge of protecting the rights of the child did not register any children forcefully transferred from or into the Republic of Moldova nor any cases of illegal placement/transfer and/or hindrance of children returning to the country.

143. For measures to prevent illegal border crossings by children, see section VIII below on trafficking in human beings.

F. Payment of child support

144. According to the provisions of the Family Code, parents must support their minor children and children of age who are not able to work or are in need of material support. The manner of payment is determined on the basis of a contract signed between parents or between parents and the child of age who is unable to work. If such a contract does not exist and parents do not support the children, child support is awarded by court decision upon request of one of the parents, or the child’s guardian or the supervisory authority.

145. Child support payments for a minor child is deducted from the wages and/or other income of parents and amounts to one quarter of it for one child, one third for two children and one half for three or more children. This allotment can be decreased or increased by a court decision depending on the material and family condition of the parents or other important circumstances. If some children stay with one parent and others stay with the other parent, an established amount is paid to the parent whose financial situation is worse.

146. If the parent who must pay child support does not have a permanent salary or/and other incomes or receives a salary or/and income or a part thereof in kind, or if the parent does not have a salary or/and other income or if it is impossible or difficult to calculate the payment as a percentage of the salary and/or other income or if it causes substantial damage to the interests of one of the parents, the court can establish child support payments as a fixed monthly amount or both a fixed amount and a percentage of the salary and/or other income.

G. Adoption

147. The legislation on adoption passed within the reporting period was developed to ensure its compatibility with international standards. Only minors can be adopted, unless the minor has obtained full legal competence. The adoption of siblings by different persons is prohibited except in cases when this requirement is not in the children’s best interests or when one of the siblings cannot be adopted for health reasons.

148. The adoption of a child who is a citizen of the Republic of Moldova by foreign citizens or stateless persons is allowed only in exceptional cases when there is no possibility that this child can be adopted or placed under the guardianship of his/her relatives, irrespective of their citizenship or of other citizens of the Republic of Moldova. The adoption in this case shall be performed according to the general provisions if it was proven that during at least six months from the moment when the child was registered for adoption, he/she was not accepted for adoption or guardianship by his/her relatives or by citizens of the Republic of Moldova, or by foreign citizens or stateless persons with residence in Moldova. These provisions shall not apply if the spouse adopts the child of the other spouse, or if the child has a serious disease that needs special treatment which cannot be provided in the Republic of Moldova.

149. The following children shall be registered for adoption:

• Those whose parents are deceased
• Those whose parents are deprived of their parental rights or are declared incapable or are missing
• Those who were abandoned
• Those whose parents put them up for adoption

150. The record of children who can be adopted shall be kept by relevant supervisory authorities and the central authority for child protection. Persons in managerial positions from local public administrations, civic organizations and other persons shall be obliged to communicate to the authorities the information they have about children who can be given up for adoption and those who are left without parental care.

151. The local supervisory authorities shall keep a record of citizens of the Republic of Moldova who wish to adopt children; foreign citizens and stateless persons who wish to adopt children who are citizens of the Republic of Moldova shall be registered at the central authority for child protection.

152. Permission to adopt a child is given by the court at the request of persons who request the adoption. The request for permission to adopt shall be examined in court with the compulsory participation of the supervisory authority. The court can take a decision regarding permission to adopt only when the child has been taken care of by his/her future adoptive parents (adoptive parent) for at least six months. In some cases, the adoption can be allowed without this trial period. The reasons therefore are mentioned in the decision of the court.

153. Access to information regarding children who can be adopted shall be free for people requesting an adoption and people authorized by them. Supervisory authorities do not have the right to limit the access to information regarding children who can be adopted.

154. Adoptive parents can be persons of both sexes who have reached the age of 25 except those who:

• Are deprived of parental rights
• Are declared incapable or with limited legal capacity
• Have adopted children before, but the adoption was cancelled due to their fault
• Are released from guardianships because of not fulfilling their obligations
• By virtue of moral qualities or health condition are not able to exercise parental rights and obligations to support and bring up the adopted child
• Pursue fictitious adoptions
• Submitted false documents
• Reached the age of 50 (this rule is not applied if adoptive parents are married and one of them has not reached the age of 50 as well as when the adoptive parent is the spouse of the adopted child’s parent or when the child lived in the family of potential adoptive parents before they reached the age of 50)

155. Foreign citizens and stateless persons who reside outside the Republic of Moldova can be adoptive parents of children who are citizens of the Republic of Moldova only if they fulfil the conditions stipulated by the legislation of their countries and by the legislation of the Republic of Moldova and if their country is a member of the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption or if there is a bilateral agreement between the two countries in this field.

156. The adoption of a child by an unmarried couple is not allowed.

157. The age difference between the adoptive parent and adopted child shall be at least 15 years. This rule is not applied in cases when either husband or wife adopts the child of his/her spouse. For good reasons, this age difference can be reduced, but not by more than five years.

158. In order to adopt a child, his/her parents’ consent is required, except if the parents:

• Are deprived of parental rights
• Are declared incapable
• Are declared missing
• Are not known
• Do not live with the child and have without cause not supported the child for more than six months

159. In order to adopt a child who has reached the age of 10, it is necessary for him/her to express his/her consent in court. A child can be adopted without his/her consent if prior to the adoption, he/she has lived in the adoptive family and did not know that these people were not his/her biological parents.

160. The adoption can be terminated for the following reasons if it is in the best interest of the child to do so:

• The adoptive parents do not fulfil or are not able to fulfil their obligations regarding the adopted child’s support and upbringing
• The adoptive parents misuse their parental rights or treat their child with cruelty
• The adoptive parents suffer from chronic alcoholism or drug addiction
• The adoption was conducted without the consent of the child’s parents or the spouse of the adoptive parent if such consent was required by law

161. The court has the right to cancel the adoption in other cases as well if it is in the best interest of the child.

162. A total of 1,592 children were included in adoption programmes from 2002 to 2006 (table 8).

Table 8
Adoptions from 2002 to 2006

163. The number of children included in international adoption programmes from 2000 to 2006 was 390, 208 boys and 182 girls (table 9).

Table 9
International adoptions 2000-2006 by receiving country

H. Children deprived of family environment and parental care

164. Local supervisory authorities identify and keep records of children deprived of parental care and in each case, taking into consideration the specific circumstances as a result of which children were left without parental care, they choose the appropriate placement for their protection ensuring systematic control of the conditions in which they live, are brought up and educated. Responsible persons from educational institutions, sanatoriums, social assistance institutions and other similar institutions and other persons who have information about such children are obliged to notify the supervisory authority about the child’s location within three days.

165. Children deprived of parental care can be placed for care and education in the following places:

• With an adoptive parent or parents
• With a guardian
• In a foster home
• In a State institution (education, training, social assistance) for orphans and children deprived of parental care if there are no other possibilities

166. When choosing where to place a child, his/her ethnic origin, culture, religion, language, health condition and development must be taken into consideration in order to provide living conditions that ensure continuity of education. The supervisory authority is responsible for children left without parental care until they are appropriately placed.

The residential care system

167. The system includes 67 institutions under three ministries and one local public authority of the following types (table 10):

• Boarding schools/secondary schools and children’s homes for orphans or for those deprived of parental care
• Auxiliary boarding schools for children with mental disabilities
• Special boarding schools for children with physical and sensory disabilities (disabilities of locomotion, hearing and sight)
• Sanatoriums for children with psychoneurological and cardiovascular disorders
• Boarding schools for children with behaviour disorders
• Homes for children with severe mental disabilities
• Temporary placement and rehabilitation centres for young children

168. In all, 62 of the 67 residential institutions function under the control of the Ministry of Education and Youth. The beneficiaries of the system are children aged between 0 and 18 years. As of 1 January 2007, the residential system was taking care of 11,096 children.

Table 10
Childcare institutions

169. Children are placed in the residential protection system according to their ages (table 11). The data show that the system offers protection to the following age categories:

• 0-6/7 years: services in three institutions, two under the Ministry of Health and one under the local public administration of Chisinau.
• 3-7 years: services in five institutions under the Ministry of Education and Youth. One of these institutions provides rehabilitation services to children with hearing disabilities (Balti) in order to prepare them for school and four provide services for children aged between 3 and 18 years focusing on institutionalized siblings aged between 3 and 7 years as well as on beneficiaries of this type of services from neighbouring localities.
• 7-18 years: this age group is referred to institutions under the Ministry of Education and Youth and the Ministry of Social Protection, Family and Child according to whether the main issue the child is confronting is social or/and health and development related. Institutions for children with severe disabilities under the Ministry of Social Protection, Family and Child continue to care for beneficiaries even after they reach the age of 18 up to maximum of 50 years of age.

Table 11
Children in residential care by age and institution

170. Residential institutions take care of children of different ages. Cases when the beneficiaries are over 18 years are often registered and account for about one third of the total number of beneficiaries from institutions for children with severe mental disabilities (table 12).

Table 12
Ages of children in institutions

171. Data from 2006 regarding entries and exits from the residential child protection system show that the rate of children entering the system is lower than the one for children leaving it by 22 per cent. The ratio of entries to exits for the entire system is 1:1.28. When the data are disaggregated by type of child, however, the ratio of entries to exits for children with severe disabilities is 2.95:1 (table 13).

Table 13
Children entering and leaving residential care in 2006

172. An analysis of overall costs of the residential care system shows that they vary significantly from one type of institution to another as well as within the same type of institution. This is determined by the number of children in each institution and the services provided (table 14).

Table 14
Costs of the residential care system in 2006

173. Overall costs per child in 2006 from the budget allocated show that the same types of institutions have the maximum and minimum expenses (table 15).

Table 15
Costs per child from the allocated State budget, 2006

174. The direct costs per child in 2006 included expenses for food, medication, stationery, books and teaching materials and beds inventory and vary significantly from one type of institution to another. The highest costs are in the temporary placement and rehabilitation centres for young children and institutions for children with severe disabilities. The lowest direct costs are in the sanatoriums. The overall minimum was 1,760 lei, the average was 6,700 lei and the maximum was 11,430 lei (tables 16 and 17). Table 18 contains general information on the entire system.

Table 16
Direct costs per child in the residential care system in 2006

Table 17
Average cost of nutrition, 2002-2006

Table 18
General information on residential care institutions

175. Foster homes are private institutions created by a family willing to support and bring up orphans and those deprived of parental care. Foster homes are created by local public administrations based on notification by the supervisory authority and at the request of foster parents. Foster homes can host a maximum of 10 children, including the foster parents’ own children, but no fewer than 5 children. Foster parents must be persons residing in Moldova, aged over 25 years and with appropriate moral qualities and health condition.

176. The following persons cannot be foster parents:

• Those declared incapable or with limited legal competence
• Those deprived of parental rights
• Those deprived of guardianships due to their fault
• Adoptive parents whose adoption was cancelled due to their fault
• Those who suffer from severe, chronic or contagious diseases

177. Foster parents have rights and responsibilities regarding the children in their care similar to those of guardians. They receive remuneration and benefits offset by the Government.

178. Children placed in foster homes have the same rights as children with guardians. By the end of 2006, 23 foster homes were functioning in Moldova hosting 123 children.

179. In order to optimize protection for children in difficulty, alternative community-based social services that are not part of the residential care system have been created and developed, most of which have already proved their efficiency and are successfully functioning. According to data provided by the directorates of social assistance and family protection, in 2006 there were 87 centres providing community-based social services for families with children and for children at risk. There were 30 centres for families with children (35 per cent), including 23 day-care centres, 1 placement centre and 6 rehabilitation centres. The remaining 57 community-based centres were serving children at risk and included 28 day-care centres, 10 placement centres, 10 rehabilitation centres and 9 mixed centres (table 19).

Table 19
Centres providing community-based services in 2006

180. In 2006, 51 centres (about 70 per cent of them) were day-care centres for families with disabled children and for children at risk. The centres offer a wide range of services to support families and children.

181. The largest number of centres were established between 2003 and 2005, most of which were day-care centres, although three rehabilitation centres were opened annually. In 2006, the pace was reduced by 56 per cent compared to 2005 (from 18 centres to 8) (table 20). Between 1990 and 1999, only six centres for families with children and for children at risk were opened, including two rehabilitation centres (in 1995), one day-care centre (in 1998), two placement centres and one mixed centre (in 1999).

Table 20
Number of community-based social service centres established from 2000 to 2006

182. Most social services are concentrated in Chisinau, where 48 community-based centres for children are functioning, ensuring access to education, sports and cultural activities. In 2004, these centres provided assistance to 7,191 children, in 2005 to 7,611 and in 2006 to 9,484 children.

183. The 87 community-based centres are financed both from the State budget and the budgets of the local public administrations, as well as from donations (table 21).

Table 21
Financing sources of community-based social service centres in 2006

184. Table 22 indicates that local financing has increased steadily since 2003 though the number of beneficiaries has decreased.

Table 22
Local financing for community-based social service centres from 2003 to 2006

185. Beginning in 2006, the Ministry of Social Protection, Family and Child is financing three centres for children providing modern rehabilitation, psychopedagogical and medical services from the State budget: one temporary placement centre for children at risk in Soroca (for 24 beneficiaries), one centre for children with special education needs in Criuleni (for 44 beneficiaries) and a centre for rehabilitation and social protection of children at risk in Taraclia (for 40 beneficiaries). The yearly expenses for these three centres in 2006 amounted to 2,188.8 thousand lei; the average yearly expenses for a beneficiary were 20.27 thousand lei.

186. As mentioned previously, two homes for children with mental disabilities are financed through the Ministry of Social Protection, Family and Child: in Hancesti (for girls) and in Orhei (for boys). Both institutions provide rehabilitation/recovery services, including speech therapy, kinesiotherapy, ergotherapy, physiotherapy and specialized services for persons with physical disabilities including access ramps, support rods, wheelchairs, motor support utilities, adapted sanitary facilities, orthopaedics/prosthesis, curative gymnastics, and massages. These institutions also provide extra-curricular education including sports, embroidery, fine arts and others. Also, workshops are available in housekeeping, agriculture, tailoring, cooking, carpentry and bootmaking.

187. While the child is in the institution, the family is offered counselling and social assistance aimed at facilitating the child’s reintegration, but this kind of support is provided sporadically and is not the institution’s primary mission. In this context, it is necessary for medical, psychological and pedagogical evaluations to be performed more carefully, in order to find children who need to be trained in the regular educational system.

