Alexander Petrov
Based on the evaluation results, funding will be provided to youth centers from Nisporeni, Balti, Ungheni, Drochia, Stefan Voda, Hincesti, Rezina, Glodeni, Criuleni, Falesti, Truseni, Straseni, Cimislia, Calarasi, Lozova, Teleneşti, as well as to the municipal centers “Contemporanul”, “Făclia” (Balti), Puhaceni and Ungheni. In addition to funding, the selected projects will also receive methodological support.
Interest is growing, budget is not
The program is aimed at strengthening the network of youth centers all over the country, improving their working conditions and expanding the range of services for young people. Interest in the program is growing every year. But the agency’s funding is not.
The annual budget of the National Agency for Youth Affairs amounts to about 24 million lei and has remained practically unchanged since the agency started its full-fledged work in 2022. This is what the director of the agency, Alexandru Petrov, points out.
According to him, in general, the youth sector has been functioning within a comparable level of financing for about 20 years, without significant changes. At the same time, he emphasizes that taking into account rising prices and the general dynamics of the country’s development, the sector needs constant growth of resources – both financial and human.
“Unfortunately, in Moldova we are still trying to argue in front of politicians and higher authorities about our needs and explain why we need more money and more people,” Petrov said in a YouTube podcast.
