The projects, which will mainstream gender into humanitarian response actions, will be implemented with the support of UN Women Moldova, with funding provided by the Women's Peace and Humanitarian Fund. The grant certificates were offered to the beneficiary organisations at a UN Women Moldova event on 20 January titled "The role of women and women-led organisations in managing the humanitarian crisis response". The total amount of grants offered is $2.6 million USD. The project activities will aim to strengthen the institutional capacities of organisations, encouraging women’s leadership and supporting the socio-economic empowerment of women refugees from Ukraine and those from host communities. This will be done by developing and boosting their professional and entrepreneurial skills, which will in turn contribute to strengthening social cohesion among local communities and Ukrainian refugees in Moldova. "A year has passed [since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine] and the suffering of the people has remained just as great,” said Simon Springett, the UN Resident Coordinator for Moldova, at the event, adding that 80 per cent of Ukrainian refugees are women and children. “We support the localisation of gender-based humanitarian responses. Understanding the needs of communities is essential, partnerships with local organisations are extremely important, and in Moldova, where 90 per cent of refugees live with host families, their role is vital. The UN will continue efforts to promote social cohesion among the local community and refugees". Ghita El Khyari, the Head of the Secretariat for the Women's Peace and Humanitarian Fund, thanked partner organisations that have been involved since the first day of the Russia-Ukraine war. "We are proud of the fact that we have managed to grow our community to 14 organisations,” she said. “Women's organisations and organisations led by women are increasingly seen as trusted partner organisations with the necessary expertise and capacity to respond to crises". Felicia Bechtoldt, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, said that the crisis caused by the war has significantly increased the vulnerability of women. “Over 650,000 people have entered Moldova since the beginning of the war, with over 65 per cent of these refugees being single women who face a high risk of gender-based violence, exploitation and abuse,” she said. “Women's needs are increasing, and it is vital that we provide help to women refugees and those from host communities: psychological services, social assistance, vocational training and employment assistance. The involvement of women gives refugees self-confidence and emotional stability". UN Women Moldova Country Representative, Dominika Stojanoska, spoke on the importance of supporting civil society organisations during this time. "Since the beginning of the crisis, it was very important to improve our partnerships with civil society because we knew they would be on the ground with or without funds, and we knew they needed support,” she says. “This funding will not only give assistance to refugees but also support community work to ensure economic resilience and conflict prevention. Cooperation with local organisations has proven effective". The projects will be implemented in different regions across Moldova, including Transnistria. Last year, six other women’s rights organisations and women-led organisations also implemented projects funded by the Women's Peace and Humanitarian Fund, in which over 1,400 refugees received emergency assistance, around 600 women benefited from training and counseling sessions and 167 women took part in leadership programmes. . About the Women's Peace and Humanitarian Fund The Women's Peace and Humanitarian Fund is the only global funding mechanism exclusively dedicated to accelerating programmatic and institutional support to local women's organisations operating in fragile conditions, enabling them to respond to crises and build lasting peace. As the host of its World Secretariat, UN Women plays a key role in the success and continuous development of the fund. About UN Women UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and women's empowerment. A global champion of women and girls' rights, UN Women was established to accelerate the response to their needs around the world. UN Women supports the equal participation of women in all aspects of life, focusing on the following strategic priorities: Women lead, participate and equally benefit from governance systems. Women have financial security, decent jobs and economic independence. All women and girls live a life free from any form of violence. Women and girls contribute to and have a greater influence over the creation of lasting peace and resilience, equally benefiting from conflict prevention and humanitarian action.

