Moldova Mayors of Soroca learn about child protection

Project : MOVE 29 Nov 2011 | child rights protection systems psychosocial

Soroca, Moldova, October 13, 2011: For the first time ever all the mayors from Soroca district gathered for a seminar about the protection of child rights. Most of the newly elected mayors are for the first time in this chair, so they lack the necessary knowledge and experience in this matter.

The usual problems that mayors have to confront while performing their job were discussed by the specialists in child protection, the prosecutor on juvenile delinquency and members of the local council for child protection. All the participants were asked to speak about their duties and what they think the child protection system looks like, having sketched the system the way they see it.

The Vice-president of the Soroca district spoke about how the system works, what the main difficulties are in implementing their duties and how to increase the proficiency of the work related to child protection. More on that and on how the collaboration with Terre des hommes helps the local actors perform their duties more efficiently, Vladimir Nicuta explained in the interview bellow.

What are the problems that local actors are confronted with in the area if of child rights?

There are a variety of problems. Local authorities have responsibilities as determined by law, but unfortunately they don’t always have the necessary instruments to solve the problems effectively. This is why it is so important to coordinate the matters between different institutions that are implicated in solving cases. The most important roles are that of the mayors, the local councils for children’s rights, the social assistants, starting with the identification of a situation, evaluation, and ending in planning the complete intervention of cases.

Moldova is signed up to several international agreements, so local actors have a very well established set of guidelines about their responsibilities and obligations towards child protection. The effectiveness of their actions – this is the real problem.

How can this be stimulated?

A better understanding and acknowledging of the guidelines and effective implication in all of the cases – this would be the solution. Still, a big variety of problems in meeting the child’s needs is related to the social and economical state in the country. The real problems however will come when this generation of children grow up. A lot of them are in the care of relatives, because one or both parents work abroad. It is a very serious problem, as this is imprinted into the child’s behavior and views, leading to delinquency and poor judgment.

How do you see the benefits of the collaboration with Tdh?

They are obvious. First of all, through this collaboration we have a considerable growth of capable people that work towards solving the problems at a local level. I am convinced that the low quality of life is not always the one that determines the issues related to child protection. There are different kinds of problems. And for these problems Tdh has its’ special psycho-social approach with activities for children and for parents, this way changing the psychological climate in the families. We have many examples of positive outcomes of this cooperation. (MS)