Moldova's Health Ministry and UN Women have signed a collaboration agreement on strategy for Gender Equality and Policy Papers to Prevent and combating domestic violence and violence against women.

The collaboration agreement is signed for a period of three years (2018-2020), and provides for cooperation between the parties for the development of national capacities, policy support, intergovernmental normative support, social mobilization, technical assistance for essential services and co-ordination assistance .

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection will mobilize high-level political support to ensure gender equality, dedicate human and technical resources and apply innovative approaches to achieve the proposed objectives.

Several objectives of the Strategy for Equality between Women and Men include:

• Strengthening institutional and legal mechanisms to promote women in decision-making processes.
• Harmonizing national legislation with European standards on equal pay for work of equal value.
• Improving policies to ensure balanced parental involvement in child raising.
• Gender mainstreaming in initial and continuing teacher education to overcome stereotypes and gender awareness.
• Gender mainstreaming in the career guidance process to attract young people to non-traditional jobs;
• Capacity building of specialists from different state structures in the field of gender equality;
• Fighting gender stereotypes and promoting non-violent communication;
• Promoting gender equality in the media and advertising;

• Integrating gender-sensitive budgeting into the budgeting process that will take into account the needs of women and men and other specific objectives.

Another priority area of collaboration between UN Women and the Health Ministry is the implementation of the policy document on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence for the period 2018-2023 (The project is currently open for public consultations and awaiting adoption by the Government) and achieving the following objectives:

• Preventing violence against women and domestic violence by cultivating zero tolerance for violence. Combating stereotypes and prejudices that lead to violence against women and the family. Informing, raising awareness and encouraging reporting of cases of violence;
• Preventing violence against women and domestic violence by cultivating zero tolerance for violence. Combating stereotypes and prejudices that lead to violence against women and the family. Informing, raising awareness and encouraging reporting of cases of violence;
• Initial and continuing training of specialists in the field of prevention and combating domestic violence based on a common state-level vision;
• Strengthen the education system to ensure the education of new generations through the values of gender equality and a non-violent communication culture;
• Strengthen the mechanisms of protection and assistance for victims of violence against women and domestic violence. Developing specialized services for victims of violence, including sexual violence, in line with international standards;
• Promoting women's economic empowerment and socio-economic independence;

• Ensuring Integrated Policies for Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, based on multi-sectoral cooperation and data collection, and other specific objectives.

"UN Women is our strategic partner in promoting gender equality, empowering women, and preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. The signing of the Agreement will further strengthen and strengthen the collaboration so that we meet the established objectives together. We wish success to all of us in the process of implementing the co-operation agreement, "said Svetlana Cebotari.

"As we start implementing our new country strategy for the period 2018-2022, we will further strengthen our cooperation with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection. Our goal is to ensure the implementation of gender equality commitments and the fight against violence against women so as to advance gender equality in political, social and economic life in the public and private spheres, in line with the aspirations of Agenda 2030 for sustainable development, "said Interim Country Representative, Asya Varbanova.

UN Women has been present in the Republic of Moldova since 2010, taking initiatives to increase women's capabilities, improve their economic opportunities, leadership and participation in decision-making, and ensure a life without violence for women and girls. Working closely with development partners, UN Women supports the efforts of the government, parliament, civil society, the media and local communities to promote gender equality and empower women in the context of the Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals