The actions of the new National Child Protection Program discussed with the children

The children of the Republic of Moldova will benefit from a new Program for Child Protection for 2022-2026. The program is developed by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection in partnership with the Alliance of Active NGOs in the Field of Child and Family Social Protection (APSCF), with support from UNICEF Moldova.

The Government of the Republic of Moldova, with technical assistance from UNICEF Moldova and experts from APSCF, is in the process of developing the new National Program for Child Protection and the Action Plan for 2022-2026. In parallel with a group of experts, the policy document is analysed and consulted with its main protagonists – the children.

During the last consultation session of the draft Action Plan for the new Child Protection Program from 17.08.2021, the children identified the topics related to bullying, sanitation and hygiene in institutions providing services for children, protection against violence and adaptation of the distance learning process as the most stringent, from their point of view, and which deserves more attention in the new policy document.

I believe that adults should consult their children when making decisions regarding documents related to them, because they are the protagonists, they are talked about and only from them you can find out what upsets them and what they would like. to be changed”, says Ionela, a member of the group of teenagers involved in elaborating the National Plan for Child Protection 2022-2026.

Her colleague, Adela, notes that most of the time adults do not involve children in making decisions, especially when it comes to drafting documents. “Here I felt that we are important and that my ideas and opinions are precious. I feel good that I could be helpful in drafting the document“, added Adela.

The girls are part of a group of teenagers guided by the Center for Information and Documentation on the Rights of the Child (CIDDC) for research and representation of children’s priorities for the new National Plan for Child Protection, a process coordinated by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection with UNICEF Moldova support. of APSCF experts.

Together with the colleagues with whom they formed a team in October 2020, the young women researched the opinion of over 8300 children to find out what problems they face and to identify possible solutions. After each document analysis activity, the children present to the group of experts a report containing the most important findings and recommendations, which are to be taken into account when developing the new plan.