About 200 children in the village of Caragas, located on the left bank of the Nistru River, now have improved education conditions, and 60 children have gained access to pre-school education with the reconstruction of a block and the rehabilitation of the heating system at the village kindergarten. The building was reconstructed with the financial support of the EU-UNDP Support to Confidence Building Measures Program, IPN reports.

The sole kindergarten in Caragas, which has been in service for about three decades, faced the risk of being closed down last autumn because of a defective heating system. The plumbing and wiring went out of order, and the roof decayed from age. During the cold season, in some classrooms it was as cold as outside. “This investment helped us create normal education conditions for our children, open two more classes for 60 children and create 4 new jobs,” said Alexandra Conovalova, the kindergarten’s principal.

The total investment amounts to €116,000. The European Union’s effort however wasn’t limited to just reconstruction; it also involved equipping the kindergarten with solar panels. They will provide the children with hot water all the year round and will cut the electricity bill. “This is not a singular effort. Over the last two years, through the Confidence-Building Program alone, we have financed 41 projects to improve social infrastructure on both banks of the Nistru River. In the next three years, the European Union will continue to finance such projects that help to bringing people closer together and improve their lives,” said Pirkka Tapiola, EU Ambassador to Moldova.

UNDP Resident Representative Dafina Gercheva said that during the last two years alone more than 1,200 children from both banks of the Nistru River, including children raised in vulnerable families, attended kindergartens which have been reconstructed and received modern equipment due to support provided by the EU-UNDP Support to Confidence Building Measures Program.

The porgram was implemented during 2012-2015 with a total budget of €10 600 000 offered by the European Union (€9 500 000) and the UNDP (€1 100 000). In 2015, a new tree-year phase of the Program was launched, funded by the EU (€10 000 000 Euros) and implemented by UNDP, focusing on business development and infrastructure support.