188. In addition, training is needed in professional and life skills, and services promoting collaboration within the community and social and family integration should be developed along with additional measures to improve the skills of the staff employed in institutions.

189. Expenses for maintaining these homes have continuously increased during the period 2000-2006 (table 23).

Table 23
Cost of rehabilitation homes in Orhei and Hancesti, 2000-2006

190. In the three community-based day-care centres for children with physical, hearing and mental disabilities in Chisinau, the beneficiaries have the opportunity to learn how to be part of the community, while children in the communities learn how to accept children with disabilities. Daily, each of these centres provides services for approximately 50 children.

The system for preventing institutionalization

191. The Republic of Moldova does not have a well-developed or well-defined national system for preventing institutionalization, but legislation currently in force defines institutionalization as the final solution for the protection of the child in various difficult situations.

192. A model system for preventing institutionalization and redirecting children to foster care and modifications of the decision-making factors regarding the way children can be helped were tested in Moldova in the Every Child TACIS project “Capacity Building in Social Policy Reform in Moldova” implemented in three districts, Orhei, Ungheni and Cahul.

193. The model included: a full assessment of children’s needs by the Rayon (District) Commission for the Protection of Children in Difficulty; an examination of the means of protection proposed for a child by the Commission; and an analysis of child placement in boarding institutions. The way the Commission operates is described in figure 1 which also shows the stages of a case study as well as the responsible parties involved in the solution of a child’s case.

Figure 1
Functions of the Rayon Commission for the Protection of Children in Difficulty

Child

Social Assistance and Family Protection Section

Rayon Commission for Protection
of Children in Difficulty

National body for child rights protection

First investigation

No services needed

Single intervention

Cause of concern

• Complex assessment
• Individual protection plan

No services needed

Family support services

Community support

Placement in extended family

Foster home, Professional parental assistance
RAION
COUNCIL

Tutelage authority

Town Hall
Supervisory authority
(Medical psycho-pedagogical Commission in case of children with disabilities)

Ministry of Education and Youth

Note: Current procedure of placing the child in a boarding school.

Operation mechanism of the Rayon Commission for Protection of Children in Difficulty

Child

Approval of professional parental assistants
of adoptive parents

Boarding schools, auxiliary schools, children’s homes

194. Although they are advisory bodies, the Rayon Commissions are a vital component in the decision-making process concerning children who cannot stay in their own families. The commissions analyse the file of every individual child to make sure that he/she underwent a complex and competent assessment and that all possible options in the community were explored before the recommendation was made for the child to be placed outside of his/her family in compliance with eligibility criteria. Only in cases when a commission is firmly convinced that

there is no other available option for the child does it confirm the recommendation to remove the child from the family. The supervisory authority can approve the placement of a child out of his/her family only after the commission has thoroughly analysed the case.

195. In the pilot districts, out of 472 requests for institutionalization 160 cases (33.9 per cent) were heard by the commissions between August 2005 and September 2006, out of which only 81 children (17.2 per cent) were institutionalized.

196. As part of the same project, professional parental assistance (PPA) services were developed in the pilot raions to offer a child in difficulty care within a family. The objective of the PPA service is temporary protection for a child in difficulty, his/her socialization and reintegration both in his/her biological (extended, adoptive) family and in the community (figure 2). In all regions PPA services have developed on the basis of regulations approved by the raion councils.

Figure 2
The Professional Parental Assistance Programme

Child placement

Approval

Child

Supervisory authority

Candidate for the position of professional parental assistant

Social Assistance and Family Protection Section/PPA service provider

Commission for protection of children in difficulty

Certification commission for social assistants and workers

Professional parental assistant

Monitoring of child placement

Review of the individual childcare plan

Annual review of the work of the professional parental assistant

Certification for a 3-year term

End of placement

197. The PPA service was developed by the MDCRP in Chisinau in 2001. Today 35 families offer PPA services in the Republic of Moldova, 85 children have been placed and 17 children have been successfully reintegrated into their biological families. The remuneration of parental assistants and the reimbursement of expenses for maintaining children are shared by the local public administration and by NGOs.

198. Two more complementary services have been established, one for family support to prevent abandonment, and one for reintegrating children from the residential care system into their families and communities. The former provides social assistance to families with children at risk. The main objectives are to keep children in the family environment, to prevent placement of children in residential institutions, to satisfy specific needs and to solve issues related to behaviour, health and relations with the child within the family. Upon identification of socially vulnerable families with children at risk, the following measures are suggested: assess the family situation and write assessment reports and individual plans for family and child protection; monitor the family and child situation; organize assessment meetings including a review and closure of the family case; offer practical and material support to the family for the period established in the individual plan and organize meetings of mutual support groups.

199. The service of family support to prevent abandonment is provided taking into consideration the following:

• Minimal intervention, preventing dependence on social services
• Protecting the child from abuse and neglect, and providing a favourable environment for child development
• Helping parents in making decisions regarding the protection of their children
• Providing direct support to parents in order to facilitate changes in family dynamics
• Providing financial support to overcome the stress caused by the incapacity to satisfy the essential needs of the child
• Focused and time-limited interventions

200. The service for reintegrating children from the residential care system into their families and communities aims at returning the child to the family, supporting him/her within the family, supporting parents and children and promoting positive results for all persons involved. The reintegration of a child into a family is a difficult and complex process that requires a thorough assessment of the child’s needs and of the family’s potential to satisfy such needs over the long term (figure 3). Reintegration must satisfy the best interests of the child and must be based on explicit indicators referring to stability in the family, commitment and motivation to be in touch with the child, and to create and develop relations with the child. If none of these indicators is present, a successful reintegration is unlikely to happen.

201. Priority groups of children to be evaluated and reintegrated into the community are established according to the following criteria: children whose families live in proximity to the residential institution and whose parents are able to take care of them; children whose families require minimal support following reintegration; children and families that will obviously need the services of day-care centres after the child’s reintegration into the family and younger children.

Figure 3
Reintegration process

Identification and initial evaluation of the case of the child from the boarding school

Home visits, introduction of information
in the data base

Decision-making about the manner of working with the child

Child reintegration

Closure of case

Complex evaluation

Meeting on care planning

Reintegration
Family support

Closure of case

Complex evaluation

Preparing the child for PPA, foster home

Child compatibility with the foster family, Commission for the protection of children in difficulty

Placement of child in foster protection form

Table 24 shows the number of beneficiaries of the two new services offered in the pilot project.

Table 24
Number of beneficiaries of two complementary services offered in the pilot

202. The Government has assumed the responsibility to regionally and nationally extend the best practices from the project.

Adequate support and services of children tracking and reintegration after leaving the institutional system

203. During the reporting period, the main measure for supporting children who leave the institutional system continued to be vocational training in vocational classes and schools, as well as a number of facilities for admission to colleges and universities, i.e., providing a number of tax-free places for studies, social scholarships and accommodation in dormitories.

204. Orphans deprived of parental care who graduate from boarding schools receive identity cards for free.

205. So far there is only one day-care and temporary placement centre for post-institutional orphans which was opened in 2004 in Chisinau Municipality for the social rehabilitation and reintegration of beneficiaries, the development of their capacities and life skills, and the prevention of crime.

206. Seven centres for temporary placement function in Chisinau Municipality, of which 11 are non-governmental, 17 are PPA, and 3 are foster homes. The MDCRP staff together with social assistants of the centres carry out activities for reintegrating children into their biological or extended families, and if it is not possible to place the child with a guardian or put the child up for adoption.

207. Due to the development of alternative family support services in Chisinau, a significant reduction in child abandonment has been noted; according to data, 83 abandoned children were registered in 2005 while in 2006 there were only 48.

208. Although in recent years significant improvements have been made in the levels of social service provision, they are still inefficient. Increasing their efficiency was the main objective of the sector component of the EGPRS (2004-2006). Priority issues include the creation of a single register of social assistance beneficiaries that would simplify the transition from category-based assistance to assistance depending on needs; the development of social services to prevent getting into difficulty and of services to intervene in risky situations; and a significant increase in the role of local public authorities and of civil society.

209. In this context the opening of centres that focus on special issues such as abandonment, the rehabilitation of homeless children and care for the elderly and persons with disabilities should be mentioned. Most of the centres were opened with support from SIFM, Every Child, Amici dei Bambini and Caritas-Moldova. These centres work outside the purview of public agencies and in due time shall be taken over by local public administrations that will facilitate the process of decentralizing social assistance services and placing them at the community level.

I. Periodic verification of placement conditions and needs

210. Systematic assessments of the need for children’s placement in residential care and temporary placement institutions are performed by MDCRP periodically (once every three months) which avoids a child’s prolonged stay in an institution. As a result of the assessment conducted in the first six months of 2006, 36 children from boarding schools were reintegrated into biological or extended families. Due to the existence of alternative forms of residential care in Chisinau Municipality and to the work carried out by the reintegration service, the number of children in boarding schools is decreasing (table 25).

Table 25
Number of children in boarding schools in Chisinau Municipality 2003-2006

211. At the end of each academic year, an assessment of the situation of each child shall be conducted and a decision as to whether they should stay in the institution for the next school year shall be made depending on the results of this assessment.

J. Abuse and neglect, including physical and psychological
rehabilitation and social reintegration

212. Violence against children is a widespread phenomenon in Moldova. During the reporting period, many serious cases of children beaten by their parents were registered, including a case of child death. At present, there are no official statistics on the number of children beaten by their families. The Government, in cooperation with UNICEF and civil society, has conducted studies on violence against and neglect and abuse of children and has organized awarenessraising campaigns with the titles “No Child should be Excluded”, “Do Animals Beat their Children Too?” and “Childhood without Violence” to promote the message of stopping cruel treatment of children.

213. The goal of the promotional campaigns was to reduce violence against children, to change parents’ behaviour and to influence public opinion regarding the beating of children, responsibilities assumed by the Government at the Regional Consultation on Violence against Children in Europe and Central Asia in Ljubljana in July 2005.

214. The campaign “Childhood without Violence” was carried out in cooperation with the National Council for Child Rights Protection, Ministry of Education and Youth, UNICEF Moldova and National Centre for Child Abuse Prevention. During the campaign, materials (posters, brochures, etc.) for parents and for the entire population in all localities of the country, especially in villages, as well as for professionals (professors, social assistants, police officers, prosecutors, etc.) were disseminated.

215. The study “Early Childhood Care and Development” carried out in 2004 by the Government in cooperation with UNICEF shows that every sixth parent shouts at his/her child, every fifth parent threatens his/her child with a beating and every fourth parent beats his/her child up. Data from the same study show that 86 per cent of parents interviewed thought that beatings made children obey and respect them; 13 per cent of parents beat their children because they were beaten by their parents; 12 per cent of parents answered that they beat their children because they loved them and wished them well.

216. The data from a public opinion poll carried out by the National Centre for Child Abuse Prevention (NCCAP) in November 2005 in many regions of Moldova showed that 97.6 per cent of the respondents thought that there are children in the country who are subjected to physical punishment. According to another micro-assessment, 66 per cent of adolescents said that they were victims of violence, 19 per cent were aggressors themselves and 15 per cent were both victims and aggressors. In fact, adolescents most often associate violence with sexual abuse and physical aggression (79 per cent) followed by verbal threats (30 per cent) and neglect (7.5 per cent).

217. A regional study carried out in 2005 and 2006 in Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Poland, Ukraine and Moldova showed that teachers in Moldova favoured physical punishment for children who commit petty thefts (67 per cent of respondents), use alcoholic drinks (60.9 per cent), tell lies (49 per cent), do not come home on time (49 per cent), miss classes (49.7 per cent), smoke (47.7 per cent) and do not obey their parents (40.4 per cent). In contrast, in Bulgaria, punishing children by beating them is acceptable to only 28 per cent of teachers. Moldova was the only one of the seven countries where more than half of the teachers questioned considered children to be their parents’ property (141 teachers from 10 schools and high schools in Chisinau participated).

218. Very often, parents do not realize the consequences beatings have for a child’s development and do not know of non-violent disciplinary alternatives. Studies show that a systematically beaten child will not become a positive and optimistic person who will develop his/her potential. On the contrary, most often he/she repeats the violent behaviour of his/her parents and when becoming an adult disciplines his/her children by beating them.

219. In all institutions for protecting and educating children, psychologists are employed, and in the institutions of Chisinau Municipality, social assistants who prevent child neglect are employed. Also, during semester assessments of files of institutionalized children and temporarily placed children, anonymous questioning of children is carried out which helps reveal cases of violations of their rights.

220. Specialists at MDCRP participate in the investigation of cases of domestic violence, including any form of child abuse. They provide psychological assistance to victims, make sure that the legal procedures are carried out by taking into account the peculiarities of the case, and have the purpose of ensuring better protection for victims, including of their right
to privacy.

221. For the purpose of rehabilitating child victims of abuse and violence, MDCRP in cooperation with UNICEF and NCCAP, established the Psycho-Social Assistance Centre for Children and Family Amicul (Friend) which in 2005 offered shelter to 132 victims of different forms of abuse. In this centre, children enjoy psychological counselling and emotional support and find useful ways to organize their spare time and assistance in solving the problems they face.

222. Two years ago, the Psychological Service of MDCRP and the Institute for Penal Reform drafted pre-sentencing reports for minors under investigation. In 2005, 103 pre-sentencing psychological assessments of minors’ personalities were drafted. For this purpose, visits to children’s homes and families, to law enforcement agencies, to criminal investigation institutions and to pretrial detention units were carried out. In 2006, 17 reports were drawn up.

223. For the purpose of providing assistance to children during legal procedures in 2005 and 2006, UNICEF Moldova and the Institute for Penal Reform created mobile groups to implement the project “Provision of Legal, Psycho-Social Assistance and Alternatives to Detention of Children in the Criminal Justice System”.

