UN Moldova launched the COVID19 Response & Recovery web page

United Nations (UN) Moldova invites you to visit the web page dedicated to the response and recover better efforts from COVID19 pandemic – covid19response.un.md

It has been one year since the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. No-one has ever thought it would have had such a devastating impact on all of us and socio-economic sectors, among them health, education, labour market, business environment and others.

UN Moldova and its partners offered immediate support to the country and have since been in constant communication with the Government of Moldova and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection (MHLSP), providing assistance in three main areas: health system preparedness, technical support and capacity building, and information and communication on COVID-19.

In September 2020 the UN Moldova Country Team presented the COVID19 Response and Recovery Plan to support the country to respond and recover better from the pandemic. To make the Plan even more accessible and easy to read it was transposed into a web page.  

The new website introduces the five areas of interventions (see them below) and walks you through the key priorities UN Moldova is focusing on while implementing the projects. Also, here you will find more information on the impact of COVID19, plan financing & monitoring, all assessments and thematic policy briefs developed by UN agencies. The website offers the possibility to quickly browse through the projects&actions that are already being implemented and offers information on projects that require additional funding.

Five areas of interventions:

Health First

The UN Moldova Response and Recovery Plan is focused on supporting Moldova to tackle the health emergency. The challenges brought about by the crisis have highlighted or deepened more health systemic and structural problems, such as the oversized, outdated, and expensive health infrastructure, low technical capacities and shortages of health professionals, in particular in rural areas. 

While UN Moldova with the support of development partners have delivered over 4.000.000 of different protective items (masks, goggles, gloves, sanitizers, PPEs, etc.) to front-line workers to mantain a well-functioning of essential services, support is yet needed to build a more resilient and sustainable health system. See UN Moldova solutions.

Protecting People

Women, children, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups of persons were severely hit by the pandemic and lockdown period. The access to education was affected due to uneven access to online schooling caused by the lack of devices & internet connectivity issues. The report of domestic violence has increased with up to 30% and 27% of vulnerable people stated that to a great extent, they lacked money even for food during the lockdown period.

Through UN projects, over 325.000 pupils received assistance with distance/home-based learning while over 500.000 persons received critical WASH supplies (including hygiene items) and services. At the same time almost 3.000 women received protection and related services including food products to help them cope with the pandemic.

To further support the most vulnerable groups to recover better and leave no-one behind see the solutions proposed by UN Moldova.

Economic Response & Recovery

Protecting and improving the productive sectors, protecting jobs and promoting decent work lays at the basis of UN support to recover better. The business environment in Moldova is being affected by the limitations imposed during the pandemic crisis, but also faces pre-existing challenges in its distribution networks. Most of the micro, small, and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) have reported declines in sales, of up to 75-100%. Only a third of them had enough liquidity for three months of operation, while only 12% have access to external financing sources.

Let’s work together to revive the economy of the country. See UN Moldova solutions.

Macroeconomic response & multilateral collaboration

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a slowdown of Moldova’s economy and a decrease in GDP. While the economy grew by 3.6% in 2019 and 3.8% growth was expected in 2020, as a result of COVID-19, the World Bank now estimates that a recession led to a negative GDP of 7.2% in 2020. COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated once more that preserving macroeconomic and financial sector stability are essential for improving resilience to economic shocks. Without adequate support, there is a danger of fiscal instability and limited access to finance for economic actors. See UN Moldova solutions to support the macroeconomic response.

Social Cohesion

The urgent response to the COVID-19 pandemic requires the consolidation and not the sidelining of important ongoing processes of social dialogue, civic participation and democratic engagement, including gains in gender equality over past decade. It should address the principle of equality and non-discrimination and have a special focus on underrepresented groups or groups vulnerable to human rights violations.

See UN Moldova solutions to reduce inequality and discrimination.

The total budget of the COVID19 Response and Recovery Plan stands at US$106 million, of which over US$20 million have already been secured.