Moldovan PM chairs meeting of National Council for Protection of Rights of Child

Chisinau, 21 January /MOLDPRES/ - Prime Minister Ion Chicu has chaired the first meeting of the National Council for Protection of the Rights of the Child (CNPDC). Attending the event were Health, Labour and Social Protection Minister Viorica Dumbraveanu, representatives of the Interior Ministry (MAI), Education, Culture and Research Ministry (MECC) and Public Services Agency (ASP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), as well as specialists of the State Chancellery, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.  

The PM gave assurances that the subjects on the protection of the rights of the child would become more present on the government’s agenda. “I welcome the possibility to join all those who declared zero tolerance to the violence phenomenon! The statistics concerning the domestic violence is not good at all. More actions are necessary for this phenomenon to be condemned and prevented as much as possible. It is within our competence and responsibility to provide safety to the children from Moldova,” Ion Chicu said.  

The participants in the meeting considered a roadmap on combating the violence against children from Moldova, which includes about 50 concrete things. The participants in the event agreed that the Council members come up with recommendations to improve the roadmap and subsequently the document should be included in the draft of a new action plan on the implementation of the strategy for the protection of the rights of the child.     

Another subject discussed was the digitalization of the process of registration of child’s birth. Prime Minister Chicu asked the Health, Labour and Social Protection Ministry (MSPMS), ASP and the Electronic Governance Agency to cooperate, in order to carry out the needed activities to enforce the way of electronic registration of the child’s birth. The new mechanism is enforced starting from January 2020. MSPMS will monitor the transmission of the necessary information to the medical and sanitary institutions by ASP.  

The participants in the meeting also unveiled an evaluation report on the implementation of the programme on the development of the inclusive education for 2011-2020. In the context, the Council ruled to include a chapter dedicated to the inclusive education, with concrete measures, in the draft strategy Education 2030 and an action plan to this end.

UNICEF Representative in Moldova Desiree Monique Jongsma hailed the progress made in Moldova in the process of development of the inclusive education. At the same time, the UNICEF representative reiterated the commitment of the institution she represents in the promotion, following and fulfillment of all ideas from the roadmap.    

PM Chicu showed concern about the criminal situation with the involvement of minors. “There is no morning without me to learn about serious cases which have happened in the last 24 hours – more of them involving children. We gather the fruits of the involution from the last decades. Many children remained outside education, with a single parent or with the grandparents. I think that the school must be re-brought and involved more in the process of children’s education. If we do not get involved with the entire society now, nothing will help us later! We must act jointly,” the official stressed.    

The Council asked the competent institutions to undertake all needed measures, in order to identify, monitor and provide the necessary assistance to the children at risk.

In the end of the meeting, the prime minister asked the Council members to present, in a ten-day term, proposals on subjects for the CNPDC’s activity plan for 2020.