224. In order to make the reform in the field of social assistance more efficient and create a viable and transparent system the following recommendations were made:

• To increase social guarantees provided to families with children and families with children with disabilities
• To create a primary network of social assistants at the local level, personal assistants and parental assistants
• To develop the system of preventing children’s entry into the residential care system by providing community-based social assistance services
• To develop the system of social assistance services for intervention in risk situations (recovery and social and family reintegration)
• To establish the structure for accreditation, assessment and monitoring of social assistance services
• To approve minimum quality standards for social assistance services
• To build capacities and periodically assess the staff involved in social assistance services (increase the level of professionalism)
• To develop a legislative framework regarding voluntary work in the field of social assistance
• To develop partnerships among all structures/organizations involved in the field of social assistance services
• To diversify social services depending on the needs of the community
• To develop and promote policies of stimulation of civil society initiatives in developing community-based social services
• To build on positive experiences in non-governmental and international organizations that already provide social services

VI. BASIC HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

A. Children with disabilities

225. For the purpose of improving the system of integration of children with special education needs, the EGPRS (2004-2006) provides for the organization of assistance services for children with special education needs within secondary institutions; the development of community-based assistance and support services; the creation of a single database about children with special education needs with a view to developing efficient programmes and assistance measures; the development and implementation of various programmes and forms of training for children with special education needs; the creation and development of a system of alternative services to institutionalization; the development and implementation of standards of care, education, health care, recovery, and rehabilitation of children with special education needs; the consolidation of the teaching, technical and material base for qualitative professional training of graduates of special education institutions for the purpose of facilitating their integration into society.

226. According to data provided by the Ministry of Health for the period 2001-2006, the number of children with disabilities aged between 0-16 years varied from 13,287 to 12,857. Disabled children of preschool age make up about 23.0 per cent of the total number of children with disabilities, but children with level I and II severity make up about 89 per cent.

227. In order to strengthen the rehabilitation services, four rehabilitation centres were reorganized: two physio-pneumological rehabilitation centres, Tirnova with 200 beds and Cornesti with 100 beds; Rehabilitation Centre for Children Sergheevka with 200 beds specializing in neurology, gastrology, cardio-rheumatology and pulmonology and the Recovery Centre for Children Ceadir-Lunga with 85 beds for children with neurological and pulmonologic diseases. In these centres, “mother-child” sections are created with a capacity of 50 beds intended for young children and children with disabilities who suffer from serious neurological and respiratory diseases.

228. Within the Institute for Scientific Research in the field of mother and child health protection, a section for the recovery of children with neuromuscular diseases operates, where annually some 500 children, of which 85 per cent are disabled children, undergo treatment. There are 20 beds in the Mental Hospital of Balti for rehabilitation of children with infant cerebral palsy and mental diseases. In 2004, in the Placement and Rehabilitation Centre for Children of Balti, a day-care centre for the rehabilitation of children with physical and mental disabilities was opened, and in 2006 a similar centre was opened within the Placement and Rehabilitation Centre for Young Children of Chisinau Municipality. Annually, over 4,500 children with chronic diseases including those with various physical and mental disabilities receive treatment in recovery and rehabilitation centres for children.

229. There are 14 residential institutions for children with different types of disabilities, run by central and local public administrations (see table 16). Within these institutions, children with physical, sensory and mental disabilities are placed and involved in education and recovery programmes according to their level of disability.

230. In order to increase minimum social guarantees for children, from 1 January 2006, allowances for children with disabilities from childhood and children with disabilities up to 16 years old were increased by 30 per cent.

231. For the rehabilitation and recovery of children’s health, six centres work under the Ministry of Health:

• Two rehabilitation and placement centres for young children in Balti and Chisinau
• Two physio-pulmonologic rehabilitation centres for children in Cornesti and Tirnova
• Two recovery/rehabilitation centres for children in Ceadir-Lunga and Sergheevka

The expenses incurred by these six centres are listed in table 26.

Table 26
Costs incurred at Ministry of Health Rehabilitation
and Placement Centres 2000-2006

232. Thus, the costs for the centres increased 4.2 times from 2000 to 2006, and the costs for maintaining a child increased by 5.1 times in that period.

B. Health and health services

233. Between 2000 and 2006, the mortality rate of infants and children up to 5 years decreased. Infant mortality rate dropped from 18.3 per cent in 2000 to 11.8 per cent in 2006. Although that is still higher than the rate in Western European countries, it has been decreasing faster than in the European Union over the last five years.

234. The mortality rate of children under 5 years decreased from 23.9 per cent in 2000 to 14.02 per cent in 2006, and the rate decreased in rural areas as well. The mortality rate of children aged from 5 to 14 also dropped. This is mainly due to improved access to care and health care for children and mothers provided by the compulsory medical insurance
programme.

235. Between 2000 and 2006, the rate of underweight newborn children decreased by 11.31 per cent (from 4.95 per cent in 2000 to 4.39 per cent in 2006). The rate of moderately and severely underweight newborn children decreased as well from 0.33 per cent in 2000 to 0.27 per cent in 2006.

236. The percentage of the population with access to fresh water increased from 37.8 per cent to 44.5 per cent and the percentage of those with sewage systems increased from 41.1 per cent to 43.6 per cent. Nevertheless, only 4 per cent of rural households have centralized water and sewage systems.

237. During this period, children who turned one were vaccinated as follows: for tuberculosis between 98.8 per cent and 99.2 per cent, for diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus between 96.0 per cent and 98.0 per cent, for poliomyelitis between 97.3 per cent and 98.5 per cent, for measles between 89.1 per cent and 96.9 per cent, for hepatitis type B between 98.9 per cent and 99.2 per cent and for mumps between 93.2 per cent and 96.9 per cent.

238. Between 2000 and 2006, the maternal mortality rate decreased from 27.1 per 100,000 in 2000 to 16.0 in 2006. In 2005, out of five cases of maternal death, only one was observed in a 15 year old adolescent (12.8 per cent) septicaemia being the cause (table 27).

Table 27
Main causes of maternal death 2000-2006

239. The rate of pregnant women who had access to and benefited from prenatal health care increased from 91.1 per cent in 2000 to 99.1 per cent in 2006. Almost all women who delivered between 2000 and 2006 benefited from postnatal care. This improvement was due to training programmes and the work of family doctors.

240. The rate of children born in hospitals (maternity wards) increased from 97.6 per cent in 2000 to 99.1 per cent in 2006. The rate of children born outside health-care institutions did not exceed 2 per cent in recent years.

241. The health-care staff with higher education and vocational education who work in maternity wards continues to receive training in health care and child delivery. In all 38 maternities, children are delivered by obstetricians-gynaecologists and properly trained midwives.

242. The number of breastfed children continues to increase throughout the country. In 2000, 86.2 per cent of children up to three months were exclusively breastfed, whereas in 2006 the rate increased to 93.0 per cent. During this period, the rate of children breastfed up to six months increased from 73.6 per cent to 85.0 per cent and that of 1-year-old children increased from 60.0 per cent to 68.0 per cent. A total of 27 maternities were certified as “childfriendly” as an outcome of the efforts of health-care staff.

243. Several actions were organized to combat HIV/AIDS. All pregnant women had the chance to be voluntarily tested for HIV (twice) during pregnancy. All costs were covered by the National Health Insurance Company. Two maternities in the country are equipped to deliver children of mothers with HIV/AIDS (in Chisinau and Balti).

244. HIV-infected children are treated in specialized units where they receive medical care including antiretroviral treatment, special care and counselling. Children up to one born to mothers with HIV receive free formula during their first year. Out of the total number of persons with HIV, 220 have AIDS and 13 of them (5.95 per cent) are minors. In all, 106 persons have died of AIDS including 10 minors (9.43 per cent). Two HIV-infected children were abandoned by their mothers and institutionalized in child placement centres (in Chisinau and Balti) where they receive treatment, special care and rehabilitation assistance.

Information on adolescents health

245. Annually, cases of teenage pregnancy (girls aged from 10 to 19) are registered; however, in the reporting period, the number of teenage pregnancies decreased, including those among minors under 15 (table 28).

Table 28
Number of teenage pregnancies 2000-2006

246. The incidence of sexually transmitted diseases (syphilis, gonorrhoea) among
adolescents continues to rise and is 30 per cent higher than among the rest of the population and 21.6 per cent higher among 15-19 year olds, compared to 135.5/100,000 among the rest of the population. Mental health problems, including depression and suicide, have become widespread, especially among boys. The suicide rate among boys 15 to 19 was seven times higher than among girls, which varied between 7/100,000, and 1.1/100,000. Alcohol, smoking and drug addiction increasingly represent important medical and social problems among adolescents. Most drug users are young people, with an average age of 23. Twelve per cent have not reached the age of 18, 88 per cent are males, 82 per cent are single and 75 per cent are unemployed. Malnutrition and incorrect nutritional practices are an important issue affecting adolescents. They consume half the necessary amounts of fish, fruit and vegetables, which leads to shortage of animal and vegetable protein, micronutrients and vitamins in their food intake. Approximately 2 per cent of tuberculosis cases in Moldova are registered among adolescents. Non-infectious diseases, accidents, intoxications and trauma are the major causes of teenage death.

247. In order to combat alcohol and drug use among adolescents, public health institutions throughout the country attempt to:

• Engage adolescents in preventive education, treatment and rehabilitation activities
• Implement modern diagnostic and treatment methods
• Reduce medical and social consequences of drug and alcohol use, death as a result of overdose, hepatitis, HIV, crime among teens, etc.
• Reduce the demand for and distribution of alcohol and drugs among minors and adolescents
• Inform adolescents about the major health risks of alcohol and drug use; create a negative opinion about their use

248. In 2004, a National Campaign was launched to inform the population about the impact of iodine deficiency and the role of iodized salt. Medical workers, teachers, representatives of mass media and others participated in the campaign which aimed at informing families with children as well as every child from each community.

249. A basic prerequisite for improving adolescent health is to provide access to quality health services. In 2005, the Network of Healthcare Services for Adolescents was established in Moldova and today 12 teenage-friendly health-care centres are part of it. There is a range of experiences regarding information, education and communication that can be further developed and promoted:

• To provide the optional course of preparation for family life
• To implement the life skills development curriculum
• To launch periodic informative campaigns in mass media
• To carry out periodic extracurricular campaigns facilitated by NGOs
• To organize lectures and workshops by health-care workers, especially by those who work in family planning and youth-friendly health-care centres

250. The following guidebooks for managers, consultants and volunteers were printed: Organizer’s Guidebook, Consultant’s Guidebook and Volunteer’s Guidebook.

251. This component is also supported by health-care centres for women from Chisinau (Dalila), Drochia (Ana), Cahul (Virginia) and 40 reproductive health offices
from health-care institutions that actively participated in training youth and in providing healthcare services.

252. After a thorough analysis of the current situation, we emphasize several priority areas for improving youth and teenage health to ensure their growth and development in a secure and friendly environment (family, school, community). These include nutrition, accurate and timely information on health and development (within family, school, community), and access to youth-friendly services and assess needs and peculiarities of vulnerable groups and adolescents at high risk (MARA).

253. The national reproductive health strategy was approved by Government Decision No. 913 on 26 August 2005 to improve adolescent health and sexual and reproductive health of adolescents and young people.

Information on measures and policies protecting child right to health

254. The draft for the National Health Policy was developed, which included two provisions on children’s and adolescents’ health. In order to strengthen the National Perinatal Care Programme to improve the access of the population to qualitative perinatal services, the Collegium of the Ministry of Health adopted a decision to develop a new programme promoting quality perinatal services from 2003 to 2007. From 2001 to 2006, the “Mother-to-be guide” for pregnant women and young families was revised; the campaign “A Healthy and Beautiful Child” was launched; medical standards/protocols were developed for perinatal services and the primary health-care sector in prenatal assistance including 20 medical evidence-based protocols in obstetrics and neonatology and 15 algorithms for family doctors; new methods of analysis of the quality of medical care during pregnancy and birth were implemented, including an analysis of perinatal and maternal deaths. Special attention was paid to training in problem pregnancies.

255. From 2000 to 2006, a number of programmes and policies on the implementation of the right to health were approved throughout the country:

• Law on reproductive health care and family planning No. 185-XV of 24 May 2001.
• Youth Strategy adopted by Government Decision No. 1541 of 22 December 2003 aims at facilitating access to information and to youth-friendly services as well as to quality leisure time activities.
• National Reproductive Health Strategy adopted by Government Decision No. 913
  of 26 August 2005, of which one of the objectives is sexual and reproductive health of adolescents and young people.
• National concept “Youth Friendly Healthcare Services” adopted by a decision of the Collegium of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of 29 November 2005.
• National Programme for HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted disease control and prevention for 2006-2010 which includes activities and strategies to protect and ensure children’s best interest. Its priorities are capacity and infrastructure building in health care; social and palliative care of HIV/AIDS-infected children and members of their families; providing counselling services and confidential voluntary testing to all people who demand such services, especially those aged from 15 to 24; educate, inform and communicate with young people in order to prevent HIV/AIDS/STD and create a tolerant environment for persons with HIV/AIDS and to develop responsibility for one’s own health.

256. Insufficient health-care staff in institutions continues to be a big issue. Although the salary for health-care employees increased 2.3 times over the past three years, the main cause for health-care workers leaving their jobs continues to be the low salary, which amounted to only 1,124.80 lei per month in 2006.

257. Since January 2004, according to the programme provisions adopted by the Government, compulsory medical insurance was implemented, and children and adolescents benefited from free health care at all levels (primary, hospital care). The programme includes an annual preventive medical examination of children by family doctors. Children who have reached the ages of 3, 7, 11 and 15 undergo a thorough medical examination performed by various doctors (paediatrician, ophthalmologist, otolaryngologist, traumatologist/surgeon, neurologist, psychiatrist, dentist and if necessary a speech therapist) and laboratory examinations including complex examinations if needed.

C. Social security and social benefits

258. In the field of family, mother and child protection, special attention was paid to developing and implementing legislative acts improving the social, economic and material situation of persons, families with many children and other vulnerable groups. The allowances provided as social assistance are mainly transfers from the State budget through the State Social Insurance Budget.

259. Welfare allowances are the most frequent transfers for social assistance. This programme includes 11 categories of beneficiaries: disabled children up to 16 years; children disabled since childhood and families with four or more children under the age of 18 unless they continue their

educations in higher institutions attending classes daily and then until they graduate but
not after reaching the age of 23. Half of the beneficiaries are disabled people. These compensations are aimed at helping people to pay for utilities, electricity, and natural gas for heating, liquefied gas for cooking, coal and firewood. If the prices and tariffs for these items increase, the amount of compensation is recalculated. In this context, for the social protection of certain disadvantaged categories of persons, including children, Government Decisions No. 243 of 6 March 2006 and No. 1001 of 29 August 2006 were approved, by which the amount of compensation for natural gas was increased, while by Government Decision No. 1197 of 16 October 2006, the amount of allowances for coal and firewood was increased for the
period 1 November 2006-1 March 2007.

