The Council of Europe Office in Chisinau Newsletter| April and May 2022




Versiunea în romană a buletinului informativ poate fi accesată aici


Welcome to the Chisinau Office Newsletter!

Thank you for signing up to keep in touch with the Council of Europe Office in Chisinau. We are back with a double edition of our newsletter, and we will delve into each month to present our results and activities implemented jointly with national partners and beneficiaries. In April 2022, a new project to support the implementation of the Istanbul Convention in the Republic of Moldova was launched. Together with the beneficiaries of our projects, we supported independent media to tackle information disorder in the Republic of Moldova and organised a training for 27 Moldovan judges and prosecutors to enhance their skills in handling cases of bias-motivated crimes. 1,200 civic education and history teachers across the country were engaged in a critical reflection on developing competences for democratic culture in the Republic of Moldova. May gave us the opportunity for more dialogue offline with our beneficiaries, partners and friends of the Council of Europe during several important events such as: Europe Day, the premiere of three new documentaries, the information campaign for about 60 young voters from those 10 localities where new local elections were held on 29 May 2022 etc. Read this double edition and stay up to date. Thank you for being with us and we wish you a pleasant reading!

A new project to support the implementation of the Istanbul Convention in the Republic of Moldova has been launched

The project “Supporting the implementation of the Istanbul Convention in the Republic of Moldova” was officially launched online on 13 April 2022. The project activities will be implemented across three components: awareness-raising on standards on violence against women and domestic violence (VAW/DV), capacity-building of professionals dealing with preventing and combating VAW/DV and strengthening multi-agency co-operation in the field.

Moldovan judges and prosecutors enhanced their skills to proceed cases of bias-motivated crimes

27 representatives of the judiciary and the General Prosecutor’s Office working in different regions of the Republic of Moldova gained knowledge and skills on the protection mechanisms, based on the European Convention on Human Rights and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. During the online course on the „Protection of victims of bias-motivated crimes”, the participants discussed the importance of identification of the impact of bias and stereotypes on victims; consolidated their knowledge on how to recognize the protected grounds in the case of bias-motivated crimes etc.

Support to independent media to tackle information disorder in the Republic of Moldova

With the support of the Council of Europe Project “Support for Media Pluralism and Freedom of Expression in the Republic of Moldova”, a national campaign to tackle false news in the context of the on-going regional crisis is being carried out by Moldovan independent national weekly newspaper “Ziarul de Garda”, which has the widest readership in the country. The initiative carried out throughout March-May 2022 addressed the rising tendencies towards the spread of information disorder in the country.

Judges and prosecutors from the Republic of Moldova enhanced their knowledge on remedies in cases of discrimination

25 judges and prosecutors strengthened their knowledge on national and international remedies in cases of discrimination through an online training. The event held on 27 April, focused on the international legal framework and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights pertaining to discrimination, as well as the right to an effective remedy in discrimination cases within the scope of application of Articles 6 and 13 of the ECHR.

Developing competences for democratic culture in the new social context in the Republic of Moldova

To support teachers in developing competences for democratic culture in the new social context in the Republic of Moldova, the Council of Europe organized in close cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Research seven on-line workshops for teachers within the “Education for Democracy in the Republic of Moldova” Project. 1,200 civic education and history teachers were engaged in a critical reflection on factors influencing the pedagogical process since the start of the war. The participants critically reflected on the pedagogical strategies to respond to school children’s needs, the identification of the most appropriate teaching tools and methods in developing competences for democratic culture in a crisis, the needs and resources that teachers themselves have in this process.

Online campaign: 10 for Education for Society in the Republic of Moldova

Eight destinies – eight stories of young people from the Republic of Moldova who apply in their communities the competences acquired during civic education classes. Two destinies – two Moldovan teachers who speak about their experience of teaching the new civic education subject. Solidarity, respect for diversity, civic engagement and civic mindedness are some of the themes of the ten video stories produced by the Council of Europe Project “Education for Democracy in the Republic of Moldova”.
The videos were distributed broadly via social media and the project networks both as supporting materials for “Education for Society” classes, and as materials to raise the visibility of the project and of the competences for democratic culture that it promotes.

