Young people from national ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities claim their right to education and participation

This forum represents a platform for dialog, established with the goal to bring to public’s attention the problems of minorities living in Moldova and to offer recommendations for their settlement.  

The event is unfolding following the past year visit of the Special Rapporteur for minority issues and the Universal Periodical Review of the Moldovan situation, conducted by the UN Council for Human Rights, which recommended our country to ensure the necessary conditions for the respect of minorities’ rights.

“Moldova is a diverse and multiethnic country with a great heritage and traditon and rich culture and history. This makes the country unique and is a real assest, not an impediment for its development. Experience suggests that inclusive societies, where people from different walks of life share a common vision for the future and have a strong sense of identity and statehood, enjoy prosperity, thriving democracy and rule of low. This is the road Moldova must follow. You are not alone, the UN family stays nearby to support you in this process”, Dafina Gercheva, UN Resident Coordinator and Permanent Representative of UNDP in Moldova, mentioned.

The Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, Liliana Palihovici, mentioned that all human rights are important therefore they ought to be respected, so that citizens feel they are protected.  ”I firmly believe that no rights can be more important than others, since all rights are crucial for people’s lives. I don’t believe, either, that there are more important and less important people when we refer to their rights. Moreover, a more tolerant behavior in the society can bring a higher degree of wellbeing and democracy for everyone”.

Amongst the topics which were approached within the forum we can mention the right of minorities to education, public and political participation, including the subject of discrimination, the involvement of youth from the under-represented regions (the Transnistrian region, the Taraclia district,  the ATU Găgăuzia), access to high quality education in the mother tongue and in the state language, the mainstreaming of topics related to minorities in manuals of history, the introduction of bilingual educational methods, the promotion of the intercultural dialogue and others.

“I speak more languages; Russian is my mother tongue, which is spoken in my family. I learnt the Romanian later, in school, but I also consider it as my mother tongue. Another mother tongue, just as beautiful and melodious is the Ukrainian. And I do not want to choose a single one amongst them. Each of those languages is special, each of them offer me new opportunities of communication”, Ecaterina Postolatii, participant to the Forum, mentioned.

In the end of the Forum, the participants adopted a Resolution, through which they requested the authorities to fulfill the recommendations with emphasis on the right of minorities to high quality education and public and political participation. The Group of Youth for Interethnic Solidarity will monitor their practical implementation and their transposition into the National Action Plan for Human Rights, which is now in process of drafting.

Based on the dates of the population census, conducted in 2004, representatives of numerous national, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities are living in the Republic of Moldova, accounting for one third of the population. Amongst the linguistic minorities we can mention: Ukrainian, Russian, Gagauz, Bulgarian, Roma, etc., while amongst people of different religion/confession (religious minority) there are Baptists, Adventists of the seventh day, Pentecostals, Christians of old rite, Evangelical Christians and atheists.

The Youth Forum of national, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities was organized in the context of the International Day of the Mother Tongue, which is celebrated annually on the 21st of February.