The Association “Amici dei Bambini Moldova” finished a three-year project regarding the strengthening of NGO capacities and of local authorities in order to promote the social inclusion of ex-institutionalized young people. 70 youth received professional orientation, training and benefited from other activities as part of the project, Info-Prim Neo reports. Director of the Amici dei Bambini branch in Moldova Stela Vasluian told the press on Friday, December 21, that the necessity to implement the project was determined by the problems faced by the young people who leave these boarding institutions and have no home, no job and no support. During three years, four macro-activities have been carried out. The first one was the research of the situation and led to a joint study for both countries in which the project was implemented: Moldova and Ukraine. The second macro-activity focused on the training of staff involved in activities oriented towards final beneficiaries and on exchange of experience. “It’s important to provide proper training for the specialists in this field. We organized a series of trainings and seminars for social workers, psychologists, directors and deputy directors of boarding schools on topics of interest”, said Stela Vasluian. Executive director of the Center of Social Services for Child and Family Viorica Matas, researcher within the project, said that 70 youth who grew out of boarding institutions were involved in the third stage of the project. A multidisciplinary team was created to develop an intervention plan for each participant in part. Many of the young people were enrolled for studies, while others found jobs. They received food packs, hygiene articles, household appliances, clothes and office supplies. They also got stipends for the first three months of work at their new jobs. The fourth macro-activity concerned lobby and advocacy and namely the promotion of young people’s rights and interests in relation to public authorities. At this stage, a series of meetings with the authorities were organized in order to discuss the problems of graduates of boarding schools. Besides, a monthly e-newsletter for local public authorities and NGOs was created. The project started in December 2009 and was implemented with the support of the European Union.