Informative session – participation of refugee women in the National Platform of Women in Moldova

On Tuesday, 19 April 2016, the Charity Centre for Refugees hosted an event dedicated to refugee women, which was conducted by UNHCR in collaboration with ODIMM and ICAWB -International Center for Advancement of Women in Business. The event was attended by a group of women – refugees and beneficiaries of humanitarian protection.

The main objective of this session was to inform and discuss about the possibilities of refugee women to develop professional skills and possibilities to start an entrepreneurship activity in Moldova. The representative of ODIMM and ICAWB talked about the possibilities to benefit from a development programme including organization of different thematic meetings, trainings, workshops, debates and other information and supportive sessions for those willing to initiate its own business. The beneficiaries were told about  several successful stories of local Moldovan women in small and medium entrepreneurship. In its turn, UNHCR representatives Mrs.  Svetlana Jioara and Mr. Marin Dolinţa informed the women about their possibilities and conditions to be met in order to access the funds available in the framework of UNHCR integration grants.

Informative session on business opening and access to grants – organized by UNHCR

On Thursday the 14th of April an informative session took place at the Charity Center for Refugees. The session aimed to inform the beneficiaries about the availability of grants related to setting up their own businesses.

Mr. Marin Dolinţa, Senior Administrative/Programme Associate from UNHCR Moldova (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) conducted the session. During this the beneficiaries were informed about the procedures and possibilities to access the funds available to them in order to initiate or extend entrepreneurship activity in Moldova, according to their legal status (refugee status, humanitarian protection) and the kind of business they want to implement or start.

This event belongs to a framework of raising awareness among asylum seekers/refugees about their rights and duties in employment, their opportunities of self-employment and entrepreneurship.

Integration through history and national traditions – visit to the National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History

On Wednesday, the 29^th March, the Charity Centre for Refugees, supported by an EVS volunteer, participated at the organization of a visit to the National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History in Chisinau. 

The visit, initiated by the Bureau of Migration and Asylum and the Ministry of Culture, attracted 22 refugees, children and adults, from countries such Syria, Ukraine, Yemen, Afghanistan, Libya, Armenia, Jordanian, Uzbekistan, Iran, Iraq, Liberia and Tanzania eager to learn more about the (natural) history of Moldova.

In a relaxed atmosphere, the group slowly wandered its way along the impressive collection of the city’s oldest museum. Under guidance they learned more about, among others, the flora and fauna with inhabits Moldova or did so in earlier history. They also admired an extensive ethnographic collection, and had the opportunity to learn a bit more about Moldovan people, their history and the origin of their customs and traditions.

The event was aimed to familiarize the refugees with the national culture and history, and to facilitate the integration process. 

Dieter Eggen - EVS volunteer from Netherlands

Maria Pîslaraş - CCR Project Assistant

Nowruz – the Persian New Year celebrated at our centre!

On Monday 21st March, the Charity Centre for Refugees' team and its beneficiaries gathered together to celebrate one of the most important cultural celebrations Nowruz – the Persian New Year.

The Nowruz (now = new / ruz = day) is a ceremony  observed by numerous peoples to welcome the New Year, as well as the first day of spring, which usually take place on the vernal equinox. Nowruz is a festivity that has been observed for thousands of years and partly rooted in the tradition of Zoroastrianism religion, which nowadays is still spread all around the world, but mostly present in Iran, Afghanistan, in the countries Central and Western Asia. 

After the opening speeches of the authorities present at the festival (representatives from the UNHCR, the Directorate for Asylum and Integration, Bureau for Migration and Asylum, the Ministry of Culture, the Law Center of Advocates and from AVE Copiii) took place a presentation of the main characteristics of the festivity and some performances such as traditional music and dances from Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Iran, India, etc.. The old year has been hailed with "The fire Jumping tradition", which symbolically take away all the unpleasant things that happened in the past year, and clear the new one from bad spirits.

Employment Informative Session

To support refugees and asylum-seekers in the Republic of Moldova in finding livelihood opportunities, on 16 March 2016, the Charity Centre for Refugees organized a round-table on employment aimed to create an open dialog among the employment seekers, employers and relevant local institutions and organizations. Besides beneficiaries of our centre, we had invited representatives from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the National Agency for Employment, employers representatives, as well as representatives from our implementing partners: Law Center of Advocates and Ave Copiii, who all gave presentations on what support beneficiaries can expect from their services in the field of integration on the Moldovan employment market.

The UNHCR representatives opened the roundtable by sharing their views on the importance of official employment and invited participants to actively use the opportunity to discuss their obstacles in finding appropriate job opportunities and answers to their questions. Thus, our Employment Counselor gave an introductory presentation about the legal framework of official employment of persons of concern (refugees, asylum seekers, beneficiaries of humanitarian protection).