260. In order to establish a new mechanism for providing social allowances and evaluating the entire income of a person (family), Government Decision No. 1084 of 4 October 2004 approved regulations regarding the manner of determining the total family/personal income. In order to reform the social benefit system, and especially the system of welfare allowances, the Government adopted two decisions: No. 1117 of 27 October 2005 on making the social assistance system more efficient and No. 1119 of 27 October 2005 on a pilot project to test the mechanism for providing welfare allowances. The main elements of the reform are aimed at directing the social benefits to the most vulnerable social groups, gradually going from providing allowances to categories of people to providing them based on verifying the income of the applicants. This reform is intended to be implemented by 2009.

261. The social indicator living minimum income is determined every quarter by the National Bureau of Statistics. In 2006 the living minimum income was of 935.10 lei per month per person. It has doubled since 2001 (table 29).

Table 29
The monthly average living minimum income per person in lei 2001-2005

262. On average 851.9 lei per month were necessary to support a child in 2006, with a small difference depending on age. Not surprisingly, the living minimum income was higher in urban areas and also increased at a faster rate (table 30).

Table 30
The monthly average living minimum income per person
in lei by residence and age 2004-2006

263. Childcare allowances are the main economic support provided by the State to families with children, and they are in the form of single or periodic payments to families for giving birth to, taking care of and supporting the child, taking into account the age of the child and the income of the family. Starting in 2004, insured persons received monthly allowances for taking care of a child up to the age of 3, compared to the age of 1.5 in previous years.

264. Currently the following types of allowances are provided to families with children (table 31):

• Single allowance at child birth
• Monthly allowance for raising/taking care of the child until the age of 1.5/3
• Monthly allowance for supporting a child aged between 1.5/3 and 16
• Allowance for taking care of a sick child

Table 31
Amounts of family allowances 2001-2006

265. According to the Law on the State Social Insurance Budget for 2006, the single allowance at birth for children born in 2006 amounts to 800 lei for each live birth for both insured and uninsured persons.

266. In 2004, the Fund for Protecting Families with Children amounted to 111.37 million lei, i.e., 61 per cent higher than in 2003. The actual increase in expenses of the fund was 43.1. This is explained by the rapid increase in the number of beneficiaries of allowances for taking care of children aged between 1.5 and 16 as a result of the increase in the income limit for receiving the allowance and the increase in the amount.

267. The allowances for families with children make up 19 per cent of allowances provided to the social assistance system, ranking second according to both the number of beneficiaries and costs. Although allowances for children are regarded as one of the most important and most efficient social assistance programmes, their impact on the welfare of families with children is insignificant, especially given the fact that the amount is low and varies according to the inflation rate. In 2004, only 12 per cent of all families with children up to 16 years received allowances for children compared to 9 per cent in 2003.

268. Since 1 January 2004, families with low incomes receive a monthly allowance of 50 lei for taking care of a child. This money goes to both insured and uninsured persons, if the average monthly income per family member during the previous quarter did not exceed 54 lei. In 2003 this allowance amounted to 25 lei and was paid if the average monthly income per family member during the previous quarter did not exceed 18 lei in families with one or two children, 27 lei in families with three or more children and 54 lei for single mothers.

269. In 2004, the actual value of monthly allowances for taking care of a child increased
by 114 per cent for insured persons and 60 per cent for uninsured persons. The allowances for taking care of children up to 16 increased by 114 per cent compared to 2000 for both insured and uninsured persons. Analysing the allowances for children from the point of view of actual annual increases, one can notice that this value also varies depending on legislative initiatives in family policies promoted every year taking into account the available budgetary resources. As a result, in 2004 only the nominal value of monthly allowances for supporting children up to 16 increased and that led to a 78 per cent actual increase compared with 2003. The allowances for taking care of a child were not increased and their actual value was in fact reduced by 11 per cent in 2003.

270. Although the allowances for families with children increased, their actual value is affected by the high level of inflation, and because their amount is low, the impact of these payments on the welfare of families with children is insignificant.

271. Even if the monthly allowances for taking care of children increased, amounting to 149.9 lei for insured persons and 100 lei for uninsured persons, these social payments cover only 24.6 per cent and 36.6 per cent of the child’s needs respectively. As for monthly allowances for supporting a child aged from 1.5 (3) - 16, this indicator is only 7 per cent of what is required.

272. In this context, in order to support families with children in a more effective way, especially families in difficulty, it is suggested to substitute the current system with
a system of family allowances for children under the age of 16 and to differentiate payments depending on the number of children in the family taking into account the total
family income.

Other State social allowances

273. State social allowances are paid every month from the State budget through the State social insurance budget to persons who do not meet the conditions to receive social insurance pensions.^[2] The child beneficiaries include the following:

• Disabled children up to 16 years in the I, II, III degree^[3]
• Children disabled from childhood in the I, II, III degree (people who did not accumulate the term for a disability pension including children from the age of 16)
• Children who lost a caregiver (persons up to 18, students and students in secondary and higher education institutions except for those who are attending part-time until graduation but only up to the age of 23)
• People caring at home for a child up to 16 years with a disability of I severity
• Persons taking caring at home for or accompanying a blind child outside the home^[4] with degree I disability

274. Starting in 2005, these social allowances except for the allowance for child care have been indexed annually on 1 April.^[5] Thus, in 2005, the increase was 12.4 per cent, based on the annual increase in prices for previous year,^[6] and in 2006 was 11.9 per cent. The actual amounts are shown in table 32. Table 33 shows the monthly allowances for amounts for children with degree I disabilities.

Table 32
The amount of State social allowances after indexing 2003-2006

Table 33
Monthly payments in lei for disabled children 2002-2006

275. In 2006, 42,020 persons received social allowances and the total amount allocated every month by the State budget for this purpose amounted to 6,717.3 thousand lei. Compared to 2005, the number of beneficiaries decreased by 5,964 persons. The monthly amount allocated for this purpose increased by 1,884.7 thousand lei (38.9 per cent).

276. During the corresponding period, only the allowances for children up to 16 years disabled from childhood increased by 20 per cent^[7] and by 22.3 per cent^[8] while the allowances for other categories regulated by the legislation were indexed. The amount of these allowances is rather low compared to costs, and the impact on beneficiaries is insignificant.

Welfare allowances

277. As was mentioned previously, in accordance with Law No. 933-XIV of 14 April 2000 on special social protection for certain categories of the population, children with disabilities and families having four or more children benefit from allowances for paying utilities (natural gas, sewage, etc.), electricity, natural gas for heating, liquefied gas in cylinders for cooking, as well as for buying coal and firewood (table 34).

Table 34
Welfare payments in 2006

Allowances for using urban, suburban and interurban public transport

278. In order to implement article 41 of Law No. 821 XII of 12.1991 on Social Protection of Disabled Persons, with further amendments made by Law No. 34 XV of 14 April 2000 on amending certain legislative documents, the social assistance and family protection sections

(directorates) keep records of beneficiaries and pay allowances for travelling by means of urban, suburban and interurban public transport from local budgets, including to disabled children under 16 and persons who accompany disabled children.

Material aid

279. According to the Law on Republican and Local Funds for Population Support No. 827 XIV of 18 February 2000 and regulations approved by Government Decision. No. 1083 of 26 October 2000 on enforcement of the law on republican and local funds of population support, annual aid is provided to families with children, families with disabled children under 16, single-parent families, families that take care of orphans who are not institutionalized, persons who are not employed because of the need to take care of children under 3 and to other families with low incomes, as well as orphans and children deprived of parental care who are registered with the section/directorate of social assistance and family protection (table 35).

Table 35
Material aid provided to families with children

280. In 2006, material aid provided to families with children was distributed among the following categories: families with four or more children received 23,352 grants in amount of 7,283.95 thousand lei; families with children under 16 received 15,064 grants for a total of 3,745.40 thousand lei; single-parent families received 12,740 grants amounting to 3,079.10 thousand lei; families that take care of orphans who are not institutionalized received 3,568 grants for 1,032.55 thousand lei and other families with children received 11,259 grants for 3,221.8 thousand lei.

281. The national fund contributes to local funds for the implementation of special programmes meant for certain vulnerable categories, thus providing support to indigent families with children on the occasion of International Child Protection Day (June 1) as well as to vulnerable families with children on the occasion of 1 September for schooling.

Social protection in case of unemployment

282. People’s access to social protection measures in case of unemployment is regulated by the Law on Employment and Social Protection of Persons Seeking Employment No. 102-XV of 13 March 2003. The revision of legislative documents regulating the field of employment and social protection of persons seeking employment had a positive influence on the population affected by unemployment, as well as on children. Thus, categories of beneficiaries of professional training courses were extended to include victims of trafficking in human beings, graduates of boarding schools, orphans deprived of parental care and children under guardianships, persons who come from families with many children, persons from single-parent families and persons set at liberty.

283. The National Employment Agency with its regional subdivisions conducts active professional orientation and information programmes, informative consulting in groups and instructive seminars especially for children from vulnerable groups. In 2006, 28 regional employment agencies organized “Professional Orientation Day” in boarding schools, round-table consultations in which 1,106 students participated. They received information about the situation in the employment market and about employment opportunities, and consultations and training on professional orientation, writing CVs and letters of intent and on job interviews.

284. The mechanism of social protection of uninsured persons seeking employment was improved. Mothers whose maternity leave for taking care of a child under one and a half has ended and who were unemployed at the moment of childbirth, victims of trafficking in human beings and other categories of persons benefit from unemployment allowances. If they contact local employment agencies and fail to get employed because of a lack of jobs, they benefit from professional integration or reintegration allowances of 15 per cent of the average salary for the previous year during nine calendar months. Thus in 2006, 3,307 persons benefited from professional integration or reintegration allowances, of which 2,823 were women whose maternity leave had ended and 43 were victims of trafficking in human beings.

D. Living standards

285. For the purpose of assessing the living standards of the population and analysing the efficiency of social policies implemented by the Government necessary for identifying and further implementing poverty reduction actions, the Ministry of Economy and Commerce developed Poverty and Policy Impact Reports for 2004-2005 and the information note “Poverty in the Republic of Moldova 2006”. The reports provide an analysis of the impact of social policies on poverty and serve as a means of communication with society, contributing to an increase in the accountability and transparency of Government actions.

286. In the Poverty and Policy Impact Report for 2005, child poverty in the Republic of Moldova was analysed as it is an important factor for poverty reduction policies. Poverty continued to affect traditionally vulnerable categories of the population, including families with children. Children under 18 make up a quarter of the population of the country. Approximately two thirds of children live in rural areas. In 56 per cent of households of Moldova, at least one family member is a child. Currently children in Moldova are vulnerable from the point of view of poverty, making up 28 per cent of the poor population and poor population as far as nutrition is concerned. On the whole, the poverty rate among children was 34.5 per cent in 2005, and 20 per cent of the total number of children suffered from malnutrition. Both indicators increased compared with 2004 (table 36).

287. Absolute poverty rates in rural areas increased as the number of children in families increased, while households without children had the lowest poverty incidence. Compared to 2004, in 2005 the absolute incidence of poverty among children increased by 4.7 per cent and the incidence of food poverty increased by 2.8 per cent.

Table 36
Child poverty indicators in Moldova 2002-2005

Source: MEC based on findings of the Household Budget Surveys. Poverty and Policy Impact Report 2006.

288. The data above indicate that child poverty is more sensitive to unfavourable economic tendencies than adult poverty. Children in the Republic of Moldova constantly faced a higher risk of poverty than the whole population. In 2005 the incidence of children living in absolute poverty was 34.5 per cent, as compared to 29.1 per cent for the whole population. The incidence of food poverty also tends to be higher among children. In 2005 this indicator was 20 per cent as compared to 16.1 per cent for the whole population. Children also seem to be to a greater extent below poverty line than the adult population. Poverty in the general population was 8 per cent in 2005, but for children it was 10.1 per cent. The indicator of the severity of child poverty is also rather high (4.4 per cent in 2005).

289. In 2006, 32.4 per cent of the total number of children were living in absolute poverty. The incidence of poverty was higher among children between 5 and 9 years - at 35.7 per cent. The risk of children to live in poverty is even higher in rural areas, where the level of absolute poverty is by 12 per cent greater than in big cities and stands at 37 per cent.

290. In 2006, poverty depending on the number of children was the same as in 2005. An increase in the number of children determined the increase in the poverty level. About 67 per cent of all households have only one child or do not have children at all. These households were the least poor, while the households affected by poverty had four
or more children, with rates of absolute poverty at 65.4 per cent. Extreme poverty is more often encountered in these households as well, at 14.8 per cent.

291. Poverty among families with children is not a uniform geographic and social phenomenon, neither is it a stable phenomenon from a structural point of view. According to statistics, boys and girls under 18 years are subject to the same extent to a risk of poverty, and differences appear in other categories. In 2002-2003, children from small towns were at the highest risk of poverty. In 2004-2005 the situation changed: this time rural children were subject to higher risks. In 2005 according to the Individual Household Budget Survey, the incidence of poverty among rural children was 40.6 per cent as compared to 36.2 per cent for children from small towns and 7.7 per cent for children from Chisinau and Balti. It is obvious that the situation of rural children has become more unfavourable as regards poverty, while children from urban areas have more advantages.

292. An analysis of distribution of households receiving allowances for children by quintiles shows the relative orientation of child benefits towards the poor. This situation may also be explained by the fact that many households with children are in poorer quintiles.

293. Thus, child poverty in the Republic of Moldova has a pronounced rural nature as 80 per cent of poor children live in villages. The rural population is larger on the whole, rural women have higher fertility and economic opportunities are very limited in rural areas. In order to support their families in villages, parents often go abroad and leave their children to be cared for by relatives, grandparents or elder siblings. Parents also often involve their children in agricultural or household labour. Even if the economic situation of the family improves, both migration and children’s involvement in work unsuitable for their ages endanger their physical and mental health as well as their school performances. These practices also occur in urban families but less frequently. Children from small towns are also subject to high risks of poverty. Children from Chisinau and Balti live in the most favourable conditions. In urban areas on the whole, 80 per cent of poor children live in small towns and only 20 per cent in cities.

294. Child poverty also differs from other points of view. Surprisingly, children from singleparent families are subject to a lower poverty risk than those from other families. In general, the bigger the family is, the higher the chances of child poverty. Children under three seem to incur a higher poverty risk than other children. Parents’ education, and the mother’s education in particular, is an important factor affecting children’s prosperity. Children who come from families supported by young people and by women are less poor than others.