The Istanbul Convention entered into force in the Republic of Moldova

On 1 May 2022, the Council of Europe Convention for preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, known as the Istanbul Convention, entered into force in the Republic of Moldova. This follows the ratification by the Moldova Parliament on 14 October, 2021 thus Republic of Moldova became the 35th member state to ratify the convention.

The Council of Europe Office in Chisinau team marked the Europe Day 2022

On 14 May 2022, the team of the Council of Europe Office in Chisinau participated in the traditional European Village, in the Grand National Assembly Square, showcasing results from the EU/CoE funded projects and other on-going initiatives funded through the Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova 2021-2024.

Online Presentation of the Report on the assessment of the Law no 299 “on the measures and services provided to children with deviant behaviour in Moldova”

On 10 May 2022, the Council of Europe project Preventing and protecting children from violence including in the digital environment in the Republic of Moldova held the online presentation of the Report on the assessment of the Law no 299 “on the measures and services provided to children with deviant behaviour in Moldova”. The report was developed at the request of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection and was presented to the main stakeholders and partners in the field of the child protection in the Republic of Moldova for feedback and discussion.

Getting young people to vote: young voters informed and prepared ahead of the 29 May 2022 new local elections

The Council of Europe in cooperation with the Centre for Continuous Electoral Training and the Promo-LEX Association organised an offline information campaign and an online electoral school for young people from those 10 localities where new local elections were held on 29 May 2022. The aim was to encourage the participation of young people, particularly first-time voters, in electoral processes and get them acquainted with good electoral practices.

Central Election Commissions and election officials of the Republic of Moldova and Georgia exchanged views on digital solutions in elections

On 20 May 2022, election officials of election management bodies of the Republic of Moldova and Georgia exchanged views on digital solutions in elections during an online workshop. Participants focused on the importance and the necessity of closer alignment of domestic practices with the Council of Europe (CoE) standards in this field and discussed the recently adopted CoE Committee of Ministers’ Guidelines on the Use of ICT in Electoral Processes in CoE Member States.

New Curriculum for the initial training of probation counsellors in the Republic of Moldova

The final version of the new Curriculum for the initial training of probation counsellors, the Trainer's and the Trainee's manuals were presented and agreed during the last meeting of the Working Group constituted jointly with the National Probation Inspectorate (NPI). Further approval and implementation by the NPI of the new Curriculum shall lead to building the probation counsellors’ skills and competences for prosocial modelling of probation subjects, their resocialisation, reintegration into society, and preventing the re-offending.

General Police Inspectorate employees attend the Training of Trainers on equality and non-discrimination and hate crimes

A training of Trainers on equality, non-discrimination and hate crimes was organised on 24-25 May 2022 and completed by 24 police officers. The activity enhanced the ability of the participants to deliver online and in-person trainings to their peers on topics related to non-discrimination and hate crime, such as: racism, homophobia, racial profiling, protected criteria, and grounds of prejudice in line with European standards and the Criminal Code. The training also enhanced the skills of future trainers in facilitation and communication with participants, the use of interactive methods and e-learning techniques, enabling them to pass on knowledge and skills through the future trainings in interactive manner - combining human rights education and practical exercises.

An evening of documentary premieres

The Council of Europe Office in Chisinau, jointly with Telefilm-Chisinau, organized the premieres of the three short documentaries on social and human rights topics "My Courtyard", "DizarmoNICA" and "A Sky without Stars", developed with the Council of Europe support in 2021. The event brought together over 150 guests, greeted by Liliana Nicolăescu-Onofrei, Head of the Parliamentary Committee on Mass Media, Giulia Re, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Chisinau and Vlad Țurcanu, General Manager of the IP "Teleradio-Moldova."

New publication

Survey on the perceptions and attitudes towards equality

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Council of Europe Office in Chisinau, 73/1 Blvd. Stefan cel Mare, 7th floor
Chișinău, MD-2001
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