Sixty young people from boarding institutions, orphans or children whose parents are working abroad, from both sides of the Prut River, will be trained in the cross-border project “I care, I participate! -Cross-border cooperation for the social inclusion of vulnerable youth”. In Romania, the project will be implemented by the Cote Foundation in Iasi and by the Center of social services for the child & family in Chisinau.

The executive director of the latter institution, Viorica Matas, said during a press conference at IPN, that thanks to the project, Moldovan specialists will learn good practices from their Romanian colleagues in the field of social sciences. 26 specialists will be involved in training courses or experience exchanges.

The project's goal is to increase the capacity of young people in border areas to participate in the life of the community. “A large part of these young people don't have the chance or desire to participate in solving the problems of their community. That's why the project is meant to develop their leadership skills and civic spirit”, said Viorica Matas.

The 60 beneficiary young people will be selected from 10 placement centers, schools and boarding institutions from the cross-border area. They will participate in a contest of projects for finding solutions to community problems or projects of social inclusion and will get 200 euro grants for their implementation.

As part of the general project, an electronic communication platform for youth will be launched. At the end, a camp will be organized in Iasi where the participants will share their experience in the implementation of projects.

The total budget of the project will be 150,000 euros, of which 135,000 is the EU contribution to the cross-border collaboration program between the two sides of the Prut. The remaining 15,000 euros is the contribution of the two involved organizations. The Moldovan side will be allotted 50,000 and the Romanian side 100,000 because many of the project's activities will take place in Iasi.