Moldova Governmental commission will suggest scheme to support children whose parents are abroad

April 21, 2010

Comment: Children left behind are a big concern for Moldovan authorities that take first concrete steps towards the improvement of the situation of these children. The intention to elaborate a Plan of Actions targeting the children of migrants requires the identification of methods to support them, Info Prim Neo reports, referring to the speech of Mr. Vlad Filat, the Moldovan Prime-Minister.

Most recent researches show that Moldova is considered one of the countries in the CIS region with the highest proportion of children, whose parents are working abroad. According to the MDHS data approximately one third (31%) of children under age 15 years have at least one parent-migrant. The majority of these children (79.5%) live in rural communities, often with grand-parents.

The migration of Moldovan people implies the development of two actual tendencies: on the one hand, parent’s regular remittances alleviate economic conditions at the household level and facilitate children’s access to social services; on the other hand, it has a very negative impact on children, affecting their psychosocial well-being, their schooling and health, often putting children at risk of social exclusion and stigmatizing them as “different”.

Author of the comments: Nelea Motriuc, Communication & Information Officer, Terre des hommes Delegation in Moldova