The United Nations in Moldova marked with awards outstanding achievements in human rights in Moldova in 2019. Organized since 2004, each year, on the occasion of International Human Rights Day, the UN Gala of Human Rights Awards highlights and awards the most valuable, innovative, effective and participatory initiatives and actions to protect and promote human rights in Moldova, IPN reports.
Simon Springett, UN Resident Coordinator in the Republic of Moldova, in the award ceremony said that two important anniversaries are celebrated this year: 30 years of the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and 25 years of the International Conference on Population and Development. It is everyone’s duty to defend the own rights and the rights of those around and the winners of the awards are persons who defended human rights.
Minister of Health, Labor and Social Protection Viorica Dumbrăveanu said one cannot speak about the rule of law without democratic values and the respect for human rights. “The Republic of Moldova is in a continuous process of adjusting the national legislation to the provisions of international treaties. Regrettably, we have shortcomings in implementing these treaties, first of all in claiming all the rights guaranteed by these treaties,” stated the minister.
The 2019 edition of the competition included six awards. The award for outstanding activism in human rights in 2019 went to Ludmila Adamciuc, who is very active on social networking sites and on her blog, where she writes about her life and about her child with Down syndrome. The woman said that this way she wants to show to the people that their life is not different from the life of others. The people should be tolerant and accept that the people are different.
The special award for promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights was given to Andrei Lefter, a young man who lives abroad. He gathered money with the assistance of the diaspora for purchasing gynecological examination chairs adjusted for women with disabilities.
The NGO EcoVisio got the award for remarkable integration of human rights and equality in the internal and operational structure of the organization that implements educational programs, brings together key players and encourages ecological and social innovation.
The award for an outstanding achievement in human rights at the local level went to the Balti University Legal Clinic that makes effort to meet the needs of disadvantaged categories by facilitating access to justice and promoting modern legal training methods in universities.
The special award for human rights promotion for children’s and youth groups or organizations was offered to the national network of Youth Friendly Heath Centers – Youth Klinic. The network aims to provide specialized support, to prevent particular situations and to find concrete solutions to health problems faces by teens and youths in Moldova.
The General Award for an outstanding achievement in human rights was given to the association “Positive Initiative”, of patients affected or vulnerable to HIV. The organization consists of persons who know what living with HIV, tuberculosis, hepatitis C and drug addiction in Moldova is.
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, a debut award was given to Arina Gamretskaya for the work “Rights Protect Us”. The adolescent was one of the over 20 children who took part in the creation contest organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The participants made videos about how the human rights can be protected through information technology.