295. Parents’ professional status is another factor determining child poverty, but the relation is totally different than the one that might seem obvious at first sight. Children from families where both parents have an official job are subject to higher poverty risks than children from families where only one parent is officially employed. This is explained by very low salaries or delayed payments and by the fact that if the person is employed in the agricultural sector his/her income is low or inconsistent. The fact that poverty incidence among children who come from families directly working in the agricultural sector (farmers or employees of agricultural field) is higher, is not accidental.

296. Approximately 16 per cent of children under 18 come from families where at least one parent has left the country. In these families, the children’s financial situation is much better than in families where there are no migrants. However, according to the studies, children of migrants suffer from emotional poverty, their school performance leaves much to be desired, and they tend to see their futures abroad.

297. Children’s revenues, consumption and living conditions differ based on a series of criteria. Children from rural areas have lower income and consumption levels than those from urban areas, including as regards food, education and health. Differences in incomes to a great extent explain differences in children’s non-material prosperity. Although a series of child health indicators improved during the last years, inequalities among children as regards access to health-care services are rather significant. This also determines significant geographic and social differentiation in child and maternal health indicators. A poor family from an urban area spends 3.5 times less money for health and in rural areas even 7 times less than a prosperous one. In all, 10.6 per cent of the non-poor population and only 3.7 per cent of the poor population benefited from health-care services in 2005. In order to achieve significant improvements in performance in child and maternal health, a lot of attention should be paid to geographic zones with the worst records.

298. The social assistance system is less efficient in protecting children from poverty. Allowances established for families with children are too small to have significant social effects, and the level of their distribution is not always adequate so that the impact on poverty before and after receiving allowances is only 1 per cent. Taking into account the importance of eliminating child poverty, the social assistance system should be revised to achieve a more effective management of available resources. An effective mechanism of redistributing money within the assistance system might save money by targeting welfare allowances by means testing. Currently inclusion errors are rather large.

VII. EDUCATION, CULTURAL AND RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES

Prerequisites for continuously modernizing the educational system

299. The actions undertaken by the Government in the reporting period regarding the revision of the educational system according to European standards and the requirements of a changing society have created adequate prerequisites for the further modernization of the system.

300. The education policy was supported by the “National Programme of Education Development 1996-2005”, by the “Reform of the General Education System” project, implemented between 1997 and 2003 co-financed by the World Bank, by the activities within the EGPRS and by the Strategy and National Action Plan of Education for All for 2004-2008, a strategy document that ensures the implementation of reforms in education in general and particularly in inclusive education.

301. The “Strategy and the National Action Plan Education for All” was developed in cooperation with relevant ministries and with technical assistance from the United Nations in Moldova, particularly UNICEF. Due to enhanced government capacities to develop social partnerships, local public authorities and civil society contributed extensively to the development and implementation of this comprehensive document. It is the main document reflecting the political and financial commitment of the Government of Moldova to modernize pre-university education, defining it as a national priority. It outlines four priorities for the national education system: early education and development, access to quality basic education, inclusive education of children in difficulty, and non-formal education projects for improving the quality of and access to basic early education services in rural areas, with special emphasis on vulnerable groups, and for life skills education have been financed by the World Bank, FTI, UNICEF, and other United Nations agencies.

302. Overall implementation costs of the Strategy and National Action Plan of Education for All for 2004-2008 amount to 4,557 million lei, 86 per cent of which will be covered by the State budget. Cooperation between the Government and international donor organizations has ensured the necessary financial resources for implementation.

303. In order to facilitate access to education services, several actions have been undertaken to optimize the network. The number of high schools increased in 2006 to 442 from 183 in 2000. The number of kindergartens increased by 109 compared with the situation in 2000. The number of children prepared for school also increased; in 2000, 42 per cent of children aged 5 to 7 attended preschool while 85 per cent did in 2006.

304. In the reporting period, the Government also undertook measures to develop the higher education system. As of 1 September 2006, the scholarship rate for students was increased to 70 per cent and the scholarship amount increased by 35 per cent.

305. In order to support students with intellectual, artistic and technical skills, the programme “Gifted Children” was approved. The project provides financial support for gifted students from rural areas or poor families as these children represent 60 per cent of all gifted children. As a result of the programme’s implementation, the amount of money allocated for national school contests increased three times in 2006. Also, the number of Moldovan finalists in international contests increased.

306. As a result of the implementation of the “Reform of the General Education System” project, education, training strategies and techniques were revised; a new curriculum was developed and a new, realistic and objective evaluating system was established.

307. The projects “Improving the Quality of and Access to Basic Early Education Services in Rural Areas with Special Emphasis on Vulnerable Groups” and “Quality Education in Rural Areas” supported by the World Bank are being implemented. Developing and implementing new standards of initial and continuous professional training continues.

308. In order to improve assistance for children with special education needs, the concept of creating and maintaining a database about their situation was developed.

309. For the purpose of reforming and developing the child protection system, the Government, in cooperation with national NGOs and international institutions, implemented projects financed by the European Union. The largest projects were “Capacity Building in Social Policy Reform” and “Development of Integrated Social Services for Vulnerable Families and Children at Risk”. The results achieved served as a basis for the development of strategic documents for continuing the reform of the child protection system, and in particular of the child residential care system.

310. On the President’s initiative, the Republic of Moldova launched the Presidential Programme “Caper” in which the following has already been achieved:

• Providing education institutions with necessary documents
• Internet connections for all education institutions
• Computer classes for 813 institutions
• Creating the Centre of Information and Communication Technologies in Education (CICTE)
• Training for trainers (360 teachers)
• Developing a pilot project for implementation of education software (in four raions/eight institutions)
• Developing the concept of an education information system

311. Another relevant component of the education system is the national programme “Moldovan Village” that includes several actions regarding the improvement of the education system in rural areas.

312. In order to improve the access to and quality of education services for children in rural areas as well as to increase efficiency in using resources to build the capacity to plan and monitor, as part of the EGPRS, the World Bank project “Quality Education in the Rural Areas of Moldova” was approved with a total budget of US$ 10 million ($5 million grant and $5 million loan). The implementation of the project started on 7 August 2006 and includes 1,175 schools in rural areas and training for 9,000 high school staff. A catalogue of school equipment and teaching materials for eight subjects was developed and distributed in schools in rural areas. The schools involved in the project have been provided with $2 million of equipment. Moreover, 18 guidebooks for teachers have been distributed in high schools, secondary and vocational schools.

313. Central public administration authorities maintain a constructive and efficient dialogue with the Council of Europe, the European Commission and the Stability Pact for SouthEastern Europe regarding education issues. The access to community-based projects like TEMPUS/TACIS was facilitated by increasing human resources in education institutions in Moldova. All activities are in line with the Government programmes “Modernization of the Country-Welfare of the Population”, “Republic of Moldova-European Union Action Plan” and the “Education Modernization Programme 2005-2015”.

314. The process of improving the methodology for financing the education system is in an experimental stage. Total expenses, from all sources, continued to increase for 2002-2006 in absolute value. In 2005, 2,693.8 million lei were allocated for education, which is 1,205.1 million lei more than the resources provided in 2002. In 2006, expenses amounted to 3,575.4 million lei, which is 2,086.7 million lei more than in 2002. Expenses allocated for education also increased as a percentage of GDP (table 37).

Table 37
Financing education 2002-2006

315. The extrabudgetary contributions of parents must be mentioned. During the school year 2006/07, 45 per cent of universities and 14.3 per cent of colleges were private, and 78.5 per cent of students in higher education institutions were paying fees. In the reporting period, the monthly expenses of families with students increased. In 2003, a family spent 29 lei per child per month but in 2004 that figure was 33 lei. In 2004, poor families spent 0.3 per cent of their income on education, while average families spent 1.2 per cent, and families in cities spent 2.5 times more than families in rural areas, and 6 times more than those living in towns. A prosperous family spent 20 times more than a poor one.

316. Of the main expenses for education, 60 per cent are for secondary education. During the 2005/06 school year approximately 151,520 (99.4 per cent) primary school students and 99,294 (43.9 per cent) secondary and high school students from vulnerable families received free food (breakfast) and books.

Structure and objectives of the pre-university education system

317. A child’s right to education is ensured by the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, the Law on the Rights of the Child and the Law on Education. According to current legislation, every child has the right to free basic education. The legislation further stipulates the right to continue education in secondary vocational institutions, high schools, colleges or universities, either free of charge or for a fee. Pre-university education institutions are classified as follows:

• Kindergarten (5-7 years old)
• Primary school (grades I-IV)
• Secondary school (grades V-IX)
• High school (grades X-XII (XIII))
• General school (forms X-XI)

318. The education system also includes special education, complementary education, vocational education (arts and sports) and continuous education. Achieving universal access to secondary education is one of the most important objectives.

Preschool education

319. The general objective at this education level is forming a child’s personality for social and school integration by developing his/her creative skills and intellectual potential. Starting at the age of 5, preschool classes are compulsory in kindergartens or schools or, at the parents’ request, in the home.

320. Local public administrations are obliged to ensure the existence of preschool institutions and, if necessary, to open new ones and support them materially and financially according to the needs of the population. The State further guarantees care and education for preschool orphans and children with special needs.

321. In 2006, 1,305 kindergartens were operating, attended by 116,200 children. In order to meet specific educational needs, a flexible curriculum is used (4, 6, 9 or 10 hours per day) and new services are under development, including psychological services and physical and psychosocial development (dance, chess, computer, foreign languages).

322. Early individualized educational programmes have been developed in over 20 kindergartens with support from UNICEF/UNESCO/FISM for children from vulnerable families as part of the project “Improving the Quality of and Access to Basic Early Education Services in Rural Areas, with Special Emphasis on Vulnerable Groups” (implemented from September 2004 to December 2005 with a total budget of US$ 700,000). Preschool institutions involved in the project have created centres for parents’ education equipped with teaching materials, books, toys, furniture (tables, chairs, and cupboards), computers, fax machines, printers, Xerox machines, flipchart and supplies. As part of the project, the Ministry of Education and Youth developed the Early Childhood Care and Education Guidebook, educational posters for families and specialists focused on five topics (games, communication, stimulation, security and nutrition), and evaluation standards for children in preschool institutions.

323. Professional training of educators is conducted in every education unit, in districts/municipalities and in the continuous training centres, while the certification of teaching and management staff in the preschool system is done according to relevant regulations.

324. The promotion and implementation of the early education concept was supported by training for specialists (2,600 managers, educators, doctors, social assistants) on a holistic approach to the child, on the application of the strategy, on tools and techniques to monitor and evaluate curriculum implementation, and on using computers in preschool education.

325. Government decision No. 1584 of 29 December 2003 (effective 1 January 2004) doubled the maintenance fee for children in preschool institutions. Moreover, a fee to be paid by parents was introduced representing 50 per cent of the expenses for food covered from the State budget.

326. According to Government decision No. 1075 of 12 December 2005 regarding the improvement of the activity of preschool institutions, actions to revitalize the preschool education system were established and partially implemented. The cost for food for children in preschool institutions increased to 9 lei per day in 2006, of which 6 lei were covered from the budget and 3 were paid by parents (Order of Ministry of Education and Youth 655 of 29 December 2005). The preschool library was established in 2005. The salaries of the teaching staff in preschool institutions increased by 40 per cent (Government decision No. 381 of 13 April 2006). The regulations of preschool institutions were modified by decision of the Collegium of the Ministry of Education and Youth 6.3 of 27 April 2006.

Access to quality basic education

327. The general objective of the programme is to ensure by 2015 the access of all children to quality basic education that will allow them to develop basic life skills.

328. A new draft law on secondary education establishes provisions related to the consolidation of high school education and social partnerships by means of parents’ associations and sets out clearly parents’ responsibilities for the compulsory schooling of their children.

329. A total of 1,539 schools were functioning at the beginning of school year 2006/07, of which 665 were secondary schools (43.2 per cent), 442 were high schools (28.7 per cent) and 359 were general schools. The total number of students attending schools at the beginning of school year 2006/07 was 491,500 including 113,900 (23.2 per cent) attending secondary schools; 257,500 (52.4 per cent) attending high schools and 103,300 (21 per cent) in general schools. Of the total number of students, 198,700 (40 per cent) were attending school in cities and 292,800 (60 per cent) in villages.

330. At the end of the school year 2004/05, based on Order No. 163 of 22 June 2005 of the Ministry of Education and Youth, 81 pre-university education institutions were reorganized into high schools. High school education is a top priority, and the number of students enrolling is constantly increasing. In the school year 2005/06, about 80 per cent of graduates of secondary schools were able to find a place in high school. High school studies include general subjects and vocational subjects.

331. The school population is declining and will be reduced by 46 per cent or by 102,000 students in grades 1-9 in the next seven years, which will have serious consequences for the education system. In many rural areas, the capacity of schools greatly exceeds the number of students which requires unjustified financial expenditures. There are a considerable number of classes with 8-15 students (the average nationwide is 24 students). This problem must be solved in cooperation with local public administrations.

332. Reforming the education system is supported by strategic government actions:

• Developing a map of the whole education network
• Developing a strategy to optimize the network
• Gradual transition to high school education
• Gradual reorganization of the network transforming secondary schools into primary schools when enrolments are low and general schools into high schools or secondary schools

333. Schools, kindergartens or primary schools will be opened in localities with at least 30 children of the appropriate age.

334. The project “Quality Education in the Rural Areas of Moldova” financed by the World Bank provides equipment, tools, additional teaching materials, continuous training of staff in rural schools, and curricula and textbooks for these institutions. Its main components are the improvement of teaching and training in rural schools; access and equity; making the use of financial resources more efficient; and capacity-building.

335. Starting with school year 2005/06, students in primary grades were provided with textbooks free of charge. According to Government decision No. 448 of 9 April 1998 on the provision of textbooks to primary and secondary school students and Government Decision No. 777 of 30 June 2003 on the introduction of a textbook rental scheme for high school education, local public authorities subsidize up to 70 per cent of the amount children from socially vulnerable families have to pay for renting textbooks for grades 5-9 and 10-12. These make up 20 per cent of the total number of students. This situation continued in 2006 as well. All textbooks are accompanied by guidelines, the publication of which is covered from the State budget (2.85 million lei in 2004 and 2.21 million lei in 2005).

336. The development and implementation of an independent system of evaluating school performance started in 2004. In December 2006, the Agency for Examinations and Evaluation was created with special equipment and trained staff to participate in international TIMSS and PISA evaluations. In order to develop a reliable and objective evaluation system, the nationwide final examination system was reorganized and features external tests, external commissions and examination centres with objective supervisors. In this context, the manner of conducting the baccalaureate and general school examinations was modified. From 2004 to 2006, evaluations of representative samples of students were piloted in grades 4, 9, 12 (11). The results were the basis for curriculum changes and for improving the teaching staff.

