UN Women and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection strengthen their cooperation on gender equality and women’s empowerment in Moldova
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The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection signed a cooperation agreement to support the implementation of the National Gender Equality Strategy and of the policy documents on preventing and combating domestic violence and violence against women.
The cooperation agreement was signed for a three-year period (2018-2020), and describes cooperation between the two parties on national capacity building, support in policy-making, regulatory intergovernmental support, social mobilization, technical assistance for essential services, and assistance in coordination. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection undertakes to mobilize high level political support in order to ensure gender equality, assign human and technical resources, and apply innovative approaches to achieve the proposed objectives.
The following objectives of the Gender Equality Strategy pertain to this agreement:
- Strengthen the institutional and legal mechanisms to promote women in the decision-making processes;
- Harmonize the national law with the European standards on equal pay for equal work;
- Improve policies to ensure a balanced involvement of parents in childcare;
- Mainstream gender equality in the pre-service and in-service teacher training in order to break stereotypes and form gender consciousness. Include the gender dimension in career guidance in order to encourage young people choose non-traditional professions;
- Strengthen capacities of professionals from different state structures in the field of gender equality;
- Combat gender stereotypes and promote non-violent communication;
- Promote gender equality in the media and advertising;
- Integrate gender responsive budgeting in the development of budget programs that shall consider the needs of women and men, among other specific objectives.
Another priority area for cooperation between UN Women and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection is the implementation of the policy document on prevention and combating violence against women and domestic violence for 2018-2023 (The draft is currently open for public consultations and is pending the adoption by the Government) and achievement of the following objectives:
- Prevent violence against women and domestic violence by cultivating zero tolerance for violence. Combat stereotypes and prejudices leading to violence against women and domestic violence. Inform, raise awareness and encourage the reporting of cases of violence;
- Pre-service and in-service training of the professionals engaged in the prevention and combating of domestic violence based on a common vision at the state level;
- Strengthen the education system to ensure the education of new generations from the perspective of gender equality values and a non-violent communication culture;
- Strengthen the mechanisms of protection and assistance for victims of violence against women and domestic violence; Develop specialized services for victims of violence, including sexual violence, in line with the international standards;
- Promote women’s economic empowerment and socio-economic independence;
- Provide integrated policies in cases of violence against women and domestic violence, based on multi-sectorial cooperation and data collection, and other specific objectives.
“UN Women is our strategic partner in promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women, as well as in preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. This agreement will strengthen and intensify our collaboration in order to achieve our objectives,” said the Minister of Health, Labour, and Social Protection, Svetlana Cebotari.
“As we embark on the implementation of our new country strategy for the period 2018-2022, we will further strengthen our cooperation with the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Social Protection. Our goal is to ensure that commitments on gender equality and combating violence against women are implemented and we move closer to equality between women and men in political, social, and economic life, in the public, and private domains, in line with the aspirations of Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development,” said Asya Varbanova, Acting Head of UN Women Moldova.
UN Women is operational in Moldova since 2010. Throughout Moldova our initiatives empower women and aim to improve their economic opportunities, their leadership and political participation, and ensure that women and girls live a life free of violence. Working closely with development partners, UN Women supports the efforts of the Government, Parliament, civil society, media and local communities to promote gender equality and empowerment of women, in the context of the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals.