World Refugee Day in the Republic of Moldova 2014

        Every year on 20th of June, more than one hundred countries commemorate World Refugee Day. Thousands of people around the world take time to commiserate with forcibly displaced person, who fled across the border and were torn apart from their families. In the Republic of Moldova, this important Day has been commemorated since 2001, when Moldova acceded to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and assumed the commitment to protect people, who were forced to leave their homes. On this occasion, UNHCR Moldova and its NGO implementing partners, together with the Bureau for Migration and Asylum put all their efforts to arrange a memorable day for PoCs and raise awareness about the growing number of refugees in Moldova and all over the world.

        World Refugee Day and commemoration of Convention took place on 19th of June 2014 at the Temporary Accommodation Centre and on 20th of June 2014 in the Stefan Cel Mare Central Park of Chisinau.  BMA and UNHCR Moldova together with its implementing partners organised a wide variety of activities under the slogan “A family torn apart by war is too many”. Visitors could read stories of the refugees in Moldova from the exhibition of photos. There was a possibility to play a table game called ‘Refugee Journey’ – the long journey of a refugee towards a safe place. Besides that, members of the public could enjoy tasting oriental
food: Uzbek pilaf and dessert ‘ChakChak’, Syrian round shaped cakes with meat ‘kebe’ and dessert ‘akras bi ajwe’, Shaorma etc. The dishes were prepared by refugees themselves.

A wonderful day at the Chisinau Botanic Garden – 17th May 2014

           Spring is one of the best seasons of the year to spend some time outdoors enjoying the weather, beautiful blossom of trees and flowers.  For that reason, the Charity Centre for Refugees (CCR), an implementing partner of UNHCR Moldova, together with the Temporary Accommodation Centre administration decided to offer a great day out to asylum seekers and invited them to the Chisinau Botanic Garden.

     With plants from all over the world displayed in a 76-acre oasis of gardens and glasshouses, the Chisinau Botanic Garden is an inspiration for gardeners and an exciting introduction to the natural world for visitors.  Many asylum seekers have not even heard about this place, so they had opportunity to explore the world of plants and history of magnificent Chisinau Botanic Garden with one of the guides. 

International Children's Day – 1st of June 2014

   International Children’s Day was established by the World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1925 as a day, which marks protection and welfare of children. It is now recognised on various days in many places around the world.  

  Moldova celebrated this important date on 1st of June with lots of activities in different places of Chisinau and other towns.

   As an annual tradition, on 1st of June 2014, the Municipal Department for Children’s Rights Protection with the support of different organisations including the Charity Centre for Refugees (CCR), an implementing partner of UNHCR Moldova, organised a memorable event for children and their parents at the Zoo. The celebration included series of activities on the occasion of International Children’s Day entitled ‘That’s the way childhood is’. One thousand children including vulnerable communities, particularly refugee and asylum seeker children, orphaned, disabled and children with other difficulties joined. 

Workshop for the World Refugee Day at the Galata gymnasium

    On 20th of May, the Charity Centre for Refugees (CCR), an implementing partner of UNHCR Moldova, together with its European volunteers organised a workshop at the Galata gymnasium, where refugees and asylum seekers study. The main idea of this event was to gather local children, refugees/asylum seekers and prepare a poster for the World Refugee Day, which will take place on 20th of June 2014 in ‘Stefan cel Mare’ park. In addition to that, it was very important to send a positive message from refugees and asylum seekers towards local community and to find out about integration of refugee/asylum seeker children in schools.
      The workshop began with a presentation by CCR staff about refugees/asylum seekers, UNHCR and its partners. Children were attentive and very willing to answer the questions. After that, proceeded the most interesting part – painting a poster. The enthusiasm and interest of the children made the poster very colourful and carrying a very important message: ‘Our power is in friendship and diversity’. 

Family Day – 15th May 2014

  The International Day of Families is celebrated on the 15th May each year. It was introduced by the United Nations in 1993, in order to reflect the importance the international community attaches to families, and promote awareness of issues that affect them.

       This year, the Charity Centre for Refugees (CCR) marked the occasion by inviting refugee families to take part in some of the festivities the city of Chisinau had to offer. Refugee families, staff and European volunteers at CCR joined many other local participants in front of the Maria Biesu National Theatre of Opera and Ballet for a small event commemorating families in Moldova. They enjoyed a performance of traditional Moldovan folk dance, performed enthusiastically (despite the rain!) by some local children. Speeches were also made by minister of Labour, Social Protection and Family, Mrs. Valentina Buliga and a representative of UNFPA Moldova, Mr. Ian McFarlane, showing appreciation for the strength and importance of families within Moldovan culture.