As many as 4,379 children in situations of risk are under the supervision of the General Children’s Rights Protection Division of the municipality of Chisinau. A number of 337 children were identified through notices of suspected cases of violence, neglect or exploitation, while the others benefit from services to prevent the separation of the child from the family. Besides children in situations of risk, there are 624 children separated from parents: 453 are under tutelage and guardianship, 124 are beneficiaries of placement centers, while 47 were included in the family placement service. The data were presented in the Municipal Forum of Partners in children’s rights protection where the authorities presented the action plan for 2022-2025 for implementing the municipal strategy for protecting children’s rights, IPN reports.
The municipality annually allocates over 800 million lei, including for the protection of children’s rights, but this money is not enough. Sergiu Ocheretnyi, head of the General Children’s Rights Protection Division, said the presented document aims to prevent and combat violence, exploitation and trafficking in children in all the environments, to combat the social exclusion of vulnerable groups and to ensure the right to family of each child.
Over 100 million lei is needed to implement the action plan. “These costs will be financed this way: 10.779 million lei from the municipal budget, 63.120 million lei from the state budget, 137,000 lei from other sources - partners that accepted our invitation. A sum of 35.772 million lei is not covered. We invite all the active partners to support us to achieve these objectives and implement the action plan,” said the functionary.
Encouraging the authorities’ call, Ludmila Armașu-Canțâr, pro-rector of the Chisinau State Teacher Training University “Ion Creangă”, noted that the money spent in education is not costs, but investments.