“I’m very happy that I‘m still able to get my child vaccinated according to the immunization schedule recommended by doctors,” says Inna Iachimenco, a Ukrainian mother who fled to the Republic of Moldova along with her 2 sons in early March, after the first gunshots and explosions were heard near their home in the Sumy region.  So far, more than 1000 doses of routine vaccines, including those against measles/mumps/rubella (MMR), poliomyelitis, and diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis, have been administered to refugee children. In addition, 1150 adult refugees have been vaccinated against COVID-19 while in or transiting through the country. Aware of the benefits of immunization, Inna was keen to get her youngest son, Maxim, vaccinated against MMR as soon as he reached his first birthday – the age at which children are eligible for the joint vaccine. Although now far from his home in Ukraine, Maxim was still able to get this important first shot as scheduled.  “All unvaccinated children are a health hazard for other children with a weak immune system. I recommend other mothers to follow my example and suggest they read about vaccination only from official sources, not from social media groups,” says Inna. Inna’s older son has also received all his recommended shots. “He is already a teenager. Vaccines have protected him from infectious diseases. He had no side effects,” she continues. “I care about my children, so I choose what is best for them. I feel safer knowing that they are protected from diseases.” Raisa Ursu, a nurse from the Calarasi Health Centre who has been vaccinating refugees, explains, “Vaccinating children and adults against infectious diseases is the simplest and most cost-effective prevention option available. Vaccines are a shield against these dangerous diseases, which can cause severe illness or death.”  Raisa adds, “Thanks to immunizations, many diseases that were once common are now at their lowest levels in history.”    Equitable access to vaccination for all  “We are putting all our efforts into delivering aid to those most in need, particularly the vulnerable, including older people, those with underlying health conditions, pregnant women and children. Closing gaps in coverage with routine and COVID-19 vaccines is a priority now to protect both local and refugee communities, ensuring no one is left behind,” says Dr Miljana Grbic, WHO Representative in the Republic of Moldova. To date, well over 500 000 refugees have entered the Republic of Moldova since the beginning of the war. Of these, approximately 80 000 (half of whom are children) are residing in the country. All refugees have free access to the same vaccination services that are available to all residents in the country.  With WHO support, the national health authorities have been implementing prompt public health actions to prevent the occurrence and spread of vaccine-preventable diseases. From the first days of the war, WHO has supported the development of immunization guidelines, conducted critical risk assessments and held a series of workshops to strengthen efforts to close immunization gaps.  WHO has also placed an emphasis on ensuring refugees at border crossings, refugee centres and health-care facilities have access to essential information on immunization services and the risks of vaccine-preventable diseases.    European Union–WHO project to support the Eastern Partnership countries Funding from a joint project of the European Union and WHO/Europe to support the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination in the Eastern Partnership countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine – has been repurposed to address the immediate health needs of the conflict-affected population of Ukraine. 

Gradually managing to ‘tame’ the bees and overcome stereotypes, today roughly 8 per cent of the 7,696 apiaries listed in the National Food Safety Agency’s National Register of Beekeepers are kept by women. The apiaries belonging to Liza Mămăligă, from the village of Todirești in Ungheni, and to Cristina Bacaliuc, from Andrușul de Jos village in Cahul, are among that 8 per cent. Both beekeepers are energetic, curious and fascinated by bees and their work. Croutons rolled in honey At 33 years of age, Mămăligă is a young mother and businesswoman who has worked hard to build herself a wonderful future in her hometown. In fact, she never stops – something she seems to have learned from the bees she keeps. She wakes at the break of dawn, makes a cup of tea from flowers she picks in the garden and plans her day. Order and involvement in your work are the key to the success of any business, the young woman believes. After completing her studies, Mămăligă started to look for job offers. She could not imagine sitting for hours in a row in a bank, working behind a desk. She wanted to try to create something new – but what exactly? A scholarship in Germany caught her attention. Young people from all over the world had the possibility to learn from renowned experts how to start their own businesses. Bees were the first thing she thought about. She had lived her whole life among bees and hives. Her best childhood memories are related to them, when the neighbours’ children would visit and her father would give them a plate of honeycomb. She recalled how tasty the croutons rolled in fresh acacia honey were, or how she and the children used to hide behind the colourful beehives in the apiary by the forest. This is how the small family business started. “It was in 2012. At that time, you could see only older men at the beekeepers’ meetings or fairs. No one would take you seriously [as a girl]. I was young and I was a beekeeper. They were thinking that I had bought the honey and that I was trying to sell it, but their lack of trust motivated me even more to continue learning and I want to bring beekeeping to an even higher level and to have more young people involved in this kind of work,” admits Mămăligă, with and a cheeky grin. ‘Beekeeping is a challenge’ She managed to reach her goal over the years. Now, she has around 80 