The People’s Advocate for Children’s Rights, Maia Banarescu, in the context of the pandemic situation created by the new coronavirus, addressed a call to the Minister of Health, Labour and Social Protection requesting to intensify the collaboration of the central and local public administration authorities in order to implement the state policies for ensuring the functionality of the national system for the protection of the rights of the child.
Thus, based on the alarming epidemiological situation in the country and in the state of emergency declared throughout the territory of the Republic of Moldova, the People’s Advocate for Children’s Rights expresses his concern regarding the respect of the rights to health, assistance and social protection of children at risk, of children with disabilities, children – potential victims of violence or neglect, of those lacking care and supervision from parents; of children from residential institutions; of children from socially-vulnerable families.
The Children’s Ombudsman proposes to the Commission for Exceptional Situations to discuss the possibility of redistributing budgetary financial means for the benefit of families who are in financial straits and lack financial means for the maintenance of children. The subject must be a priority for the urgent remedy of this situation, taking into account the best interests of the child in all the actions undertaken by the state. The redistribution can be done from the account of the means allocated for actions that cannot be carried out during the state of emergency in all public domains, for the subsidization of families that have found themselves in a precarious financial situation.
In the circumstances of organizing remote work for many public entities, of finding children in the family environment, which in some cases is not at all friendly, the People’s Advocate for Children’s Rights requested information on how the working process of the local and territorial guardianship authorities and the cross-sectoral mechanisms are organized in order to ensure the protection
The Children’s Ombudsman points out that the actions taken should avoid to the maximum extent possible the rights guaranteed by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and recalled in this context the obligation of the state to ensure the application of the principle of the ideal rights competition, that is to say the simultaneous and cumulative application of all the rights guaranteed by an international treaty.
Regarding the preparation / training of the specialists: social workers, family doctors, guardianship authorities regarding the protection of children in cases of quarantine isolation of a family member, suspected to be a carrier of COVID 19 virus, be it the case of import or local spread, monitoring the respect of the rights of the child, the Children’s Ombudsman has noticed problems concerning, including, the provision of adequate protective equipment for social workers who complain that they lack protective masks, gloves and disinfectant solutions. In this context, the fulfillment of state obligation to ensure the respect of the rights of all persons, especially those who cannot provide effective self-protection, is necessary to remain on the agenda of responsible central and local public authorities.
The Children’s Ombudsman recalls the provisions of the Declaration of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CM CoE) on Strengthening the rights of the child – as key to Europe’s future, adopted at the meeting of March 11, 2020, which reconfirms the state’s commitment to protect the rights of the child, especially during crisis periods, when there is a major risk of overlooking or compromising the rights of children, especially children in situations of vulnerability [1].
The People’s Advocate for Children’s Rights will continue to monitor the observance of the rights of the child, according to the provisions of Article 5, paragraph 6 of Law no. 52 on the People’s Advocate (Ombudsman).
[1] Declaration by the Committee of Ministers on “strengthening the rights of the child as the key to a “future-proof“ Europe“
(Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 11 March 2020 at the 1370th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies)
