Young people with disabilities are stronger and more informed

Created on 30 July 2014

Young people with mild disabilities have been informed about their social and economic rights, and how to associate to defend them. Twenty unemployed, employed or recent high school graduates from Ungheni, Calarasi, Falesti and Causeni met in Chisinau between 17 to 18 July, to participate in the training "Socio-economic rights of youth and social dialogue", organized within the project "Decent Work for youth - Improving the social-economic situation of the young people in Moldova by empowering the youth and the civil society", implemented by the CNV International, Association for Children and Youth "Făclia" and the National Confederation of Trade Unions.

The goal of the workshop was to inform, motivate and encourage young people to know their rights and demand to be respected individually or in dedicated organized structures.

The participants, after learning about the human rights in general and the social-economic rights in particular, also learned what is an employment contract, and what are the rights guaranteed by the Labour Code.

Because employee rights are often violated, young people who are already employed or are seeking employment talked about defending social and economic rights, about unions and their role in protecting employees' rights, but also about the advantages of social partnership.

Participant Marina Ciuntu from Falesti, which is now unemployed, said that the training inspired her: "If I believe in myself and my abilities, then I can do anything and nothing stops me. This training helped me understand this better, to have a strong motivation. I have noticed that young people do not use sources of information, so they do not know where to go. There are many opportunities that we do not use because we are not informed."

After difficulties in employment, which he experienced at first hand, Serghei Grusca, a physical therapist that is also member of the mobile team of the Directorate of Social Assistance and Family Protection Falesti, feels informed and ready for any situation: "For me the most information I found here is new and interesting. Now I know that you can get the Official Gazette or the Labor Code and show how things must be done. Now, having the information, I will be involved when I will find certain cases, I will be able to explain to other young people what I learned here, I will be motivated to do something for their rights."

"It's not that much about the information itself but more about the ways in which you use it" says Sandu Mancas, high school graduate from Falesti. "The strengths for people from different categories have been explained to us during the training. Often trainings are focused on the idea that disabled people should understand that they are not on par with "normal people". But here, we see absolute equality."

The training was conducted within the project "Decent Work for youth - Improving the social-economic situation of the young people in Moldova by empowering the youth and the civil society", financed by the European Union.