beehives and produces natural nutritional bars made with hazelnut, plums and other vitamin-rich fruit, which are popular and appreciated in the European Union market. She also produces her own propolis tincture, beeswax candles and tea sets made of plants she grows in her own garden. “I love trying new things. I want to test my ideas,” laughs Mămăligă while putting on her suit and picking the bee smoker, which she uses to calm the bees down. It’s time she paid them a visit to make sure they are well and not in need of anything. “I like to spend time in nature. When I work with the bees, I can feel all seasons, all flowers, meadows; I feel connected to nature. Beekeeping feels like a challenge – many issues to resolve, decisions to make, and sometimes this has to be done in the blink of an eye. There’s no time to get bored, and every year feels different,” says Mămăligă. She aims to promote local products, which are natural and have as little processing as possible. “I want us to develop new product ideas, to bring money into the local economy, to create jobs, and to do the work we like. Bees, as we know, are very important for biodiversity, for pollination, for organic farming. We want everything we do to have a positive impact. We don’t want to make any compromises that would harm the environment,” adds Mămăligă as the sunrays breach the heavy clouds and start warming the hives scattered by the edge of the woodlands.  ‘I always keep an eye on the weather forecast’ It is a single-storey house. One can hear the soft humming of the device that transforms honey into an aired homogenous cream, enriched with cinnamon and ginger. Cristina Bacaliuc bends over the huge stainless-steel bowl, watching every rotation. This is her new laboratory, where she creates special products out of the honey she harvests in her apiary. In Andrușul de Jos village, Bacaliuc tells a similar story of her path to becoming a beekeeper. In 2014, her family started caring for two beehives. They now have 300. “My husband studied beekeeping and shared with me various interesting facts about bees, how each of them has a role to play, regardless of what happens. I was bewitched and I said I wanted to come and help him. Then, I never wanted to leave. I like to hear them buzzing. It calms you, and we work really well together [with the bees],” laughs Bacaliuc, letting the honey cream flow slowly into a jar. She takes a little honey with a wooden stick and tastes it. She explains that it is important for it to be creamy and to melt immediately on the tip of your tongue, then turns on the stirring mechanism again, to make sure it is just right. “In summertime, I wake up and go to bed at the same pace as bees do. I always keep an eye on the weather forecast. I know at what time sun rises, what direction the wind blows, when it is going to rain and when it is going to be nice ... What I like best is the day when honey is harvested, because that’s when we see the result of our year-long work,” says Bacaliuc. She puts in her maximum effort so that the beekeeping will turn into a long-lasting family business that her three sons, who only run among the beehives now, will eventually like to take over. As part of the EVA project ‘Strengthened Gender Action in Cahul and Ungheni districts’, funded by the European Union and implemented by UN Women in partnership with UNICEF, UN Women has developed gender-responsive local development strategies and transformed budget programs to respond better to the needs of everyone, specifically women, girls and the most vulnerable groups in these districts. Cristina Bacaliuc and Liza Mămăligă benefited from these efforts, which aimed to create profitable and inclusive economic opportunities in Cahul and Ungheni districts by diversifying and supporting small businesses, including those of women entrepreneurs.

The overall purpose of this call for proposals is to provide grants to women and young women’s civil society organizations in Ukraine and Moldova that focus on promoting socio-economic recovery, leadership and political participation of women and young women in forced displacement (e.g. refugees, internally displaced people, asylum seekers) in crisis and humanitarian contexts. The WPHF will fund qualifying projects in: Ukraine Moldova The projects must focus on one country. Multi-country projects, or projects outside the geographical focus will NOT be accepted. CSOs can apply for a maximum of 12 months. International, national, regional or local/grassroots women or young women led, women’s rights, youth rights, feminist, or civil society organizations with a proven track record working with women, young women and girls in forced displacement, are eligible to apply. Organizations led by displaced persons are strongly encouraged to apply. Deadline for Early submission: 27 June Deadline for Second submission: 11 July Deadline for Third submission: 15 August (please note organizations should only apply to one submission deadline) Please find below additional information on the call for proposal and on how to apply (templates): Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) Call for Proposals “Ukraine Regional Response” Indicator Tip Sheet for Institutional Funding, WPHF Impact Area 1: Enabling Environment for Women Peace and Security Indicator Tip Sheet, WPHF Impact Area 6: Peacebuilding & Recovery Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund, STREAM 1: INSTITUTIONAL FUNDING Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund, STREAM 2: PROGRAMMATIC FUNDING An online information session will be organized for prospective applicants on 17 June 2022 at 12:30 (Geneva)/13:30 (Chisinau) by UN Women and the WPHF Secretariat. The session will be in English with ensured translation in Romanian and Ukrainian. To register your interest in the information session, please complete the following form: https://forms.gle/HwTDG3UJKMbBvz4L7 An invitation with the session link will be provided prior to the information session. This session will also be recorded and uploaded to the WPHF website for prospective applicants who are unable to attend.

