Over 100 teens, volunteers of the centers of the Youth Klinic Moldova (YK) network, which are also called youth-friendly centers, were consulted when drafting a strategic plan on adolescent health that will be presented to the competent bodies for its approval at national level. In an event held to assess the results of the activity of the Youth Klinic Moldova network in 2018, organized within the framework of the Moldovan-Swiss project “Healthy Generation” , adolescents and young people attending as experts had the task of identifying the main health and development problems faced by their generation. The organizers also asked them to state their viewpoints on the possible solutions, IPN reports.
The teens spoke about bulling, lack of sexual education in schools, reproductive health problems, reduced physical effort among students, alcohol and drug use and problematic relations between parents and children, depression among young people, nutrition problems, lack of knowledge in managing the emotions of teens, etc. They noted that the noxious substances (tobacco, alcohol) are very accessible in the Republic of Moldova and spoke about traumas and accidents among the young people and the lack of models among grownups as regards a healthy lifestyle. In this connection, the young experts said they would like more energetic actions to be taken to change the situation. They came up with proposals that will be included in the strategic plan.
According to project coordinator Galina Leshko, the participants know well the situation: as volunteers of the youth-friendly centers, they staged multiple activities to inform and educate their mates in schools and in the community. In many districts, the volunteers worked with young people from vulnerable groups. In others, they focused mainly on villages. They take part in the process of planning the activity of the centers of the YK network. ”Their opinion is valuable and can be treated as the opinion of international experts. That’s why we wanted to hear their opinions before the strategic plan on adolescent health is worked out,” stated Galina Leshko.
Valeria Cuzuioc, volunteer of the YK Center “Armonia” of Rezina, said the level of openness among the young people depends on age, the addressed problem and the presence of grownups. If the latter are present, they are ashamed to pronounce. “By our activities, we want to bring the young people closer to a healthy lifestyle and to a friendly interaction way so that they are a generation with proper values,” stated the young woman.
Sorin Cenușa, a volunteer of the YK Center “Atis” of Balti, noted that together with his team, he managed to organize a number of activities to promote a healthy lifestyle. For example, the smokers were offered to change a cigarette for an apple. Some of these even accepted a basket of apples for a packet of cigarettes. As regards sexual education, the boys are embarrassed, while the girls are much more informed.
In Ungheni, volunteers of the YK Center “Impuls” staged a number of information activities and also intend to organize the Umbrellas Day or the Family Day, which became a tradition, stated volunteer Alexandra Țîcu.
The Youth Klinic Moldova network includes 41 youth-friendly centers that work in in all the districts and municipalities of the country. The YK centers pursue one goal – to offer specialized assistance to adolescents and young people in solving the faced health and development problems and in preventing problems by promoting a healthy lifestyle. The YK youth-friendly centers involve about 400 volunteers.
The Moldovan-Swiss project “Healthy Generation - youth-friendly health services”, which is financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, is implemented by the public association “Health for Young People” and the National Resource Center on Youth Friendly Health Services ”Neovita”, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection.
