Chisinau City Hall and the General Directorate for Child Protection of the Chisinau Municipal Council launched the "Help Me to Help You!" campaign, which aims to inform the refugee community about specialized services provided by the municipal institutions. The campaign also aims to identify and to monitor refugee children from Ukraine and their companions, who are in transit or who have decided to stay in Chisinau. This will allow to better know the challenges they face and undertake concrete measures to swiftly address them. The campaign will run from May 30 to August 27, 2022.

"With the arrival of the first Ukrainian refugees in Chisinau, all our institutions have been actively involved in providing professional support and creating the necessary conditions in temporary refugee placement centers. We provided support and protection to children at risk, in order to prevent any form of abuse, violence and neglect, as well as access to social, educational and health services in Chisinau. We want to help as many children and their companions as possible. That is why, we are launching this campaign in order to have accurate evidence and documentation of the problems they face, in order to provide them with the necessary assistance ", said General Mayor of Chisinau, Ion CEBAN.

About 60 employees of municipal institutions such as social workers, pedagogues, and psychologists will work in all sectors of Chisinau to identify all refugee children and their companions living in placement centers or in families in order to provide information, support and assistance according to their specific needs.

"USAID Moldova remains committed to supporting Moldova and Ukraine in the emergency response to the refugee crisis, so that every child receives the most effective protection and assistance. This campaign is especially beneficial for refugee children at risk, who will receive assistance in filing identity documents and applying for asylum. Along with representing children's interests and rights and reporting violence, neglect, exploitation and trafficking via a Children's Hotline, there is a stringent need to monitor each child's situation and prevent separation from parents or guardians", said the Head of the USAID Mission in Moldova, Scott HOCKLANDER.

According to the Office of Migration and Asylum of the Ministry of Interior, over 97.000 Ukrainian refugees, of which 47.632 are children, have been registered on the territory of the Republic of Moldova as of May 11, 2022. At the national level, only 1.830 children are enrolled in general education institutions, of which 1.120 are children in Chisinau.

More so, over 300 children benefit from activities at non-formal education in creative centers, extracurricular programs, community centers for children and young people, and day centers in Chisinau. More than 3.700 families from Chisinau have hosted refugees. For example, the Patria Lukoil Refugee Center has received more than 14.500 requests for humanitarian aid in the past two months, of which 8.566 have been submitted by families caring for 5.586 children.

However, the data presented above is fragmented, inaccurate and incomplete, lacking an exact record of refugee children and their companions, especially those living in the community (in families or in rented spaces). This makes it difficult to adapt and tailor the municipal services in order to respond adequately to the multiple needs of the refugee children and families.

The campaign features a series of activities aimed to facilitate both awareness raising and support, as well as the integration of children and their companions in the community.

#HelpMetoHelpYou #USAIDMoldova #Data4Impact #D4I #UNHCR

Contacts:

Anna Bezobrazova,

Head of the Family Separation Prevention Section,

Tel: (022) 22-61-00,

E-mail: anna.bezobrazova@pmc.md

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The campaign "Help Me to Help You!" is carried out by the Chisinau City Hall and the General Directorate for Child Protection of the Chisinau City Council under the "Data for Impact" (D4I) project, with the financial support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).