Public consultations for drafting a family and child protection strategy were launched Tuesday in Orhei, where Prime Minister Vlad Filat was on a visit, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to a communiqué from UNICEF Moldova, the given strategy should be a logical continuation of the reform of the childcare residential system for 2007-2011, which made significant progress. The number of children in residential institutions has halved since the reform was launched. The children were helped to return to their biological families or were placed in alternative family-type services like community houses, family-type children’s homes, professional parental assistance services. The progress is slower in the case of children with disabilities and children under three. “Currently, in Moldova there are about 200 small children who live in institutions. But their stay there can be dramatic. A general rule says that a child loses a month in development for every three months spent in an institution,” says UNICEF. During the consultations in Orhei, Vlad Filat said that the Government committed itself to gradually stopping the placement of children in institutions. “This way, the Government of Moldova responded to the appeal made by UNICEF and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2011 to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe,” stated the Premier. UNICEF Representative in Moldova Alexandra Yuster said that Moldova is the first country in the region that assumed such a clear political commitment. “We approve of the Government’s initiative to accept this challenge,” she said. Minister of Labor, Social Protection and Family Valentina Buliga said the family and child protection strategy of Moldova aims to combat domestic violence, the abuse against children and women, labor exploitation and sexual exploitation, to create community services of a higher quality and to increase the families’ welfare by promoting and supporting family unity, force and resistance. Parents, children, specialists and all those interested will be consulted during the strategy drafting process that will be coordinated by the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family. UNICEF will ensure the international examination and will coordinate the support offered by the UN Agencies in Moldova and NGOs.