The ombudswoman for child rights protection Maia Banarescu is wary of the idea of instituting the babybox system in the Republic of Moldova. The issue was discussed in a press club meeting staged by the Office of the People’s Ombudsperson under the theme “Respect for the child’s right to life”, IPN reports.

Maia Banarescu said that after the babybox system is implemented, the child cannot exercise the right to identity and the institution of this mechanism actually encourages child abandonment. The given system runs counter to the international standards on child rights protection and is not supported by UNICEF.

The ombudswoman pleads for creating services to help women with unwanted pregnancies and to intensify activities to educate and inform the young people about the intimate life and measures to avoid unwanted pregnancies and about the protection/assistance system from which a young woman in such a critical situation can benefit.

The initiative to institute the babybox service in Moldova is to be discussed by the ombudswoman for child rights protection with groups of mothers who initiated the online petition in support of the implementation of this system in the country. Before such a meeting, the ombudswoman will examine the experience of other states that use such a service.

A babybox was set up at the Mother and Child Institute in Chisinau three years ago, but, given that the necessary legislation wasn’t adopted, the service cannot be implemented.