A group of civil society organizations called on the Parliament of Moldova to pass the bill on the special protection of children in risky situations in the final reading. Representatives of the NGOs told a news conference that without such a law Moldova risk losing an entire generation of children who are closed in boarding schools as they do not have a legal status and cannot return to their families, IPN reports.
Stela Grigoras, head of the public association “Partnership for every child”, said the parents carry out the basic task of educating the child, while the state supports the family, ensuring the protection of the child within the family. “The frequent cases of abuse and violence against the children cannot be dealt with based on regulations, as certain public persons asserted. This law does not come as a punishment for children, but as support from the state, and makes the authorities that didn’t tasked measures to identify and protect the children at risk more responsible,” she stated.
Daniela Mamaliga, coordinator of the working group “Social, Health and Education” of the National Participation Council, said that Moldova’s civil society asks Parliament not to hesitate in adopting the given bill. This will show that the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Children is followed by definite actions and policies that guarantee the rights of the Moldova children, even in 23 years.
Sergiu Ostaf, director of the Resource Center for Human Rights (CReDO), said this bill says what measures the local public authorities should take towards the children in risky situations. “The law creates a strict mechanism for preventing the institutionalization of children and the abandonment of the child by the family. The bill was drafted with the participation of civil society and discussed with representatives of competent organizations and state institutions so that decisional transparency was ensured,” he said.
The representatives of civil society stressed that the law on the special protection of children in risky situations will not affect the Family Code provisions concerning the legal relations between husband and wife and between parents and children. Only the chapter about the protection of children who remained without parental care will be removed from the Code.