A project of USD 840 000 will be implemented by FAO with financial support from the Government of Japan to help over 3 600 highly vulnerable farming households in rural communities. The project is part of the FAO emergency programme in the Republic of Moldova and will contribute together with two other projects in mitigating the effects of the ongoing crisis. "Together with FAO we are supporting smallholder farmers and will contribute to ensuring food security in the Republic of Moldova," said Yamada Yoichiro, Ambassador of Japan to Moldova. "We [the Government of Japan] will continue to provide support for the people of Republic of Moldova, who are affected by the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine." The latest FAO report on Crop and Food Supply Assessment in the Republic of Moldova states that smallholder farms are the agriculture producers who suffer the greatest negative impacts from drought and war. Their access to seeds, animal feed, and fertilizers is limited and high credit interest rates are constraining their ability to utilize financing services. In response, the project will supply agriculture inputs to small farmers and use FAO expertise to build their resilience against future shocks. FAO Representative in the Republic of Moldova, Raimund Jehle, is confident that this project will reach its aim: “This project is crucial for farmers facing a difficult situation due to war, drought, and high agriculture input prices. Without urgently needed assistance, income losses and higher food insecurity are looming. We are excited to partner with the Government of Japan to boost the socio-economic recovery of the country by building together a resilient, sustainable, and green agrifood system”. The beneficiaries will receive timely and season-sensitive agricultural inputs for cereal and vegetable cultivation and livestock raising. All inputs provided will be complemented by technical training on good agricultural and climate-resilient techniques and practices. "This project is an essential step forward, enabling thousands of vulnerable farming households, affected by war or extreme weather conditions with much-needed support so that they may reestablish production and attain self-sufficiency,” said Vladimir Bolea, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry of the Republic of Moldova. “We appreciate the generous support of the Government of Japan and continuous FAO efforts in mobilizing funds for developing the agrifood system. The activities and implementation of this project will embrace inclusiveness on the principle to ‘leave no one behind’, including during the beneficiary selection process. Special attention will be given to, but not limited to, women-headed households, youth, households consisting of persons with a disability, refugees from Ukraine, and elderly members. The outcomes of the project will be far-reaching, enhancing agricultural production and productivity and creating a marketable surplus to generate income for vulnerable families. Furthermore, those households who receive support from this initiative have the potential to become economically self-sufficient throughout the next season and beyond. Additionally, capacity-building efforts will greatly benefit participants, equipping them with knowledge and experience on best agricultural practices, animal husbandry, and training on climate-resilient techniques. Since March 2022, FAO has been implementing in the Republic of Moldova an emergency programme with a total budget of nearly USD 3.5 million, with USD 500 000 from the Organization’s own funds and the remainder contributed by other donors.

Thus, the selected communities will be helped to create micro-clusters, which will capitalise on existing local advantages and support the specialisation of local economies. Up to US$400,000 will be invested in each of the three micro-clusters, which will contribute to creating new jobs for locals, but also for returned migrants and refugees from Ukraine. "In the current socio-economic situation, strengthening the resilience of the economic actors is of paramount importance. With this initiative, Switzerland will support local businesses, contributing in this way to creating new economic perspectives in different regions of Moldova," said Guido Beltrani, Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Moldova. ''Building on UNDP Moldova's longstanding experience of boosting local development, we are proud to contribute to enhanced resilience of SMEs, the backbone of the economy, for an enhanced access to decent jobs to local population and refugees,” mentioned Dima Al-Khatib, UNDP Resident Representative to the Republic of Moldova. Micro-regions are encouraged to register for the competition. The file of the applicant shall include the participation form filled in Romanian or Russian, the declaration of commitment and partnership, signed by all the entities involved from the private and public sector. The deadline for participation is 23 February 2023, 11:00 p.m. More details are available here: https://bit.ly/3XRpUId During 1-14 February, information sessions will be organized in Chișinău, Bălți, Cimișlia, Comrat, as well as an online session, to answer the questions of those interested in preparing the participation file and to clarify all the details of the project. To participate in the information sessions, prior registration is required at: https://rebrand.ly/prim_info_session During 2015-2022, UNDP and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) carried out the “Migration and local development” project - part of the intervention “Moldova – Making the Most of Migration”, bringing together local public authorities, NGOs/hometown associations, private sector, and people, including migrants originating from target communities. More than 116 localities from the Republic of Moldova and 556,000 people have benefited from improved livelihoods and local public services.

