THE NATIONAL YOUTH COUNCIL OF MOLDOVA (CNTM) COMES WITH A LIST OF YOUNG PEOPLE’S PRIORITIES THAT SHOULD APPEAR ON THE ELECTION AGENDA OF CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

Considering the constitutional powers of the presidency of the Republic of Moldova, CNTM, a member organization of the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (CALC), requested presidential candidates to initiate and facilitate the strengthening of the youth sector and to complement their election and post-election agendas with activities that establish and strengthen a constructive dialogue between the local governments, the central government, including presidency, and the nonprofit youth sector.

Measures that can contribute to the development of young people in Moldova include the involvement of this group in decision-making where their interests are concerned, the increase of local and national budgets to meet the needs of young people, and the setting up of an Advisory Youth Council affiliated with the President’s Office so that the president could work with young people to identify their priorities that the prospective president could promote, putting emphasis on promoting young people to leadership positions at all levels of public administration.

The president should also prioritize anti-discrimination activities, social fairness, and anticorruption activities, promoting young people’s interests and opportunities for them.

CNTM also proposes that the prospective president initiate activities that would help to address young people’s challenges in these fields:

1. Education

1.1. Start discussions to develop an efficient program/plan to fight corruption in the education system of the Republic of Moldova, involving all relevant actors at the local and national levels and assigning them responsibilities.

1.2. Start discussions to streamline and implement dual education at universities on a large scale.

1.3. Start discussions to ensure a balanced and safe environment for students at educational institutions by preventing and fighting discrimination and harassment (bullying) based on such criteria as: disability (the need for a curriculum that takes into account their needs, accessible classrooms and restrooms, literature in Braille, sufficient auxiliary teaching staff, information technology accessible for children with disabilities), ethnicity, religion, language, gender, etc.

1.4. Start discussions to create partnerships to provide (lend or donate) computers/tablets and Internet access to students who have limited opportunities or come from families with two and more children and do not have such equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

1.5. Introduce digital education and develop a single national education platform with digital educational materials and evaluation tools ready for sustained use in situations like the COVID-19 pandemic and not only as an alternative to offline education.

1.6. Start discussions to allot free public city and intercity transport to shuttle students to and from educational institutions.

1.7. Start discussions to ensure sanitation in schools and identify financial resources to create proper conditions for students to feel comfortable at school, especially to end the use of outhouses in school yards and to build proper restrooms inside the premises of educational institutions.

1.8. Create partnerships between the MECR and other actors to develop and implement financing mechanisms (scholarships and grants-in-aid) for students interested in research and innovation.

2. Employment

2.1. Start discussions to set mechanisms that would ensure decent work conditions for young people and eradicate unreported employment among them.

2.2. Start discussions to improve professional rehabilitation services for young people who have disabilities or are temporarily unfit for work.

2.3. Start discussions to develop paid internship programs outside educational institutions and establish a paid governmental internship program at public institutions following the lead of European Union’s institutions.

2.4. Start a public policy project aimed at exempting young employees from the income tax during the first two years of work.

3. Economic opportunities

3.1. Start discussions to extend programs that promote development initiatives that encourage entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship among young people, particularly in rural areas.

3.2. Introduce tax exemptions for businesses started by young people for the first three years to let them grow.

3.3. Promote the digitization of the national economy and apply ICT in the social and economic development of the country.

3.4. Start discussions to develop a program of compensations from the state budget for young people from vulnerable groups (with low income) who could benefit from the program Prima Casă.

4. Healthcare and social welfare

4.1. Start discussions to extend the advisory services for young people offered through youth-friendly health centers and youth resource centers, particularly in rural areas.

4.2. Start discussions to upgrade infrastructure (public transit, healthcare facilities, cultural institutions, sporting facilities, etc.) and to adapt it to the needs of young people with disabilities.

4.3. Start discussions to support young people who have disabilities or come from socially vulnerable families by setting allowances (public transport allowance not only for young people with severe or pronounced disabilities but also for other socially vulnerable young people, food allowance, rental allowance, etc.) to facilitate their social inclusion.

4.4. Start discussions to develop training programs for the healthcare and welfare sectors, involving young people into the implementation of peer education.

4.5. Start discussions to promote a healthy lifestyle among young people and develop youth programs to facilitate the promotion of a healthy lifestyle (free or discounted subscriptions to fitness clubs, the opening of sports clubs and sporting facilities where none is in place).

4.6. Start the development of the strategy to promote sports in Moldova and develop mechanisms to support sports and a healthy lifestyle in the country and to incentivize those who practice them.

4.7. Develop programs to support young families and increase the birth rate in the Republic of Moldova.

5. Participation and civic activism

5.1. Start discussions with political parties to promote young people without discrimination to their management bodies and to high-level public offices and managerial positions at state agencies that are administered by governing parties.

5.2. Start discussions to strengthen the institutional capacity of local youth councils and students councils at the level of educational institutions, districts, and the country in line with the principle of independence from educational institutions and the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Research of the Republic of Moldova to ensure that students can participate efficiently in the management and evaluation of educational institutions.

5.3. Start discussions to strengthen the institutional capacity of students’ self-government bodies at universities and nationwide. Guarantee the autonomy of students’ self-government bodies in relation to universities’ management boards and the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Research.

5.4. Support the creation of local co-management commissions to coordinate sectoral interventions for young people, thus ensuring an efficient participation of young people in decision-making processes at all levels, where young people come up with initiatives and, together with adults, take decisions to guarantee the equal use of the potential and resources of both groups.

5.5. Start the work on amending the Constitution to introduce the “civil legislative initiative” as a tool of participatory democracy in the Republic of Moldova, thus facilitating increased participation of young people in national decision-making processes.

6. Ecology and environment

6.1. Start discussions to develop programs that offer young people support and access to government’s projects and grants for the implementation of sustainable development goals related to our planet.

6.2. Develop and implement programs that would encourage the population to adopt environmentally friendly behaviors (for example, the offering of tickets to theaters, public transportation, etc. in exchange for waste collection).

6.3. Strat the discussion about the development of subsidies programs for young farmers who develop ecologic and safe farming practices locally.

6.4. Enter into partnerships to build and develop water treatment plants that pose ecological hazard (for example, in Soroca) and develop national programs that encourage waste collection, sorting, and recycling.

CNTM prepared this list of priorities in consultation with the young people from the youth wings that work with CNTM.