Traditional picnic in the village of Costeşti

     UNHCR Moldova together with its implementing partners hosted a perfect summer picnic for refugees, asylum seekers and local community. The event served as an opportunity to commemorate World Refugee Day in an informal meeting and to honour the courage and determination of families who have fled their homes because of persecution or violence. This year the traditional picnic took place on the 2nd of August in the village of Costeşti, district of Ialoveni.

       The picnic started with a briefing about the agenda of the day, a short introduction about the UNHCR support for persons of concern in Moldova and presentations of the Bureau for Migration and Asylum and UNHCR implementing partners: the Law Centre of Advocates (LCA), the Charity Centre for Refugees (CCR) and AVE COPIII.

Women Group Initiative Meeting in Mereni village

The Charity Centre for Refugees (CCR), in the framework of Local Integration Program, implemented in Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova, organizes different events in Chisinau and outside the capital, fostering communication and cultural exchange between refugee community and local population. Part of these events is specifically dedicated to women refugees, because for them the refugee situation, hard as it is for men, is even harder for women. They are more likely to get isolated, so therefore the importance of integration program is even bigger for women. The CCR always made an effort to keep a group of refugee women active under the Women Group Initiative. In the past, they organized activities like a sushi evening, informal discussions, and many other.

Local and refugee children - together for peace

Charity Center for Refugees (CCR) organized an awareness event in the primary school of Mereni village on the 26th of April. In Mereni live four refugee families from Syria, Sudan and Armenia, whose children are attending the primary school. The event was moderated by Mrs. Veronica Chirita, the teacher of one of the refugee children. It was attended by approx. 70 pupils studying in the 2nd grade, Ms. Margareta Ursu representing the Moldavian Ministry of Culture, the deputy Mayor of Mereni village, Mrs. Aurelia Roşca, together with the school’s director, Mrs. Alexandra Cerî, other teachers of the school and members of the school staff, and also the refugees as parents of the children studying in Mereni.