Health-care services and nutrition in schools

337. The package of health-care services in the Single Compulsory Medical Insurance Programme for 2005 provided for:

• Preventive medical examinations for children at primary health-care facilities
• Preventive medical examinations in education institutions
• Prevention and treatment of dental diseases including compulsory medical examinations in kindergartens, secondary and special education institutions according to standards approved by the Ministry of Health

338. During the school year 2004/05 free food was provided for 89 per cent of students from primary grades, and 39 per cent of students from secondary grades receive meals in school canteens. During the school year 2005/06, 99.4 per cent students of grades I-IV and 43.9 per cent students of grades V-XII received food free of charge. According to Government decision No. 234 of 25 February 2005, food for students in grades I-IV in 2006 was budgeted at 2 lei per day.

School attendance and drop-out rates

339. According to data from the Household Budget Survey, children from poor families tend to start going to school later (at age 7 or 8) and leave the education system earlier (at age 15). The highest drop-out rates are in grades VIII and IX. Usually, girls remain in school longer than boys.

340. There has also been an increase in the number of school-age children whose parents are working outside of the country. According to some estimates, about 21,000 children are in this situation. In 2004, the Ministry of Education and Youth registered over 3,700 cases of children dropping out of school to leave the country with their parents, and in 2006, 108 dropped out due to a lack of supervision by parents who were working abroad.

341. Reasons for not continuing education vary by age. Among the 16–24 age group the most common reason was lack of motivation, but lack of financial resources for education is also a major reason as was the lack of appropriate institutions in rural areas. A draft law on secondary education was developed that obliges parents to ensure their children’s attendance at school and makes them liable if their children do not attend school. The draft was completed in December 2006 and is awaiting government approval.

Education and development of children in difficulty

342. The general objective is to ensure by 2007 fair access for all children in particularly difficult situations to quality education services from the earliest stages of development, and to increase the quality of inclusive/special education by creating optimal conditions for care, rehabilitation and socialization and improving conditions in existing institutions. Placing orphans, children from vulnerable families or those with various health problems in residential institutions is one method of social protection. As of 1 January 2006, 62 boarding schools were functioning in the country, attended by 10,500 children mostly between the ages of 10 and 14. Thirty-six per cent of them were institutionalized because of diseases and disabilities, 16 per cent were orphans, 27 per cent were there because of poverty, 8 per cent because of family problems, 4 per cent because the parents were unemployed, 1.6 per cent had failed in their previous school and 0.2 per cent lacked access to a school.

343. Recent efforts have focused on moving from the current system to a system of special social services provided at the community level aimed at keeping children in their families or in a family-type environment. In this context, foster homes represent an alternative form of institutional childcare. In 2006, there were 21 foster homes housing 99 children. Although the national legal framework includes a number of provisions on foster homes including minimum quality standards for services provided, to date there is no mechanism for foster parent-educators to participate in compulsory State social and medical insurances. The rights and obligations of foster parent-educators to the children in their care are not stipulated.

344. From 2001 to 2006, the Ministry of Education and Youth cooperated with UNICEF, Cultur-Contact, GTZ, Humanitas, Motivatie/Motivation, Pro Tineret/Pro Youth, Amici dei Bambini, Centre for Information and Documentation on Children’s Rights from Moldova, Every Child, Nova Familia, Caritas, Mission Without Borders, Micul Samaritean/Little Samaritan, Better Opportunities for Young People and Women and with other institutions concerning the social assistance, education and development of children with special education needs.

345. The strengthening of the legal framework for education for children in difficult situations was supported by the development of the Residential System Reform Strategy and of the Action Plan for its implementation. The reform of the child protection system and strategic directions for the reform of the national child protection system were the subjects of the national conference “Social Dimensions of the Child Protection System in the Republic of Moldova”. Minimum quality standards for the care, education and socialization of children from residential institutions were developed and entered in force from 1 January 2007.

Secondary vocational education

346. Enrolling students in secondary vocational education institutions is done in compliance with the plan approved by the Government of the Republic of Moldova. According to statistical data at the beginning of the school year in 2006, 78 secondary vocational education institutions were functioning in the country, of which 52 were professional schools and 26 were industrial schools including 2 private industrial schools. An enrolment of 17,710 was planned in 2006, but only 15,494 students were enrolled: 73.5 per cent came from rural areas, 76 per cent enrolled in professional schools and 24 per cent enrolled in industrial schools. Of those, 81.8 per cent had secondary school graduation certificates, 12.5 per cent had high school and general school graduation certificates and 5.7 per cent did not have secondary school leaving certificates. At the beginning of the school year 2006/07, 23,656 students had enrolled, of whom 36 per cent were females. The age range of students enrolled in secondary vocational education institutions is from 16 to 19 years.

347. The elimination of financing for food and scholarships in 1999 has been a problem for secondary vocational education. Of the total number of students in 2005, about 4 per cent were orphans and 76 per cent were children from socially vulnerable families or single-parent families. The change in the law has increased the drop-out rate and has made the system less attractive for secondary school graduates, especially for girls. In order to remedy the current situation, the Ministry of Education and Youth drafted a new law in 2005 which was submitted to the Government for examination. As of 1 September 2006, free lunch is approved for students in secondary vocational education institutions.

348. In order to revive the system, the National Coordinating Council in Secondary Vocational Education was set up, and it drafted a development strategy for 2006-2016.

Higher education and specialized secondary education

349. During the reference period, the number of children studying in a specialized secondary (college) or higher education institution increased. The number of students attending college in 2005/06 was 75 per 10,000 inhabitants, in 2004/05 it was 65 and in 2000/01, 55. In 2005 there were 81,700 students in higher education institutions, financed from the State budget which was a 58.7 per cent increase from 2000, a 27.9 per cent increase from 2003 and a 13.2 per cent increase from 2004.

350. In compliance with Government decision No. 434 of 25 April 2006, the enrolment of 27,875 persons in the higher education institutions and 11,105 persons in specialized secondary institutions was approved. However, only 25,854 students actually enrolled in higher education institutions, which was 7.2 per cent less than planned. The total number of students enrolled in 2006 decreased by 25 per cent compared with 2005 and by 18.9 per cent compared to 2004 because of the reduction in scholarship funds approved by the Government. The number of scholarships was subsequently increased.

351. One third of the students enrolled in the social sciences, economy and law department, 17.2 per cent enrolled in education, 5.9 per cent in sciences, 5.6 per cent in the humanities and arts and 3.2 per cent in medicine.

352. Nine thousand eight hundred and ninety-two students were enrolled in specialized secondary education institutions in 2006, which was 7.8 per cent less than in 2005. Of them, 72 per cent had secondary education certificates, 20 per cent had general school certificates and 7 per cent had high school education certificates. Most were enrolled in medicine (16.5 per cent) and economics (14.8 per cent).

353. In the context of European integration, the education system focused on performance and quality systems in line with the Bologna Process. The European System of Transferable Credits has been implemented in higher education institutions and the Supplement to the Diploma, a single European model, has been issued to each and every graduate starting as of the class of 2005.

354. Amendments and modifications to Law 1257-XIII of 16 July 1997 on Evaluation and Accreditation in the Republic of Moldova and to Law 423-XIV of 4 June 1999 on the Approval of the Regulations on Evaluation and Accreditation of Education Institutions are being developed. The draft concept for distance education and the draft regulations on the organization and development of internships within initial training in higher education were developed and submitted to the Government for approval. By decision of the Collegium of the Ministry of Education and Youth, the Guide for the Implementation of the National System of Credits was approved and has already been implemented in the higher education institutions.

Fine arts education

355. In 2006, 755 children were studying music, fine arts and choreography in fine arts high schools under the Ministry of Culture. All students who come from villages live in dormitories and receive scholarships. Students in such institutions can take baccalaureate examinations and continue their studies at the Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts or in other universities. At the end of each semester, students give class concerts and academic concerts. Also, in cooperation with the National Philharmonic Society Serghei Lunchevici, Organ Hall and the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet, activities are conducted during which students are offered the possibility of performing on the most prestigious stages of the country. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism promotes their participation in the most important cultural events of the country, including in the International Festival of Music Martisor. For over 10 years, the Ministry has offered financial and logistical support in organizing and developing the International Contest of Young Interpreters Eugen Coca and of the national contest among music and art schools.

356. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism also ensures the participation of children in the International Festival Novye Imena (New Names) in Suzdal (Russian Federation), at the Delphic Games and in other international music, choreography and fine arts contests. Participants from Moldova won and are still winning major prizes.

Leisure, holidays, recreation and cultural and artistic activities

357. The Government finances from the State budget summer leisure time activities, including holidays and recreation activities, for children in general and for children in difficult situations in particular. In 2006, 97 permanent camps were organized, hosting 121,333 children and 442 day camps were attended by 117,315 children including 6,574 orphans and children from socially vulnerable families from residential institutions as well as some 900 children from schools located on the left bank of the river Nistru and from Bender.

358. In compliance with Government decision No. 510 of 13 May 2006 regarding leisure organization and improvement of children’s and adolescents’ health, in the summer of 2006, 25 per cent of the tickets for recreation and health institutions were provided free of charge, priority being given to orphans and children left without parental care, children from large families and from socially vulnerable ones.

359. Currently, 72 non-academic institutions organize leisure time hosting 45,597 participants, which constitutes 9 per cent of the students in the pre-university education system. There are 48 centres for children’s activities in Chisinau Municipality. The current network does not allow access for all children, which is a violation of the provisions of articles 29 and 31 of the Convention. In 22 districts there is only institution working, usually in an old dilapidated building, often with no electricity or heating. Most of them are in urban centres; only five are in rural areas.

360. Inadequate working conditions in these institutions hinder their activity. Only 5 of 35 administrative units allocated money for repairs in 2006. Also, non-academic institutions are sometimes deprived of space and organize their services in the afternoon in schools; in Basarabeasca, Floresti, Orhei, Rezina and Ungheni children’s recreation centres do not have their own premises and only two have computers which are obsolete.

361. As a result of a grant contest implemented in 2006 by the National Youth Resource Centre with support from UNICEF Moldova, the Ministry of Education and Youth and local public authorities, 10 more youth centres were to be opened. Donors that contributed to their establishment are interested in a multisectoral partnership providing services to young people, so that later, step by step, these innovative services would be undertaken by the local public administrations.

362. There are 1,600 teaching staff employed in these institutions, of whom 1,100 graduated from higher education institutions and are experienced. During the reference period, the Institute for Education Sciences organized vocational training courses attended by some 50 teachers from relevant institutions. Additionally, teaching staff have been trained by SIEDO, Pro-Didactica and the National Youth Resource Centre, among others.

VIII. SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES

363. For the implementation of articles 22 and 32 and other provisions of the Convention on special protection measures, the Republic of Moldova is part of the following treaties:

• Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
• Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
• Optional Protocol to the Convention on the right of the child on the involvement of children in armed conflicts
• European Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions concerning Custody of Children and on Restoration of Custody of Children
• Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
• Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, Protocol relating to the status of refugees
• Decision on the Interstate Aid Fund for Refugees and Forcefully Displaced People, signed among the CIS member States in 2002 in Chisinau
• The ILO Convention No. 182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour

A. Children in conflict with the law

Administration of juvenile justice

364. In order to reduce the number of imprisoned children a range of amendments to the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedures Code was introduced. Thus, according to article 91 of the Criminal Code, convicted juveniles are released on probation if they meet all legal requirements in this respect and they have served: at least one third of the punishment term for a minor or less serious offence; at least half of the punishment term for a serious offence; at least two-thirds of the punishment term for a very serious or extremely serious offence.

365. These amendments were adopted on the basis of the Law on modification of certain legislative acts, including the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedures Code No. 184 of 29 June 2006.

366. Release on probation follows after a range of educational, psychological, social measures and vocational training have been taken aimed at developing social and intellectual skills to help the convicted juveniles reintegrate into the society.

367. Law 184-XVI of 29 June 2006 provides for excluding arrest as a form of punishment and the minimum punishment for a number of articles from the Criminal Code, thus increasing the number of offences for which alternative punishments shall be applied and reducing the number of prisoners.

368. Modifications were introduced stipulating that when determining punishment, if the defendant was not 18 at the time the offence was committed the term established for the maximum punishment stipulated by the criminal law for the offence is reduced by half if one crime was committed. Furthermore, the term of imprisonment cannot be longer than 12 years and 6 months for minors who committed one crime and cannot be longer than 15 years if more than one crime was committed (articles 84, 85 of the Criminal Code).

369. A new paragraph was added to article 75 of the Criminal Code stating that if a juvenile committed a minor or less serious offence, punishment is to be applied only if educational measures are not sufficient to correct behaviour.

370. According to article 93 of the Criminal Code, juveniles convicted of committing a minor offence or a less serious or serious crime may be released from punishment by the court if the court finds that the objectives of the punishment can be accomplished through placement in a specialized correctional institution or a medical correctional institution, or through the application of measures of educational nature. Also, to avoid criminal punishment of juveniles, amendments were introduced to article 109 of the Criminal Code, which stipulates that reconciliation is an act that releases a person from criminal liability for a minor offence or a less serious crime and in the case of juveniles, for a serious crime as well.

371. For the same purpose, modifications were introduced in the Code of Criminal Procedure. Thus, according to paragraph (6) of article 166, a person suspected of committing a crime cannot be detained for more 24 hours from the moment of his/her deprivation of liberty without formal charges.

372. According to article 270 of the Code of Criminal Procedure the prosecutor is also in charge of crimes committed by juveniles.

373. In order to ensure the observance of children’s rights the specialists working for and with children (lawyers, judges, employees of legal bodies, teachers, doctors, social assistants, and representatives of NGOs) are systematically trained in human rights.

374. The employees of legal bodies were involved in many training activities directly or indirectly focusing on juvenile crime, organized by their own training centres, other training centres, international organizations and NGOs. It is worth mentioning that 130 judges and prosecutors were trained in six seminars. During the training period different materials on the rights of the child were developed.

375. Three types of training in juvenile justice were planned by the National Institute of Justice: an initial training programme for newly appointed judges; in-service training with a more extensive curriculum; and training for trainers.

