Republic of Moldova National Report on the Implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child for the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child Chisinau August 2007 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION I. GENERAL MEASURES FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD II. DEFINITION OF CHILD III. GENERAL PRINCIPLES 3.1 Non­discrimination 3.2 Best Interests of the Child 3.3 Right to Life, Survival, and Development 3.4 Respect for the Opinion of the Child IV. CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS 4.1 Right to Name, Citizenship, and Identity Preservation 4.2 Freedom of Expression 4.3 Freedom of Thought, Consciousness and Religion 4.4 Freedom of Association and Peaceful Assembly 4.5 Protection of Personal and Private Life 4.6 Right of Access to Information 4.7 Right of Not Being Subject to Torture or Inhumane or Degrading Treatment, Including Corporal Punishment V. FAMILY ENVIRONMNET AND ALTERNATIVE CARE 5.1 Parent Orientation/Guidance 5.2 Parent Responsibility 5.3 Separation from Parents 5.4 Reuniting Families 5.5 Illegal Placement/Transfer and Hindrance of Child Return 5.6 Reclamation of Food Supply 5.7 Adoption 5.8 Children Deprived of Family Environment and Parental Care 5.9 Periodic Verification of Placement Conditions and Needs 2 5.10 Abuse and Neglect, Including Physical and Psychological Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration VI. BASIC HEALTH AND WELLBEING 6.1 Children 6.2 Health and Health Care 6.3 Social Security and Social Dues 6.4 Living Standard VII. EDUCATION, CULTURAL AND RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES VIII. SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES 8.1 Children in Difficulty: 8.1.1 Refugee Children 8.1.2 Children in Armed Conflicts, Including Physical and Psychological Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration 8.2 Children in Conflict with Law 8.2.1 Administration of Juvenile Justice 8.2.2 Children Deprived of Liberty 8.2.3 Application of Capital Punishment or Life Imprisonment 8.2.4 Physical, Psychological Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration 8.3 Exploited Children, Including Physical and Psychological Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration 8.3.1 Economic Exploitation, Including Child Labor 8.3.2 Drug Abuse 8.3.3 Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, Sale, Kidnapping, Trafficking in Children 8.3.4 Children Who Live or Work in the Street DISSEMINATION OF THE REPORT REFERENCES ANNEXES 3 INTRODUCTION The information for the Report on the Implementation of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child was collected by a working group of representatives of central public authorities established by the Government of the Republic of Moldova. The group submitted the data to the Ministry of Social Protection, Family and Child which analyzed it and drafted this report. Throughout this process, the Ministry received support from the United Nations Children’s Funs (UNICEF). Despite the limited opportunities and difficulties the Republic of Moldova faces, progress has been achieved in the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child especially in certain areas, and commitment to overcome economic and social challenges has been demonstrated. Many issues related to children’s rights have been frequently included on the agenda of government institutions, as can be seen in this report. This includes legislative efforts and the implementation of a great number of activities and programs to improve the situation of children by state bodies with financial support from international agencies. In 2002–2003, the Government of Moldova underwent administrative reform, and a new local public administration authority was created. During the administrative reform, two great changes took place: the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection was turned into the Ministry of Health and Social Protection (July 2005) that was later split into the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Social Protection, Family and Child (Government Decision No. 52 of 18.01.2007). The latter is responsible for protecting the rights of families and children. As a result, it was necessary to restructure the activities and organization of specialized central public authorities and to review and adjust them to the new requirements of local public administration which lead to staff changes including staff on the working group. These changes delayed the drafting of the report and affected the quality of some information and content in general. During the reporting period, the Government implemented a number of projects financed by the European Union following the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (02.10.2002) on preventing institutionalization; improving social assistance for vulnerable families with children at risk; reintegrating children into families and communities. Nevertheless, issues remain to be solved by means of activities planned by government agencies in partnership with non­governmental organizations (NGOs)—an essential resource for child protection in the Republic of Moldova. Standardized procedures for record keeping and data processing in local authorities continue to be a critical issue. For that reason, the information presented for this report is at times fragmented. The lack of well­structured data explains why information on children was not 4 appropriately used to assess achievements more effectively and to develop policies on child rights. This report does, however, contain approximately 90% of the required information though some is anecdotal. It should be noted that due to the higher level of social and economic development of Chisinau municipality and to the existence of a structured administration supporting child protection, the information collected by the Municipal Directorate for Child Rights Protection (MDPCR) is more comprehensive and qualitative and in certain parts of the report is listed separately. In drafting this report, we became aware of the special attention that must be paid to children in extremely difficult situations as well as to areas poorly covered or not covered at all such as: • preventing and combating violence, child abuse and neglect (including of children whose parents are working abroad); • social integration of homeless children; • directing resources towards people in need, especially towards persons/families at high risk. Special attention must also be paid to issues some consider not to be critical, for example children participating in decision making on issues related to children within the community and in relevant institutions, thus ensuring protection of their interests. Considering these facts, the Government considers it necessary to undertake the following measures when developing the next periodic report: • adopt an action plan based on the Committee’s recommendations and implement it step by step in order to avoid gaps in information as much as possible; • designate a person from each institution to be responsible for the implementation of the Convention who will monitor the implementation of the corresponding segment based on a previously established methodology that will allow for an efficient qualitative and quantitative analysis; • include representatives of civil society in the working group in order to ensure different opinions and views on measures taken for implementation of the Convention. The existence of a secessionist regime which was illegally established in a unconstitutional manner in the mid­90s in the eastern part of Moldova—the Transnistrian region with an area of 4163 square kilometers and a population of about 555,000—made it impossible to apply the provisions of the Convention and other international treaties to which Moldova is a party throughout the country. In this context, Moldovan authorities hope that the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) will understand the inability of the Government to control activities in the Transnistrian region. Currently, only incomplete data about the 5 activities of certain NGO’s involved in protecting the rights of children that report in Moldovan using the Latin alphabet are available. 1. GENERAL MEASURES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (art. 4, 42 and 44, par. 6) Harmonization of Legislation with Principles and Provisions of the Convention 1. Any international document on human rights the Republic of Moldova adheres to (including documents on children’s rights), automatically becomes part of its legislation. If any national legal provision contradicts the international document, authorities have the right and obligation to directly apply the international document. 2. By Government Decision 727 of 16.06.2003, the National Strategy on Child and Family Protection was approved. One of its objectives is to develop/harmonize the legal framework on child and family protection and ensure the implementation of the UN Convention and other national and international legislation on child and family rights. 3. According to established procedure, any law that regulates human rights (including children’s rights) must be revised by the European Council (Venice Commission). During the reporting period, several laws in this field were passed which, when compared to former laws, contain a number of provisions meant to ensure a more proper application of children’s rights in various areas (the Family Code, Criminal Code, Civil Code, Execution Code, etc.) 4. The Republic of Moldova not only tries to comply with international standards, but also tries to provide a better legal framework. Therefore, some provisions of the