The education system and the health care system have reacted swiftly to the needs of children from refugee families, says Mariana Ianachevici, executive director of the AVE Copiii NGO. “The Ministry of Health has issued an order to ensure access to child care services. Similarly, these children were given access both to schools in Moldova and to the Ukrainian remote school system”.
Speaking during an IPN debate on Friday, Mariana Ianachevici said that helping Ukrainian children gain access to medical services is often a challenge, especially when it comes to covering the costs. “We are trying to direct these children to family doctors. But the problem in the health care system is that we don’t really have the capacity to buy medicines. For example, at the placement centers in Bălți, the need for medical assistance is higher. Today, we received a 20,000 lei bill for medicines”, said Ianachevici.
According to her, access to remote education needs to be ensured in all placement centers, because not everyone attends schools in Moldova. “There are children who don’t have a phone or a laptop. Therefore, we need to try to provide IT solutions in all placement centers so that they can access Internet and the Ukrainian online school system”.
On a different note, Mariana Ianachevici stressed that the topic of legal aid for children is a multifaceted one, especially in the case of unaccompanied children or when the minor does not have documents confirming the existence of a guardian.
“For example, at the exit from the Republic of Moldova, there are children who have not been able to leave for about three days now, because the hand-written declarations provided by their parents are no longer accepted. In addition, we have children coming from the Kherson area which is not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities. It is inhumane and totally unacceptable to ask that the companions of these children have a legal power of attorney, because having one is just not possible”, said Mariana Ianachevici.
She also mentioned the importance of providing psychological support for both children and their parents. Ianachevici said that Moldovan psychologists are trying their best to help refugees, but there is a language problem. So, the NGO tries to hire as many Ukrainian psychologists as possible.
Speaking about the memories that Ukrainian children will have of the war, Mariana Ianachevici referred to the drawings of the little ones from the Placement Center in Ungheni which “are very suggestive and clearly show the situation from which the children came. The drawings show a plane flying, flashes of fire drawn in red, predominating black colors that either come from the clouds or from imitations of explosions. At the same time, there are some shadows of people they consider evil. We will organize a small exhibition of drawings and all visitors will be able to see what impressions the children have about the war”.
The debate was the 235th edition of IPN’s “Developing Political Culture” Series, supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
