Youth receive professional advice through EU-funded program

About 1000 persons received advice on how to get a job and how to involve in the administration of the community they live in. The action was part of the joint operational program Romania-Ukraine-Moldova “Cross-border mentoring program – an innovative model of partnership and collaboration by developing a network of mentors and exchanging experience in the social-economic field”. The project is funded by the European Union, Info-Prim Neo reports. The program was implemented by the public association for children and youth “Faclia” from Ungheni. Head of the association Angela Ciocarlan declared during a meeting with European officials yesterday that the idea to guide the youth facilitates their participation in the governmental, nongovernmental and private sector. “This idea originated as a reaction to the young people’s problems. We understood that they have limited access to public administration or that they are not interested in it at all. We also focused on helping them to get a job, as the unemployment rate among youth is very high. Thus, we try to encourage them to get employed”, said Angela Ciocarlan. Director of the Moldovan Post office in Ungheni, Parascovia Chirinciuc, who attended the meeting with the European officials, is one of the mentors of the program. She said that while sharing her own experience with the youth, she learned new communication techniques. Daniela Darzu, a young woman who participated in the program, said that a cross-border network of 46 highly-trained mentors from Moldova and Romania was created. 80% of the people who received guidance are aged under 30. “We want to work on a project that will contribute to the economic development of border areas”, said the young woman. The program beneficiaries attended professional orientation courses to see if their aspirations match the job market’s requirements. The program promotes the principle ‘common borders, common solutions’. According to the program coordinators, such initiatives must expand in Moldova in order to help the youth to grow in their native towns instead of choosing to leave, usually abroad.