More than 14,000 vulnerable families with children, including refugee families from Ukraine, benefitted from the social service “Support for families with children”. The assistance was offered by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection thanks to the partnership with UNICEF for consolidating the social assistance and child protection systems in accordance with a signed memorandum of understanding, IPN reports.
In an event held to present the results of the partnership, Minister of Labor and Social Protection Alexei Buzu said that in 2022, when the project was launched, 40% of the children in rural areas were in poverty. Together with the team of UNICEF, the personal assistance service was extended by employing personal assistants for 895 children with severe disabilities. Bonuses to salaries were offered to 1,200 social assistants so as to support and motivate them in a difficult period.
Attending the event, President Maia Sandu said that from the first days of the war in Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova has stood by Ukraine and helped a large number of refugees. About 100,000 Ukrainians are still in the Republic of Moldova and half of them are children. In this difficult period, it was very important to swifter strengthen the capacity to offer assistance to all the families and children who needed assistance. The partnership with UNICEF offered the necessary support to the team of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection and the country in general. The Ministry was able to offer financial support to over 14,000 vulnerable families, including families of Ukrainian refugees. The social assistants continued to offer support to the over 174,000 children at risk from over 95,000 families. A number of local consultants were hired to help almost 26,000 children at risk, including refugee children.
Maha Damaj, UNICEF Moldova Representative, said that UNICEF’s commitment is to ensure a protected life for each child, where the rights and interests of these are respected. In 2022, UNICEF, together with the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, recognized the priorities for the child protection system by signing a memorandum of understanding. The social assistants and the child protection teams contribute to the efficiency of the social assistance and child protection systems.
A number of 34,187 children from 14,176 families, including 436 Ukrainian refugee children, were supported in total. These children benefited from financial assistance in accordance with the needs identified as part of a complex assessment.
