In the period of 1 – 3 September 2021 the Council of Europe project Combating violence against children in the Republic of Moldova organised three online seminars on the Draft Guideline for the practical application of the intersectoral cooperation mechanism for the identification, assessment, referral, assistance and monitoring of child victims and potential victims of violence, neglect, exploitation and trafficking approved by Government Decision no. 270/2014.

The online seminars were attended by different groups of professionals working for and with children, in particular teachers, social assistants, doctors/medical assistants and police officers from all regions of the country.

The seminars were aimed at improving the skills of professionals to apply effectively and efficiently the instructions on the intersectoral cooperation mechanism, as well as at receiving additional feedback on the Draft Guideline from the professionals who are going to apply it in daily work.

On the 6th, 7th and 8th of September, the Council of Europe, jointly with Telefilm-Chisinau organised and hosted the national premieres of the documentaries on human rights and social issues, “Liliana’s Voice,” “Doctors” and “Our Eve,” developed in 2020 with the support of the Council of Europe.

The events were attended by representatives of national authorities, such as the Chair of the relevant Committee in the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, the Minister of Health, the Minister of Labour and Social Protection, the Director of the National Centre of Cinematography, as well as country representatives of international organisations and embassies - World Bank, UNDP, UNICEF, US Embassy and the EU Delegation to the Republic of Moldova. All three documentaries will be available online for the public in upcoming months.

In September 2021 the Council of Europe project Combating violence against children in the Republic of Moldova organised three two-days trainings "Protective teachers, protected children. Preventing child sexual abuse in kindergarten. Kiko and the Hand training for kindergarten teachers". The trainings were attended by 50 educators and managers of kindergartens from several regions of the country.

The Kiko and the Hand trainings aimed to improve the skills of professionals to detect and prevent child sexual abuse, as well as to provide them with tools to address children, parents and kindergarten administration to combat this phenomenon.

Throughout 6-10 of September, the Council of Europe project “Promoting European standards in the audiovisual regulation of the Republic of Moldova” jointly with the public broadcaster’s Documentary Film Department “Telefilm-Chisinau” organised a five-day training course for filmmakers on best European practices for the development of short documentaries on human rights.

The training course culminated with a final presentation of short documentary projects where participants pitched their ideas. Out of 5 pitches of short documentary concepts on human rights, a jury comprised of film experts and representatives from Council of Europe selected three ideas to be developed with Council of Europe’s support in the coming months.

A discussion platform called “Democracy Café for the young people” was launched by the Council of Europe, in co-operation with the Republic of Moldova, the Central Electoral Commission of the Autonomous Territorial Unit Gagauzia (ATU Gagauzia) and the National Youth Council of Moldova.

The platform is be piloted for the duration of the elections of the representative authority at the regional level - the People's Assembly of the ATU Gagauzia – whose first and second rounds are respectively scheduled for 19 September and 3 October 2021. The aim of this initiative is to draw up recommendations in order to encourage young voters, from the entire country, to take an informed and active part in future elections.

On 14 September 2021, the Council of Europe HELP Course on Ethics for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers was presented to the first group of trainees following its adaptation to the domestic legal system, implemented in the framework of the project Action against Corruption in the Republic of Moldova. The online launch event was attended by 45 participants, including representatives of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), judges, prosecutors and lawyers.

The Course on Ethics for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers is available in Romanian and was designed to help professionals understand the purpose and importance of ethics in the administration of justice, allowing them to identify key concepts and enhance understanding of common ethical values and principles. The course is open to participants until November 2021.

25 sports managers and directors of sport schools in the country participated in the workshop on Safe sport for children on 21-22 September 2021. The event was organized by the NGO Association for the Empowerment of Children and Families “AVE Copii” in cooperation with the National Olympic and Sports Committee, under a grant agreement awarded by the Council of Europe project Combating violence against children in the Republic of Moldova .

The workshop aimed to develop the skills of sport federation managers on child protection and to raise awareness among participants about the issue of violence against children in sport, in particular the sexual exploitation of children and abuse in sport. A cross-cutting objective of this workshop is to identify a group of 5 to 6 potential influencers among sport managers, who will subsequently be involved in awareness-raising activities with sport coaches and teachers.

The JUSTAT concept was recently finalised and will be proposed for discussion and approval at the next meeting of the Working Group on publishing judicial statistics, to be held online on 29 September 2021. The document was prepared following consultations with the national stakeholders and based on the methodology of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) and its recommendations included in the Handbook on court dashboards.

JUSTAT is designed as a national Internet-based tool aimed at publishing data about the judicial system in the Republic of Moldova, such as statistics, key indicators, and other information useful in evaluating the performance of the court system.