376. At present, there are trainers on the European Convention on Human Rights (six judges and six prosecutors) and trainers on juvenile justice (three judges and three prosecutors).

377. During the reference period, the training centre for employees of the penitentiary system organized many training sessions in the human rights field. A large number of employees of the penitentiary system were trained through the UNDP programme “Supporting the Implementation of the National Plan of Actions in the Human Rights Field”.

378. During the reporting period, the administration of juvenile justice was considerably improved. The Code of Criminal Procedure, in force since 12 June 2003, contains a special chapter regulating the procedure regarding children in conflict with the law and many articles refer to this category of children in other chapters. The provisions of the Code meet international standards. It also contains regulations superior to the old code (children can be detained not more than 24 hours instead of 75 hours and a special court procedure for children has been established to prevent the need for repeated hearings). The Code stipulates guarantees for both children in conflict with the law and other children involved in trials. According to the law, the presence of a legal representative, a teacher, or psychologist is compulsory in cases in which minors are involved.

379. To implement various actions related to the administration of juvenile justice, UNICEF assistance was expressly required. For example, the UNICEF Draft Country Programme for 2007-2011 aims at reforming juvenile justice.

380. Starting in 2004, judges for trials involving juveniles are appointed in each court in the country. Criminal prosecution of cases involving children in conflict with the law was exclusively attributed to the prosecutor. Prosecutors in charge of cases involving children are appointed in each Prosecutor’s Office. The criminal investigation and trial are to be conducted without delay when minors are involved.

381. According to point 21 of the Moldova-EU Plan of Action, justice reforms shall be continued. By Order of the Ministry of Justice No. 170 of 29 May 2006, the Judiciary System Reform Strategy for 2006-2008 and the Plan of Action for the implementation of the strategy were approved and provide for the following in chapter 7 (“Juvenile Justice”):

• Training of specialized judges and other categories of personnel from the judiciary system at the National Institute of Justice (term - 2007)
• Ensuring the necessary number of specialized employees for trials involving child victims or children in conflict with the law (term - 2007)
• Improving the statistical system by including complete data on children involved in judicial procedures and the statistic report on criminal trials shall contain separate information on legal cases where children are victims of mentioned crimes (term - 2007)

382. To improve the professional skills of persons involved in juvenile trials, many measures (including training) were organized and in 2006 included the following:

• On 24 March 2006 a practical seminar for the employees of the juveniles and morals service of the General Police Department of Chisinau, and for representatives of the General Directorate for Education, Science, Youth and Sports and of the Directorate for Child Rights Protection of Chisinau City Hall
• On 2 August 2006 a seminar on the reform of the juvenile justice system with the participation of UNICEF Moldova
• On 8 August 2006 the Institute of Penal Reforms organized an evaluation seminar on preparing the release of juvenile detainees
• On 23 August 2006, under the aegis of the League for Defence of Human Rights of Moldova, training on protection of the rights of children in difficulty

Juvenile delinquency

383. Crimes committed by children and young people make up approximately 10 per cent of registered crimes. As a rule, most are against property and are the result of family conflicts, dropping out of school and poverty, in addition to the low level of adolescents’ legal knowledge. In all, 67.34 per cent of these children are repeat offenders.

384. In recent years, the Government adopted a range of decisions on the control and prevention of juvenile delinquency. The acts stipulate concrete measures to improve the situation in the field. On 15 May 2003, the Government passed a decision on special measures for juvenile delinquency control and prevention. The main objectives of this decision are the following:

• Creating information services (hotline) to ensure the access of children involved in antisocial activities to professional help and psychological support (respecting confidentiality)
• Promoting measures and results of juvenile delinquency control and prevention, publishing articles on the issue, organizing lectures for children and parents
• Organizing measures to improve the professional skills of police officers in charge of combating juvenile delinquency
• Increasing allowances for socially vulnerable families, training social assistants working with children in difficulty, providing support to maintain children within their families
• Creating alternative services to take care of children from disorganized families (e.g. families where cases of alcohol abuse, drug abuse, violence against children were reported)
• Organizing and encouraging the participation of legal specialists (lawyers, police officers, judges) in civic education, and “We and the Law” classes, in pre-university education institutions

385. Currently, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is to employ 211 inspectors in charge of juvenile issues within 42 district police departments, their number being proportional to the population and juvenile crime situation. These inspectors have duties in certain areas established by the police officials, taking into account the current juvenile crime rate, the number of education institutions, population density and other factors.

386. To prevent offences and crimes among children, the inspectors keep record of adolescent offenders who were released, who were convicted but not imprisoned, children under criminal investigation, alcohol users, drug users, children who repeatedly run away from their families or who have an antisocial lifestyle.

387. The inspectors forward information on offences committed by children to leaders of local public administrations and of education institutions for necessary measures to be taken. Prevention activities are registered monthly in prevention registers and files and records are kept on delinquents and parents who have a negative influence on children.

388. Activities aimed at preventing and controlling juvenile delinquency are systematically conducted. Activities in 2006 included practical support for police departments from the employees of the service for minors and morals of the Prevention Directorate of the Public Order General Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The inspectors also informed the public about the problems of children in difficulty as well as about juvenile delinquency in 449 articles, including 135 TV programmes, 105 radio stories and 245 newspaper stories.

Children deprived of their liberty

389. In 2006, 142 children were imprisoned. There are no statistical data on the average term of imprisonment (table 38).

Table 38
Minors in conflict with the law and the sanctions applied

390. The procedure for punishing children is stipulated by the Execution Code adopted by Law No. 443 of 24 December 2004. According to the Code, persons deprived of liberty who are not of age are to be confined in penitentiaries for children or in separate sectors of regular penitentiaries with conditions similar to penitentiaries for children.

391. Penitentiary No. 2 at Lipcani is the only penitentiary specially equipped for children (boys). Convicted girls are confined in the Penitentiary for Women (No. 7) in Rusca.

392. On 1 July 2006, there were 119 children under 18 years and 57 young people aged 18 to 21 in Penitentiary No. 2. On 1 July 2006, 25 children were detained in penal institutions not intended for children (Penitentiary No. 7) and another 112 children were in pretrial detention units (137 children in all).

393. Children incarcerated in an institution for adults are escorted, received and detained separately from adults and benefit from daily walks of at least two hours.

394. The present Code provides for the following measures for juveniles detainees:

• The right to watch sports competitions and entertaining performances outside the penitentiary, accompanied by a representative of the penitentiary administration, for not more than eight hours (only during the day)
• The right to go out of the penitentiary, accompanied by legal representatives, for not more than eight hours
• Juvenile detainees can also have visits from family members as specified by law and during the reintegration phase of detention can live together with his/her family in a separate place on the grounds of the penitentiary or near it

395. The administrations of penitentiaries No. 2 and No. 7 organize hearings for prisoners on personal issues. In Penitentiary No. 2 there are lines allowing the prisoners to speak directly to the head of the penitentiary. Also, according to provision 87 of the statute of punishment for convicted persons approved by Government Decision No. 583 of 26 May 2006, detainees have the right to submit requests and complaints (claims, proposals, complaints) to the administration of the penitentiary, to superior bodies, judicial bodies, the Prosecutor’s Office, the Committee for Complaints, central and local public administration bodies, public associations and inter-State organizations for the defence and observance of human rights.

396. The girls and boys from penitentiaries are involved in social education programmes developed by the Department of Penitentiaries. They are also involved in other social education activities including art activities, psychological training, sports, developing computer skills and learning a craft.

Child detention and arrest

397. The detention and arrest of a minor person according to the legal provisions can take place only in exceptional cases, when serious violent crimes or especially or exceptionally serious crimes have been committed. In case of the detention of a minor, the person conducting the criminal prosecution is obliged to immediately communicate with the prosecutor and the parents or guardians of the minor.

398. The arrest or detention of the minor and the immediate notification of his/her parents or legal representatives is registered in the detention report. In this respect, the law (Criminal Procedures Code, art. 173) stipulates that the person who draws up the report is obliged to let the person arrested inform a close relative or other person about his/her place of detention within six hours.

399. A person can be initially arrested for 30 days. A child can be arrested during a criminal investigation for a maximum of four months.

400. After the case is sent to court, the length of the trial, during which the accused is kept under arrest from the day the case was received by the court and until the sentence is pronounced, cannot exceed 6 months if the person is accused of committing a crime for which the law stipulates a maximum punishment of 15 years in prison; and 12 months if the person is accused of committing a crime for which the law stipulates a maximum punishment of 25 years or life imprisonment. The time for examining the case, during which the accused is kept under arrest, can be prolonged only in exceptional cases at the prosecutor’s request. Each extension cannot exceed 30 days during the criminal investigation and 90 days during the court case.

401. At 1 October 2006, 104 persons under 18 were in detention and under criminal investigation. No cases of abuse or unfair treatment of minors during their detention, arrest or imprisonment were registered.

Capital punishment and life imprisonment

402. Capital punishment is not practised in the Republic of Moldova. According to the law children cannot be sentenced to life imprisonment. Incarceration for minors who have committed one crime cannot exceed 12 years and 6 months or 15 years for those who have committed more than one crime.

Physical, psychological rehabilitation and social reintegration

403. Before being released from prison, children are prepared for recovery and rehabilitation by the programme “PROSOCIAL”, by the preparation programme for the release of persons convicted of theft and robbery, or by the preparation programme for release on probation before term. The penitentiaries now have social assistants who help convicts by preparing them for release and by informing the local public administration about the release in order for it to provide subsequent support. At the same time, they cooperate with community justice centres regarding social reintegration.

404. Social assistants provide a range of services including: re-establishing contacts with relatives and close friends; issuing judicial documents; cooperating with employment agencies regarding employment after release; collecting information about education institutions for minors; finding a place to live; and monitoring the release process.

405. As of 1 July 2006, the total number of children in penitentiaries was 312. During the first semester of 2006, 46 children from penitentiaries took part in rehabilitation and social reintegration programmes i.e. 100 per cent of those released. In 2005, 29 children benefited from assistance, in 2004 - 34 children, in 2003 - 28 children, in 2002 - 28 children, in 2001 - 37 and in 2000 - 19 children.

B. Exploited children, including physical and psychological
rehabilitation and social reintegration

Economic exploitation including child labour

406. In recent years, the Government of Moldova paid special attention to preventing and combating child labour. In the reference period, the following measures were taken in this regard:

• Ratification of ILO Convention No. 182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (Law No. 849-XV of 14 February 2002)
• Adoption of the law regarding Labour Inspection 140-XV of 10 May 2001
• Adoption of the new labour code (Law 154-XV) of 28 March 2003
• Signing of the memorandum between the Government and ILO, represented by the International Labour Bureau (Government Decision 394 of 15 April 2004) one of the purposes of which was to ensure the implementation of ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182

407. The National Steering Committee of the International Child Labour Programme was established by Government Decision No. 495 of 11 May 2004.

408. Law 110-XVI of 2 June 2005 on amendments and additions to the Administrative Contraventions Code and to Law 140-XVI of 10 May 2001 on labour inspection was adopted, establishing that Labour inspectors were empowered to monitor observance of labour laws by individuals who have employees and to apply administrative sanctions as required by law, including fines for violations of the provisions on working conditions and on protecting employees at work. Furthermore, the amount of the fine for violations in relation to minors can be from 100 to 200 conventional units (a conventional unit being equal to 20 lei).

Drug abuse

409. Alcohol and drug use among adolescents is a serious problem. Abuse of alcohol, drugs and other psychotropic substances causes multiple social and health problems, which, at the national level, increase mortality, morbidity and criminality in this segment of the population.

410. The main factors that determine adolescent abuse of alcohol and drugs are the following:

• Genetic predisposition
• Type of personality
• Attitudes and beliefs determined by culture, religion, age, gender
• Educational level, social class, personal experience
• Exposure to psychoactive substances and favourable conditions for consumption
• Accessibility of alcohol, drugs and other psychotropic substances in the market

411. Adolescents search for emotional and psychological identity; they learn to apply values learnt in childhood, they analyse their role in the society. This emotional process, sometimes troubling, coincides with the time when assertion is possible, but there is also a high vulnerability level. Most of the risks incurred by adolescents do not reflect their personal attitudes and wishes. Some adolescents are tempted by alcohol or drugs but know when to stop; others continue occasionally using them without facing any serious problems. Other adolescents become addicted and use stronger drugs more frequently which seriously affects their health and creates problems for their relatives. Yearly, about 320 drug-addicted adolescents are placed under medical supervision. They are engaged in programmes of treatment, education, information, prevention therapy and psychological rehabilitation.

412. The phenomenon of using drugs just once, according to a study, is more widespread in rural localities (82.9 per cent), compared to urban areas (79.2 per cent). But, in urban localities occasional drug use is more frequent. Also, 2.8 per cent of adolescents who have experience in drug use have injected drugs.

413. Specialists in the field have conducted several activities including analysis and control of the situation, determining priorities, promotion of a healthy lifestyle among adolescents, informing public opinion about the serious consequences of drug use through credible and appropriate messages, extension of health services for persons at high risk, early identification of adolescents who use drugs and their placement in a programme of therapy, prevention, correction and psychosocial rehabilitation.

414. During the reference period, research regarding drug and other psychotropic substance use among students and youth, the level of drug abuse and subsequent monitoring of the situation, the impact on public health, the demographic situation and the general mortality and criminality rate continued. Annually, specialists have personal discussions with persons who use alcohol, drugs and other psychotropic substances, regarding the consequences of alcoholism and drug abuse, the need for therapy and the advantages of a healthy lifestyle. In this period, 75 TV programmes and 116 radio shows were broadcast and 214 articles were published supporting a healthy lifestyle. Every semester, seminars are organized with the participation of NGOs,

specializing in education problems, primary prevention and the rehabilitation and social integration of drug-addicted persons. Seminars are also organized with family doctors regarding early identification of persons involved in drug use and with police officers, about drug use, mitigation measures, identifying drug addicts and crime prevention.

415. In cooperation with the police, recommendations for law enforcement staff have been developed for combating drug abuse and trafficking. Specialists worked hard to organize theoretical and practical training for police officers involved in combating drug use for the purpose of identifying drug users, maintaining national security, combating drug trafficking and providing anti-drug therapy to addicts. Training, exhibitions and seminars were organized where the recommendations were discussed. The main purpose of these activities was developing and applying the medical, social, educational and administrative measures for motivating youth to have a healthy lifestyle and to protect the population from drug addiction. Narcotics specialists from health-care institutions visited all pre-university education institutions to involve students in anti-drug programmes to let them know about the serious problems and risks caused by drug abuse and the need for appropriate social behaviour.

Sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, sale, kidnapping, trafficking in children

416. State bodies undertake measures against trafficking in human beings and provide assistance to victims of trafficking. As of 1 January 2006, victims of trafficking benefit from professional integration or reintegration allowances. This measure involves offering a fixed amount of money monthly, tax-free, equivalent to 15 per cent of the average salary during the previous year. This allowance is allocated from the Unemployment Fund for a maximum period of nine months.

417. An important component of trafficking prevention is the thorough verification of documents and legality of State border crossing. State border crossing by children is allowed only with valid documents and in the company of a legal representative appointed by a written, notarized declaration. In the declaration, the purpose of the trip, its duration and the country of destination must be stated. In case the child leaves for permanent residence in another country, the consent of both parents or guardians is necessary, expressed in a notarized declaration bearing their signatures.

418. Children who have reached the age of 14 and are registered in educational institutions abroad must present (while exiting or entering Moldova) the appropriate registration document and the notarized declaration of one parent or guardian which contains consent for the child’s exiting and entering Moldova, indicating the country of destination, the purpose of the trip, the period of the child’s stay in the country of destination. The declaration is valid for one school year.

419. The application of these provisions constitutes a guarantee of preventing the illegal transfer of children abroad. In 2006, 1,120 children were prevented from leaving the country. In most of the cases, the reason was the absence of parental consent.

420. In order to prevent trafficking in children, the Border Guard Service cooperates with competent bodies in the field of human trafficking both from Moldova and abroad, and in the central office of the Border Guard Service a 24-hour hotline is open that can be used by all citizens to report that a child is missing. Tracing and punishing persons who commit trafficking has been intensified (table 39). Nevertheless, a high rate of crimes against children still persists (table 40).

Table 39
Cases of trafficking in children and their illegal transportation abroad

Table 40
Crimes against children 2001-2006

Children who live or work in the street

421. Statistical data regarding children who live or work in the street are relatively constant in the reporting period, registering a slight decrease in 2006 (the phenomenon is mainly concentrated in Chisinau and Balti).

422. In order to prevent and reduce this phenomenon, children who live or work in the street are offered accommodation, food and rehabilitation services in 10 placement centres, financed both from State and local budgets, as well as from donations. Children are also offered social reintegration in the most appropriate way of protecting the child: family reintegration, long-term placement, guardianship or adoption.

Observance of child rights in Transnistria

423. Taking into account the fact that so far the authorities of the Republic of Moldova do not have actual control over the region on the left bank of Nistru River, collecting the necessary information for this report was impossible. However, due to good cooperation between the Ministry of Social Protection, Family and Child and the NGOs that carry out some activities in the region, we have managed to collect some information, albeit incomplete.

424. Thus during the reporting period, a significant number of children from Transnistria who were in situations of risk were assisted by the IOM mission in Moldova, Terre des Hommes, and Save the Children and were provided psychosocial assistance, family and community reintegration, support in enrolling or returning to school, repatriation, humanitarian aid, summer holidays and medical assistance.

425. During 2005-2006, the activity of the Terres des Hommes FACT project focused on providing support to local authorities and families with the view to protecting and reintegrating children repatriated from the Russian Federation and the Ukraine. For the achievement of this objective, relationships were established with representatives of child protection bodies in all districts and towns in Transnistria and with those in a number of home communities of children. During the reference period, 33 children were identified as coming from the Transnistrian region who had left the territory alone, or with their parents, or with strangers for Russia or Ukraine.

426. IOM provided psychosocial assistance, medical assistance, humanitarian aid, support in school enrolment and professional training to children in difficulty. In 2006, IOM and the NGO Interaction organized peer-to-peer workshops about preventing trafficking in human beings in Transnistrian schools, in which 2,028 children participated. Save the Children provided assistance to 958 children in the same period.

427. Article 35 of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova expressly states the right to education as one of the fundamental human rights. The State ensures under the law the right to choose the language of study. Studying of the State language (Moldovan with Latin letters) is guaranteed in all types of education institutions. Currently the overall number of inhabitants of Transnistria is about 540,000 persons, 32.2 per cent are Moldovans, 29.1 per cent are Ukrainians and 28.1 per cent are Russians. Despite this, the language in 90 per cent of preschools is Russian. Only 8.7 per cent of children study in Moldovan and only 0.6 per cent study in Ukrainian.

428. In 2005, 184 general day schools were functioning in the region, attended by 67,500 children. There were no secondary schools or high schools in rural areas at the time. This situation is even worse because 61.5 per cent of the general schools are in rural areas and are attended by 37.7 per cent of children. In 68.3 per cent of general schools the language is Russian, in 19.8 per cent it is Moldovan (with Cyrillic letters), in three institutions the language is Ukrainian, and in four it is Russian and Ukrainian.

429. Currently in Transnistria there are 16 Moldovan schools and 32 mixed schools where the language of study is Moldovan with Cyrillic letters, attended by 12,311 students; and 8 schools where the language of study is Moldovan with Latin letters which follow the curricula and manuals approved by the Ministry of Education and Youth of Moldova, attended by 2,650 students. The Transnistrian administration assigned the education institutions where the study language is Moldovan with Latin letters the status of foreign “non-State” education institutions.

430. There are 25 vocational training institutions in the Transnistrian region attended
by 11,000 people of whom 34 per cent are Moldovans, 34 per cent are Russians and 28 per cent are Ukrainians. Nevertheless, 97.4 per cent of the overall number of students study in Russian and only 2.7 per cent study in Moldovan.

431. There are three higher education institutions in this region attended by 12,200 people of whom 38.9 per cent are Russians, 32 per cent are Ukrainians, 22 per cent are Moldovans, 2.7 per cent are Bulgarians and 3.6 per cent are other nationalities. Nevertheless, 94 per cent of the overall number of students study in Russian, 5 per cent in Moldovan and 1 per cent in Ukrainian.

432. Although the situation in the education system of the Transnistrian region regarding the constitutional right of young people to study in their native language is extremely serious, the separatist regime makes it worse by insisting that the Moldovan language is written in Cyrillic.

433. The devastation and closing of the high school Lucian Blaga in Tiraspol on 15 July 2004 triggered a serious crisis in the relations between Chisinau and Tiraspol, which became known as the Transnistrian school crisis.

434. On 28 January 2004, the so-called “supreme soviet” of Transnistria adopted a decision according to which at the beginning of the school year 2004/05 all general schools were under “Transnistrian law” which meant that Moldovan schools that did not obey to it and used curricula and manuals of the Ministry of Education and Youth of the Republic of Moldova were to be stopped. Despite this pressure, eight schools continued to follow the curricula and manuals of the Republic of Moldova. The other Moldovan schools used Cyrillic letters and an obsolete curricula and manuals which do not correspond to European standards.

435. Under the false pretext that these eight schools were not registered by the local (Transnistrian) administration, the buildings of the high schools Lucian Blaga in Tiraspol and Evrica in Ribnita and the boarding school in Bender were attacked, devastated and besieged in July 2004 for more than one month by the Transnistrian police. After Lucian Blaga was closed, the Transnistrian authorities, despite the protests from parents, teachers, students, as well as the international community, closed the other schools that were using Moldovan with Latin letters.

436. On 29 July 2004 the high school Evrica was attacked by the Transnistrian police. Parents, teachers and children who barricaded themselves in the school were evacuated. Six parents and teachers were arrested and taken to the police station by force, files were opened and they were illegally sentenced to different detention terms (three and five days of prison), for trying to protect their children’s right to study in their native language.

437. Although these schools are subordinate to and administered by the Ministry of Education and Youth of the Republic of Moldova and are financed from the State budget of the Republic of Moldova in order to provide children with more or less normal study conditions, their administrations conformed to the (illegal) requirement to go through the process of registration with the Tiraspol administration, and were temporarily registered for one year by Transnistrian authorities as non-State foreign educational institutions. But even after registration, local authorities under different pretexts continued blackmailing and persecuting school administrations, teachers, parents, and children. A criminal file was opened against the principal of school No. 12, now reorganized into Evrica high school, for carrying out illegal foreign currency transactions - he pays salaries to the teachers working in this school in Moldovan lei, the official currency of the Republic of Moldova. Other employees and workers, including construction workers carrying out repairs in the school, are also persecuted.

438. The principal of Alexandru cel Bun high school in Bender was forced to renegotiate a rental contract with local authorities, despite the fact that the high school had already signed this kind of contract. These actions were carried out under circumstances when the local administration of Bender had already signed a contract with the Moldovan Social Investment Fund (MSIF), under which MSIF undertook to carry out capital repairs of the building. The amount of money invested in repairs constituted about 11 million lei, and local authorities, in their turn, undertook for 10 years not to change the use of the building, and to consider the invested money as rental payment.

439. Evrica high school also faces various problems; it is permanently harassed by the town administration. Students and parents have been summoned to the local Prosecutor’s Office to testify against the school administration. The principal is bombarded with warning letters, and accused of falsifying the registration because the school operates in a kindergarten that belongs to Ribnita Metallurgical Plant, and the school has been temporarily registered at the address of a building constructed by the Republic of Moldova. More than 11 million lei have been invested in this school and now the Ribnita administration, without any legal ground, intends to put it up for sale.

440. Moreover, Ribnita local authorities registered (on 11 August 2004) a protection and social rehabilitation school at the address (14 Gagarin Street, the legal address of Evrica), in the study block built for Evrica using the money from the State budget of the Republic of Moldova. In this respect the administration of Evrica was repeatedly warned to modify documents and indicate the exact legal address.

441. Although the high school is under the Ministry of Education and Youth of the Republic of Moldova, its administration is constantly asked for detailed information on the number
of children, and their parents’ places of residence and work in order to blackmail and persecute them.

442. The administration of secondary school No. 20 of Tiraspol, now Lucian Blaga high school, was warned by the Tiraspol Prosecutor’s Office that if the school did not register by 15 February 2004, school activity would be stopped. Tiraspol separatist leaders ignored numerous appeals from the Government of the Republic of Moldova, OSCE, EU, European Council, the entire international community to reopen the schools. Chisinau announced its decision to quit negotiations and asked the United States and the EU to get involved in the conflict resolution.

443. Although the crisis of Transnistrian schools was a surprise to many foreign observers, the struggle of Moldovan schools there has continued in fact for more than 10 years. Despite the measures taken by Tiraspol separatist authorities to impose learning Moldovan language with Cyrillic letters, teachers, parents, and students from these schools managed to defend their right to choose the language of study and the letters they use. They consider that Cyrillic letters are inappropriate and are a disadvantage for students from Moldovan schools in Transnistria because it deprives them of the opportunity to continue their studies in higher education institutions of the Republic of Moldova and abroad.

444. In the last 10 years, students, parents and teachers from Moldovan schools who wanted to study in Moldovan language with Latin letters fiercely opposed the process of linguistic purge by organizing strikes and protest demonstrations, picketing Transnistrian local authorities and blocking roads. The separatist regime has made repeated attempts to close these schools or to turn them into mixed Moldovan-Russian or Moldovan-Ukrainian schools. Rough measures were also undertaken against parents and teachers - many of them were fired, threatened, ill-treated, and even arrested.

445. Schools where teachers do not obey the requirements of Transnistrian authorities are often invaded by special troops, students’ bags are ransacked, manuals with Latin letters are confiscated and the schools do not get material or financial support from local authorities, despite the fact that parents of the children who study there pay all taxes to the local budget of the Transnistrian regime.

446. The rights of the children from the eight schools of the Transnistrian region where students study in Moldovan with Latin letters and of their parents are systematically and deliberately violated. These schools face serious difficulties in organizing teaching and education due to the lack of proper facilities. In some of them, the children study in three shifts; power, water and heating are often switched off. Moreover, local authorities collect payments for rent of premises and public utilities, and do not take part in financing repairs; textbooks, teaching literature, equipment and other inventory brought to ensure the activity of these schools are subjected to customs taxes.

447. An important case to mention here is that of Stefan cel Mare high school in Grigoriopol. The authorities responsible for education in Tiraspol and local authorities of Grigoriopol did not allow an alternative school under the Ministry of Education and Youth of the Republic of Moldova to function on the premises of the secondary school No. 1 of Grigoriopol, with the pretext that the Moldovan school of Grigoriopol had not obtained a license from the local authorities allowing them to teach in Moldovan with Latin letters. Therefore, on 31 September 1996 the activity of this educational institution was interrupted. Despite negotiations with the Tiraspol and Grigoriopol administrations, 200 students and teachers were obliged to move to the school of the village of Dorotcaia in the Dubasari-Moldova region (a distance of 10 kilometres). For over 10 years, the students and teachers of this school have been obliged to walk 20 kilometres to the school of Dorotcaia where children study in the second shift.

448. Despite the efforts of specialists in the field of education of the representatives of the OSCE Mission in Moldova to identify a solution with the view to providing a building for the Moldovan school of Grigoriopol subsequently reorganized into Stefan cel Mare high school, it has not yet been provided with a building. In these conditions, many students wishing to continue their studies in Chisinau or abroad have to take additional classes to learn to write with Latin letters and to study according to the curriculum of the Ministry of Education and Youth of the Republic of Moldova.

449. Unfortunately, at present, negotiations have practically stopped because of the obstructionist position of the Transnistrian side. They did not show up for the ordinary set of consultations that was supposed to be carried out in autumn of 2006.

IX. DISSEMINATION OF THE REPORT

450. With the technical assistance of UNICEF, the Republic of Moldova published the final observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and distributed them among government agencies and institutions in the field, as well as among national and international NGOs dealing with child protection.

REFERENCES

The present report has used documents and statistical data provided by the following government structures: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Ministry of Economy and Commerce, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Social Protection, Family and Child, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Youth, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ministry of Justice, General Prosecutor’s Office, National Bureau of Statistics. Also, sources from UNICEF, UNCHR, and UNDP Offices in Moldova have been consulted, as well as from nongovernmental organizations: Save the Children, National Centre for Child Abuse Prevention, Centre for Strategic Investigations and Reforms and others.

ANNEXES

Annex 1

NUMBER OF CHILDREN BETWEEN 0 AND 18 YEARS BY GENDER AND ENVIRONMENT
WITHIN THE PERIOD 2002-2006

Number of children between 0 and 18 years by gender and environment at 1 January 2002

Persons

Number of children between 0 and 18 years by gender and environment at 1 January 2003

Persons