The first collection of legal documents regulating children’s rights and family protection in Moldova has been launched today in Chisinau. Valentina Buliga, chair of the parliamentary committee for social protection, health and family, highlighted during the launch ceremony the importance of the event for Moldova’s social protection system. Valentina Buliga voiced hope that the collection will serve as a vade mecum not just for students and lawyers, but also for the specialist entrusted by the government to provide social protection to the children across the country. The guidebook will be particularly useful for the rural specialists that do not have access to the Internet and libraries where they could get informed about relevant legal documents, the MP mentioned. UNICEF Representative in Moldova, Ray Virgilio Torres, stated that much of Moldova’s problems in matters of social protection can be dealt with by strengthening the institutional and legal framework. The amendments to the Criminal Code alone have helped halve the number of sentences sending juveniles to prison, said Ray Virgilio Torres. According to the dean of the Law Faculty of the Moldovan State University, Gheorghe Avornic, the work is a systematised compilation of both domestic and international laws and legal documents. Arranged in 12 chapters, the publication contains documents on various matters like juvenile justice, family, health care, education, labour, protection of children left without parental care, and others. The collection of legal documents regulating children’s rights and family protection was prepared by Moldova’s Parliament, the Law Faculty of the Moldovan State University, with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency Sida.