Over 1,700 persons provided with jobs within UNDP project

Approximately 7,000 socially deprived persons benefited from accommodation, counseling and development of life habits at ten social reintegration centers created within the Better Opportunities for Women and Youth Project. Over 1,700 persons have been provided with jobs. The information was presented in a conference held to sum up the results achieved by the project during six years, Info-Prim Neo reports. “The child abandonment rate in the settlements with centers for mothers at risk has decreased, while the youth employment rate in the communities where we provide professional formation and integration services is on the rise. In a period of an economic crisis, we can say that this project is a real success owing to the cooperation between the Government, the NGO sector, the private sector, the local public administration and the donors,” said Kaarina Immonen, UNDP Resident Representative and UN Resident Coordinator in Moldova. Project manager Viorel Albu said the cooperation with the private sector was a successful method of creating new workplaces. On the one hand, the project offered the partners grants for creating new workplaces. On the other hand, it identified the beneficiaries of professional orientation courses, covered the training costs and co-financed the salaries of the beneficiaries during the first months of work when necessary. The Better Opportunities for Women and Youth Project is implemented by UNDP in partnership with the Government of Moldova, with financial support from USAID, on the initiative of President Bush in support of the Anti-Traffic Program, the Government of Romania and Soros Foundation - Moldova. Minister of Labor, Social Protection and Family Valentina Buliga said the project contributed to the development of services that are extremely necessary for the Moldovan communities and ensured social guarantees for those who are in a difficult situation. In the conference, U.S. Ambassador in Moldova Asif J.Chaudhry spoke about the seriousness of the problem of human trafficking in Moldova three years ago, when he was named to the post. He said that this project with a budget of only US$3.8 million for the last six years contributed to the combating of this phenomenon. The Better Opportunities for Women and Youth Project has developed support services to socially, economically and professionally integrate the boarding school graduates, the mothers with children and the pregnant women in need. The total budget of the project is US$5.2 million.