The responsible institutions in Moldova do not possess representative statistical data about the exact number of working children and the fields were they most often work. However, it is known that child labor is more often used in agriculture, the construction sector, the service sector, household work and illegal activities. In many cases, the parents encourage the exploitation of the children, Svetlana Haraz, program coordinator at the National Center for Child Abuse Prevention, has told Info-Prim Neo. “When we speak about the exploitation of children, we imagine dozens and hundreds of children forced to beg on the street, sexually exploited and trafficked children, children working at the car wash in summer and winter, selling products on the market, spading and hoeing in the fields,” Svetlana Haraz said. According to the expert, child labor in Moldova is the cause and effect of poverty. The children from deprived families do not benefit from eduction of a high quality and professional training. They often cannot find a decent job and are more vulnerable to poverty, illegal migration, trafficking in human beings. Many children living in rural areas in Moldova work on farms and are a cheap workforce. “Many children learn the rules of life in the fields. They are deprived of childhood and the right to learn and know the life at school through games, books, textbooks, brushes, balls and other objects. They miss classes as they work in the fields and gather the crops together with their parents. The adults want to obtain immediate incomes and do not realize that they deprive their children of a decent future,” Svetlana Haraz said. Child labor is often confused with a form of education. Svetlana Haraz considers that the traditional attitude towards child labor can be changed only through the concerted effort of all the responsible players. “The local public authorities should create multidisciplinary teams composed of teachers, social and community workers, psychologists, medical workers, educators, police officers. These teams should establish cooperation relations at the district level and with such institutions as the Labor Inspectorate, the National Employment Agency and travel to districts and assess the situation on the spot,” the program coordinator said. The most efficient method for combating the exploitation of children is to systematically supervise the places where the children could work, the schools, the communities and the families, especially the vulnerable ones, the expert said. The legislation says that the young persons can work after they turn 15, but according to a special program. In 2009, the National Bureau of Statistics launched a study of child labor that covers about 12,500 Moldovan households. The International Labor Organization provided US$89,463 to Moldova to carry out this study. The results will be available in 2010.