Moldova hopes that the Education for All, Fast-Track Initiative project, as part of which the Moldovan children have benefited from early education services and there were renovated and opened several dozens of kindergartens, will be continued, Minister of Education Leonid Bujor said Monday, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. The results achieved after implementing the two stages of the project and the future actions were discussed at an international conference themed “Achieving the Education for All and Millennium Development Goals by Strengthening Partnerships in Early Childhood Development” held in Chisinau. Representatives from more than 10 countries and experts of international organizations participated in the conferee. In a news conference on the same day, the World Bank Country Manager for Moldova Melanie Marlett said the third stage of the project could total US$4.4 million. “This money is needed given that Moldova was hit by the world financial crisis and the incomes have decreased. It won't be easy to obtain this money, but we will try to make a case study on Moldova and the results achieved during the two stages of the project,” Melanie Marlett said. Deputy Minister of Education Galina Bulat said Moldova is competing with poorer African countries for this money and it could remain without financing. Alexandra Yuster, UNICEF Representative in Moldova, stressed that the countries must realize the importance of investing in children. She also said that Moldova faces a number of challenges, most of which were caused by the economic crises, especially in rural areas. According to UNICEF data, more than a half of the children younger than five in Moldova do not fully realize their development and cognitive potential as they are exposed to such risk factors as poverty, malnutrition, lack of training programs and a family environment that does not stimulate cognition and development. In 2005, Moldova received US$8.8 million from the Catalytic Fund for implementing the Education for All, Fast-Track Initiative project. As part of the project, 46 kindergartens were renovated and outfitted and there were created 40 early childhood community development centers. Preschool institutions have been provided with furniture, teaching aids and other equipment. There was carried out the communication campaign “Help Them Become Great Persons!”. According to UNICEF, 230 villages in Moldova do not have kindergartens, one in four children does not go to kindergarten, while each fifth family with children younger than 7 has no books.