600 boarding school graduates will be helped within EU-funded project

The association Amici dei Bambini Moldova is launching the project “Strengthening the Moldovan and Ukrainian Local Public Authorities' Capacity to Promote Social Inclusion of Ex-Institutionalized Children.” The program is intended for boarding school graduates and is financed by the European Union, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a news conference on Monday, Stela Vasluian, the head of the branch of Amici dei Bambini in Moldova, said the project will last for 36 months and will have 600 beneficiaries from Moldova and Ukraine. The project centers on four directions, namely research, training of personnel involved in the activities of the project, provision of services for beneficiaries, and activities aimed at supporting the children. Data will be collected about the situation of ex-institutionalized children from the two countries and there will be created a database about all the children protection NGOs and services. There will be analyzed the real necessities of the boarding school graduates so that Amici dei Bambini Moldova could develop the services they need. The project is designed for boarding school graduates, social workers, psychologists and jurists dealing with activities involving institutionalized and ex-institutionalized children as well as families that want to accept boarding school graduates as members, local public authorities, universities, persons who formulate policies on social protection, education and the youth. “We aim to promote the social inclusion of these graduates by strengthening the partnership between the public and private sector,” Stela Vasluian said. The project has a budget of 12 million lei and covers three countries - Moldova, Ukraine and Italy. In Moldova, the project will be implemented by six local partners, including the Chisinau Division for Child Rights Protection, the Sociology and Social Assistance Faculty of the State University of Moldova, the Center for Developing the Child and Family Protection Resources, the Business Consultancy Service, and the Christian charity association Bethania.