​YOUTH AND SPORTS MINISTRY ANNOUNCES CONTEST FOR GRANTS

The Ministry of Youth and Sports has launched the annual contest of small grants on developing the youth sector in Moldova.

Minister Victor Zubcu said at the press conference that authors of projects in the field of youth, implemented at the national level, will account for 100 thousand to 300 thousand lei, while those on the regional level – from 70 thousand to 200 thousand.

According to him, the grant program budget for 2017 is 4 million lei, which is 500 thousand lei more than last year. Projects should last not more than 10 months and should be completed by December.

“Nongovernmental organizations, who are involved in improving working conditions for the youth, organizing training programs, are engaged in cultural-educational activities among schoolchildren and students are eligible for the contest. The deadline for applying is February 13”, Zubcu said.

He added that this year the Ministry will strengthen control over fulfillment of winning projects.

“NGO working groups will include 2-3 observers from the Ministry. This will allow avoiding the formal character of grant condition fulfillment”, he said.

According to statistics, the level of unemployment in Moldova among young people aged under 24 is 2.6 times higher than the national rate (12.8% against 4.9%), one-fifth of labor migrants also fall into this age group.

“A particularly problematic situation is at the periphery, thus priority direction will become grants for regional programs. The main goal is to bring the youth out of the group of risk of unemployment”, Head of the Department for Youth Ion Donea said.

In 2016, grants were provided to 22 organizations in the field of informational technologies, business, cinema and theater, as well as those engaged in analysis on improving socio-economic conditions for youth.