Moldova’s Youth will learn how to democratically settle conflicts

26 young people from Moldova, including from the left bank of the Nistru River, as well as from other countries, will get the opportunity to study in the period from July 8 to 17 techniques of peaceful conflict settlement, as well as peace preserving policies, Heidi Burchart, general manager of Hilfswerk Austria Foundation, told a news conference on Tuesday June 19. Hilfswerk Austria in Moldova, in co-operation with the Institute of History, State and Law of Moldova’s Academy of Sciences set up thus the Austrian-Moldovan Centre “Peace Initiatives, Democratic Changes and Conflict Settlement”. The event is part of the International Educational Programme to include 3 annual summer schools and a distance education programme for undergraduate and postgraduate students in Moldova. The Programme is also available to young people from the Transnistrian region. According to Alexandru Buruian, director of the Institute of History, State and Law, the undergraduate and postgraduate students, especially from the State University of Moldova, University of European Studies and University of Comrat, as well as from various Transnistrian institutions, will benefit from training in international relations, political studies, modern governance and peace maintenance. According to the cited source, the main objective of this project is to determine the educational policy for democracy consolidation in Moldova and to train the youth in spirit of European values. The Austrian-Moldovan Centre “Peace Initiatives, Democratic Changes and Conflict Settlement” is meant to offer informational resources in the respective domains. The Programme is implemented by Hilfswerk Austria in Moldova, in co-operation with the Vienna-based Diplomatic Academy, the OSCE Mission to Moldova, the Institute of History, State and Law of Moldova and the Tiraspol-based Youth Information Centre “World Window”. The financing is granted by the Austrian Development Agency, with the participation of the Erste and Hilfswerk Foundation.