Decent Work and a Better Life for Youth in Moldova

Young people from four regions in the Republic of Moldova, including Transnistria, will have increased knowledge on their social-economic rights and will have increased access to Decent Work.” This is one of the main objectives of the project: “Decent work for YOUth – Improving the social economic situation of young people in Moldova by empowering Moldovan youth and Moldovan civil society”, which has been officially launched on March 14, 2013 at Ungheni. The project is implemented by the Dutch Foundation CNV Internationaal, the “Faclia” Public Association for Children and Youth and the National Trade Union Confederation of Moldova, with the financial support of the Delegation of the European Commission to the Republic of Moldova through the Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights.

The project provides a solution to multiple problems that young Moldovan people are facing today: a lack of suitable opportunities for work, a lack of recognition of their social-economic rights, violation of their right to work, discrimination of youth because of their age, lack of motivation to get involved in the community life etc.

More than 40% of unemployed people in Moldova are less than 30 years old. Almost 75% of the Moldovan youth are either not well informed or do not know anything about their social-economic rights. More than 80% of the young working population consider their basic right to work is violated or partially respected. Over 60% of them consider themselves victims of discrimination while searching for a job.

Angela Ciocîrlan, President of the “Faclia” Association for Children and Youth, local project coordinator: “The project focuses on social-economic rights of youth, including the ones with disabilities such as: the right to decent work and a decent salary, the right to join a trade union network that can represent them, the right to receive assistance from the state in case of an accident at work. Through the provision of information and training we want to contribute to the empowerment of youth. We want to make sure that the young people in Moldova gain the necessary knowledge and skills for defending their social-economic rights when these are violated. Our aim is to inform them on how to prepare themselves for a job interview, how to write a good CV, to help them to become active within a trade union and to learn them how they can effectively promote and defend their interests”.

Karen Bouwsma, Foundation CNV Internationaal, project manager: „We are aware that in order to reach the proposed objectives within this project it is necessary to unify the efforts of all actors involved: authorities, civil society organisations, social-economic actors and youth. That is why we created a Project Advisory Committee on Decent Work in each pilot-region of the project. These committees consist of a mix of local decision-making representatives, social-economic actors and youth representatives. At the national level, we created a Steering Committee for the project, which will coordinate the general and strategic orientation of the project. Also at the national level, we will create a network of social-economic actors and civil society organisations to discuss and take action on issues related to Decent Work.”

Oleg Budza, President of the National Trade Union Confederation of Moldova, local project partner: „Because of the problems young people are facing on the labour market, the trade unions will bring several initiatives to the project to amend national legislation so as to regulate, through the mechanisms of social dialogue, this problem and to ensure a higher protection for youth regarding their opportunities on the labour market.”

www.muncadecentă.md – Communication platform for youth in Moldova

During the kick-off, not only the project but also the projects’ website has been launched: www.muncadecenta.md. The site provides a platform for young people on issues such as Decent Work and social-economic rights for youth. On this site young people will be able to register online for participating in the trainings that will be organised during the project. Also, the website offers the opportunity to report violations of their social-economic rights, the Project Advisory Committees will ensure to provide follow-up to these reported problems. In addition, the young people will have the possibility to submit ideas for improvement of the social-economic situation of young people in the Republic of Moldova and to discuss the problems they are facing with other youngsters on the forum.

Media Partner: Unimedia.