The civil society organizations (SCOs) of Moldova are analyzing their activity in times of pandemic. For the purpose, a national conference entitled “Resilience in Times of Crisis” was staged under the aegis of the Legal Resources Center of Moldova.
Human rights and communication expert Ana Racu, a member of the UN Committee against Torture, said that when the pandemic started, they launched the civic initiative “Together for You”. “We managed to collect over 4.5 million lei which was used to purchase over 70,000 protective masks, more than 10,000 high safety masks, over 45 medical pieces of equipment, including ventilators, over 10 tonnes of antibacterial soap, over 5 tonnes of disinfectant,” stated Ana Racu.
Child protection expert Mariana Ianakevich, executive director of the Association for Child and Family Empowerment “AVE Copiii”, noted that in April they accommodated 15 healthcare workers at the day center because these could not go home owing to the danger posed by COVID-19. “My first objective was to offer a protected, comfortable place to frontline employees. There are five to eight persons who continue to stay at our center,” she stated.
Constanța Dohotaru, one of the initiators and coordinators of the initiative “Together against COVID-19”, said that 500 volunteers supplied products to beneficiaries who could not pay for them. The money, in the amount of over 2 million lei, was collected as part of a crowdfunding campaign. “We supplied products to about 5,000 beneficiaries. During the state of emergency, we had a team on bicycles that delivered about 2,000 warm meals to the most vulnerable ones, to persons confined to bed,” she noted.
Ludmila Popovici, executive director of the Rehabilitation Center for Torture Victims “Memoria”, said that with the support of donors, their organization managed to offer important assistance in the form of food parcels and hygiene products for women. In total, about 300 women were helped during the first months of the pandemic. “We managed to also gather financial support for persons in difficulty so that they could pay rent and for public utilities. Fourteen persons benefitted from such support from the center. There were bought disinfectants, masks, gloves, visors that were donated to our female beneficiaries and to two penitentiaries,” stated Ludmila Popovici.
Vladislav Gribincea, president of the Legal Resources Center of Moldova, said the meeting of civil society organizations is aimed at promoting a favorable environment for civil society in the Republic of Moldova during the COVID-19 pandemic.
