Supporting a greener, cleaner Moldova
Published: Feb 14, 2022 Reading time: 3 minutesVolintiri is a small village in the South of Moldova. As in other villages nearby, there is no waste management system in place and garbage is a ubiquitous problem. So Ina Hîncu, a local resident, decided to do something about it. As a leader of a local initiative group called Mediu Curat (which means “Clean Environment” in Romanian), Ina organised people from the village to collect the rubbish.
Many of Ina´s neighbours came to help because they, too, care about the place they live.
“We took children with us to lead by example, to show them exactly where we should leave our waste and how to dispose of it properly,” said Eugenia Gobjila, who volunteered during the clean up. “It is very important to take care of the planet.”
For Ina, a personal tragedy was the impetus for founding the environmental group “Mediu Curat”. When she was young, she saw the ill-effects of pollution everywhere – in the streets, in a nearby river – but she never made the connection to human health. Then one day, her mother was diagnosed with cancer, and environmental pollution was believed to be a cause.
Supporting a greener, cleaner Moldova
“I was so angry at myself for not knowing this before,” Ina said. “So I thought that I must do something good for others and change the way we live. Our soil and water are very important for our health. People should know the truth and they should accept it to protect their lives.”
Mediu Curat’s activities are supported by the “Civil society actors as drivers of change in South Caucasus and Moldova” project, which is implemented by People in Need (PIN) and funded by the European Union, and co-funded by the Czech Development Agency. The PIN – EU initiative helps grassroots organisations, civic initiatives, new and emerging civil society organisations (CSOs), and social and cultural movements reach their full potential.
“In Moldova, 14 CSOs are part of the project, each of them having great potential and determination to work for their communities,” explains Nadejda Pascaru-Botnaru, the project coordinator in Moldova. “The project helps initiatives and grassroots organisations assess their capacities, plan for the future, and learn practical skills like social media and traditional and alternative sources of funding.”
Additionally, the project focuses on implementation of grants with the following objectives: systemic change (of policies, attitudes, and behaviours); governance, self-organisation and accountability; community and youth mobilisation, empowerment, and inclusion; and strategic partnerships. Programme CSOs will be encouraged to deepen ties and engage more actively with the private sector through partnerships and coalitions.
PIN believes that CSOs are the drivers of progress in local communities, and works to build a more resilient civil society sector in the places that we operate.
Read more about the 1Planet4All project, an ongoing international initiative in 11 European countries. The project aims to raise awareness of climate change among young people, and focuses on climate change’s causes and impacts in developing countries. It also focuses on possible solutions and the necessity to assume personal responsibility for a sustainable future.
This material was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its content represents the sole responsibility of the “Civil society actors as drivers of change in South Caucasus and Moldova” project, financed by the European Union. The content of the material belongs to the authors and does not necessarily reflect the vision of the European Union.