Without equitable and inclusive education and opportunities for all, countries will fail to achieve gender equality and break the cycle of poverty that leaves millions of children, young people and adults behind. To commemorate International Education Day, UN Women Moldova is sharing interviews about an innovative class in schools called "Harmonious Relationships in the Family”. Developed by LA STRADA Moldova to respond to the need for more educational programmes targeting youth, the class seeks to build healthier family dynamics that are rooted in gender equality, mutual respect and direct communication in order to prevent and reduce violence. Nicoleta Fiodorov-Ganea, a teacher at the Vasile Alecsandri Theoretical High School in Chișinău, has been teaching this optional class to her students. Below, she discusses how beneficial this discipline has been for today's generation. "The class ‘Harmonious Relationships in the Family’ is an effective one, a discipline that should be included on the list of core school subjects. The purpose of this discipline is to teach students to renounce abuse, criticism, bullying, and to convince them to solve problems through communication. The role of schools in cultivating non-violence is to explain to students that healthy relationships are not abusive and that family members must respect each other. This class is also special because the curriculum covers various topics that are relevant for today's generation. These topics are structured in such a way that every student who participates in the course knows that communication is the basis for solving any problem. By informing children that, in a family with harmonious relationships, children are perceived as a value in themselves, we increase their interest in studying, encouraging them to make changes for the better in their families and aim for more goals for the future. When we talk about gender equality, we are not only talking about equal rights between women and men; we also emphasise gender identity, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation. It is important for every student to understand that all people are born with equal rights and that each of us must take tolerance into account. During classes, we remind students that the gender someone is born with should not influence their quality of life in society and that discrimination, violence against women and girls and their underrepresentation in leadership positions is inadmissible. During our classes, we also address the subject of gender stereotypes and, in particular, how we combat prejudices in our community. Another subject of great importance – which I teach to girl students – concerns the initiation stage of romantic relationships and how to detect the early signs of a potentially abusive partner". Andreea Mocanu, an 11th grade student who took the class "Harmonious Relationships in the Family," discusses her experience below. "Studying this discipline really helps me maintain close and healthy relationships with my family, and it helped me learn how to act during some difficult situations in my life. The information presented is extremely useful for us students, given that many of my classmates don’t have parents at home with whom they can talk freely. I’m sorry that my parents didn’t have this subject as a class at school when they were growing up. When it comes to subjects like domestic violence, stereotypes and gender equality, I had a lot of gaps in my knowledge, given the fact that I live in an extended family where, on a daily basis, my grandmother instils in me the idea that women must submit to men and that men are the heads of the family. With great difficulty, I managed to convince my family that domestic violence is a violation and that any conflict must be solved through communication. Thanks to this class, I have learned to accept the people around me as they are, without discriminating or judging them, and conflicts have become matters of discussion rather than quarrels. This discipline helps me visualise what a good partner and a healthy romantic relationship should be like". Doina Cazacu, director of the Women Programme at LA STRADA Moldova, says that gender equality is a topic on the agenda of international organisations and state governments and that it remains a subject of research and intervention for the associative sector as well. “We consider it extremely important that investments in education contain not only well-known and applied subjects throughout the years, but, with the development of society, the shaping of new areas of interest,” she says. “As young people face new challenges, they can learn behavioural and relationship skills in a non-violent, non-discriminatory manner based on the principles of mutual respect and equality". Dominika Stojanoska, UN Women Moldova Country Representative, says that this optional class for youth is an important part of joint efforts to promote positive social norms that prevent violence against women and domestic violence, which are regrettably still persistent in the region and around the world. “We are glad that youth in Moldova have opportunities in schools today to discuss issues related to healthy relationships, consent, flirting versus sexual harassment and other related topics that will support them in becoming emotionally mature adults,” she says. The class “Harmonious Relationships in the Family” was developed through the project "Developing, piloting and integrating early prevention of gender-based violence and violence against women in the school curriculum", implemented by LA STRADA Moldova in partnership with UN Women Moldova and the Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Moldova, with the financial support of Sweden.