The Non-discrimination Coalition fully supports and encourages the national authorities to continue the efforts toward the adoption of the draft Law on the Prevention and Combating of Discrimination, also known as the Anti-discrimination Bill, which aims to protect the rights of the persons from different social groups that are more likely to suffer discrimination in Moldova, the members of the Coalition stated at a news conference on Monday, March 7. “We are very pleased that the Bill has been approved by the Government, and we hope that Parliament will follow suit, as soon as possible. Cases of discrimination are commonplace in Moldova and we believe a national legal framework is necessary so as not to rely solely on the European Convention of Human Rights and other international treaties, whose provisions are often not known by our judges and lawyers, or the ordinary citizens. We trust that this law, which hopefully will be adopted this year, will enable us to enter the ranks of civilized states, which protect the human beings who find themselves in discriminatory situations”, said Oleg Brega, member of the Coalition. “Since 2008 and until present, the Bill has seen essential changes, with many amendments from civil society being adopted. Now the goals and the scope of the Law are better defined, as its provisions cover discrimination in the public sector, in education, social security and many other areas”, said Iulia Marcinschi, Secretary of the Coalition. “We decided to hold this event today in order to clarify some things, bearing in mind that there are more relevant experts in the Coalition that among the religious groups. The Bill's primary goal is to give definitions to discrimination and protected grounds. These grounds include more than sexual orientation; there is also gender, age, social status and political belief, there is religion and many other grounds based on which many people in Moldova currently face discrimination”, said lawyer Doina-Ioana Straisteanu. Earlier, a recently formed group consisting of conservative activists and church members spoke against the Bill, urging the Moldovan Parliament not to pass it, mostly due to its liberal provisions on sexual orientation. The Bill, which has been largely hailed by national and international NGOs and human rights groups, received the Government's formal approval on February 17, being submitted to Parliament for consideration.