The entrepreneur developed her business this spring, thanks to a grant obtained from Sweden in the framework of the “Sustainable and resilient communities through women empowerment” UNDP project. Taking care of the few cattle in the household has been Nadejda’s main activity for a number of years, alongside the agricultural works. “Not an easy task. I had to take care of six cows. I used to get up when it was still dark to collect the milk, which was to be sold as soon as possible to avoid its spoiling, and I would work till midnight for making the cheese. It is quite exhausting work at the age of 60,” says the woman. Last year, Nadejda decided to start growing strawberries so as to become financially independent and to create jobs for other women from her community. The investments to start up such a business are much higher than the family could afford. She found out from her children about the grants provided by Sweden and UNDP, who have encouraged her and helped her to submit the application to take part in the competition.   “I have grown strawberries before as well, but only in open field, and the harvests were mainly destroyed by rains. I have discussed with the family and we decided to build a greenhouse. My sons told me about this project and that I meet all the participation requirements. I was so glad when they told me that I was one of the winners. It is not so easy to gather such an amount with our own forces.” The grant of US$12.600 has helped her to build the greenhouse, to import the seedling and to conclude all necessary documents: “We built the greenhouse at the beginning of March and in April we have planted the seedling,” tells joyfully Nadejda Dobrova. She has planted two varieties of strawberries in the greenhouse of 500 square meters: Asia and Alba, imported from Italy, adapted to the climate conditions in the Republic of Moldova. She has cropped several rows in the open field as well. The entrepreneur grows an organic product, this being one of the project’s requirements. To have a rich harvest, she uses only natural fertilizers obtained from manure and well water. To protect the plantation against pests, she has planted garlic along the land field. Nadejda has already got the first harvest. She got up to 300 grams of strawberries per plant. The harvest will double next year. The sweet and aromatic berries are sold like hot cakes, ending up as well in the children’s camp near Bender (Tighina). The demand for strawberries is high thanks to their sweet flavor, but also the benefits for health. “The buyers are satisfied. They even allow their children to eat as much as they want, as they know that the product is of high quality. And this makes me happy. I would not have been able to start this business without this grant.” Nadejda’s husband is very engaged in the family business development. “Strawberries are of the best quality. I have seen already the benefits induced by the sunbeds. This is just the first step and encouragement to develop the business further on,” notes Vasile Dobrov, Nadejda’s husband. The spouses hope to build one more greenhouse. Besides the non-reimbursable financial assistance, Nadejda also benefits from mentorship and training provided by the environmental NGO “Pomul Vieții”, selected by the UNDP project “Climate resilient communities by empowering women”. “In the Transnistrian region, there are few businesses managed by women. Our aim is to inform about the sustainable practices which may be used in agriculture, so as to adapt to climate change, especially in protected spaces. We have conducted an analysis of the soil from this region, of its structure, to advice what can be planted in the greenhouse and what microelements are necessary to obtain a good and organic harvest,” mentions Aliona Andreiciuc, representative of the “Pomul Vieții” NGO. Now Nadejda Dobrova is learning how to manage the natural resources in a sustainable and efficient way, to reduce environment degradation and to increase climate change resilience at the local level. “She has taken into account all our recommendations and the result is compelling – healthy plants and a rich harvest. We will continue our trainings to discuss about the setup of a system to collect rainwater from the greenhouse surface, so as to settle the problem of insufficient drinking water not contaminated with pesticides. Rainwater collection represents a modality for saving drinking water,” adds Aliona Andreiciuc. About 150 tons of water may be collected per year from a greenhouse like that of Nadejda. 11 women entrepreneurs from Nisporeni, Călărași, Leova, Dubăsari districts, Gagauzia and Transnistrian regions obtained grants of up to $18.000 each to start up or to develop environmentally friendly and climate resilient businesses.  Women from rural area are four times more prone to poverty, are under-presented in decision-taking process and more vulnerable to climate change. “Sustainable and resilient communities through women empowerment” project aims to increase women’s access to alternative income-generating activities, as well as to knowledge and information on resilient management of natural and agricultural resources. The project is implemented by UNDP during 2020 – 2023, with financial assistance from Sweden.