Protection of children, women and families in emergency situations, funded by UniCef Moldova

(March 2022 – August 2023)

Goal:

Refugee children, adolescents, girls and boys, women and families to the Republic of Moldova, receive “Blue Dot” (BD) coordinated services: key information to traveling families, safe spaces for mothers and children, ability to identify unaccompanied and separated children (UASC), psychological first aid, protection information and referral, mental health and psychosocial support.

Objectives:

(1) Maximize the coherence and predictability of services for refugee children and families affected by the migration crisis in the region, on the route by promoting a common concept for BDs, including through outreach;
(2) A minimum package of services in the BDs made available at a standardized quality to refugee children and families affected by migration crisis in the region, within close proximity/common areas of the BDs, as well as when relevant through mobile/outreach teams.

In addition to the BDs, the project provided technical support for strengthening the existing alternative care arrangements, as well as developing new ones for refugee children to avoid their institutionalization. The new and existing foster care services ensured adequate protection to UASC and became part of the referral system.

National Contribution

Consultations and negotiations were held with the national authorities (Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, General Border Police Inspectorate), the border police authority of Romania, UNICEF Moldova and UNICEF Romania on establishing BD services at the border crossing points that are located on the itinerary of refugee families from Ukraine. The discussions included the concept of BD, the arrangements for the provision of services and the deployment of staff. P4EC was included as a member in several working groups (Protection Working Group, Child Protection Sub-Working Group, Adolescents and Youth Thematic Group) established by UNHCR and UNICEF to handle the humanitarian crisis and participated in all the meetings contributing with reports and inputs to the various procedures and mechanisms that were established, including the referral mechanism. A rapid assessment of Foster Care Service across the country whereby data was collected and analyzed with regard to the level of accessibility of family-type care services and their capacity to absorb UASC. In addition, an analysis of national data with reference to Ukrainian or Russian-speaking communities and educational institutions was performed. As a result, three districts in the North, Centre and South of the country were selected to accommodate UASC.

Local level support

Four Blue Dots were established and equipped at the border- crossing points in Palanca, Leuseni, Sculeni and at the International Airport of Chisinau to support refugee families with children exhausted by the long, cold and perilous journey. The people recruited for the BDs were trained in subjects like: “Introduction to humanitarian principles”; “Psychological First Aid”; “Social and Behavioral Change”; “Accountability to Affected Populations”; “Integrated Feedback and Complaint Mechanisms”; “Psychological First Aid”; “CPR”; “Breastfeeding”; “Reporting child abuse and neglect”; “Case management for UASC”.

The services provided by the Blue Dots include rest and play spaces for children and families, child-friendly spaces, mother-and-baby corners, youth-friendly space, mental health and psychological support, case management for UASC, family reunification, alternative care placement, referral to accommodation, health, social welfare and justice services, provision of food and non-food items. The employees of the four BDs maintained constant communication with one another and informed each other about the cases that required their involvement, which made it easier to handle the situations of UASC or of families with children and their referral to the required services and support.

In addition to the BDs, the project provided technical support for strengthening the existing alternative care arrangements, as well as developing new ones for refugee children to avoid their institutionalization. The new and existing foster care services ensured adequate protection to UASC and became part of the referral system. The child protection specialists deployed at the BDs were linked with the Foster Care service provided by several districts and referred the UASC from Ukraine to this service as opposed to placement centers to ensure that these children are looked after in family environments even if not at home.

To support refugees during the winter, a winterization plan was developed and approved by UNICEF. It covered the procurements that needed to be made for the winter period: blankets, warm shoes and clothes, rain jackets, etc. All of these items were distributed to the refugees as per the identified needs.

Outcomes in figures:

4 “BLUE DOTS” created at the border-crossing points.

67 PEOPLE WERE RECRUITED, TRAINED AND EMPLOYED to provide high-quality services to children and their families at the 4 Blue Dots.

Other 35 PERSONS WERE IDENTIFIED AND TRAINED to be included in the reserve list for contingency scenarios.

The teams provided services to
12 434 CHILDREN and
10 890 caregivers
in all 4 „BLUE DOTS”

57 FOSTER CARERS in 3 districts were trained to provide appropriate support to children.

11 NEW FOSTER CARERS were recruited to look after refugee children from Ukraine.

37 CHILD PROTECTION SPECIALISTS responsible for Foster Care / Family-Type Homes in
13 DISTRICTS and
2 MUNICIPALITIES
attended a Training of Trainers in the Psychosocial Support and First Aid for unaccompanied/separated refugee children.

Support groups for
108 CHILDREN placed in foster care
30 REFUGEE CHILDREN who live in host communities and for
72 FOSTER CARERS
were delivered

2 MOBILE TEAMS doing outreach activities in the host communities were established.
They delivered
100 MEETINGS for
129 ADULTS and
1355 CHILDREN in the communities of Stefan Voda and Causeni districts.

A “FOSTER CARE AUTUMN CAMP” for 4 districts involved in supporting unaccompanied/separated refugee children was carried out. It was attended by
82 CHILDREN placed in Foster Care
39 FOSTER CARERS and
14 employees of Social Assistance and Family Protection Departments.

21 unaccompanied/separated refugee CHILDREN FROM UKRAINE were placed in foster care.