100 older persons from the districts of Șoldănești, Rezina, Basarabeasca, Leova, Orhei and Strășeni will receive mobile phones connected to the Internet and will learn to use them with the assistance of a group of young volunteers. This is a new phase of the inter-generational program to reduce the digital gap between young and older people and to promote active and healthy aging in the Republic of Moldova - “Digital Skills Connect Generations”. The participants in the program will be taught to access particular public, social and medical services and will be helped to strengthen resilience during the pandemic, IPN reports.
UNFPA Resident Representative in Moldova Nigina Abaszada said that UNFPA is motivated to invest in such projects as the ties between younger and older community members are this way strengthened and bridges are built between different generations. The program was launched in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic so as as to transform the challenges related to the pandemic into opportunities.
UN Moldova Resident Coordinator Simon Springett said one of the UN’s priorities is to encourage the young and older people to realize their potential to a maximum in the community. In the Republic of Moldova, the swift aging of the population should be regarded as an opportunity for the young people to be engaged more in the dissemination of knowledge for older persons.
The Head of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Moldova Caroline Tissot noted that the organization she represents during many years has implemented projects centering on the principle of inclusion, creation of equal opportunities for everyone, including this project that aims not to leave anyone behind, with the digitization mechanism and the modern technological opportunities being suitable for adjustment in the context of the challenges generated by the pandemic.
The program involves 300 older women and men and 50 young volunteers. According to data collected within the Generations and Gender Survey by UNFPA in 2020, the digital gap between older persons and young people in Moldova is huge. Only 34% of the population aged between 60 and 79 uses the Internet, as opposed to 82% of those aged between 15 and 59. Also, Moldova’s population is ageing – almost 21% or each fifth person is over 60. The COVID-19 pandemic affected the most venerable ones, impacting primarily the older ones, who faced such phenomena as discrimination and social isolation.
In 2020, in response to this situation, UNFPA launched the initiative to promote inter-generational dialogue for the digital inclusion of the older persons that is implemented in cooperation with HelpAge International and the UN Human Rights Office.
