These are the Youth Capital 2026 and 2027 programs, the National Program for the Development of Youth Centers-2030 and the Grants Program for Youth Organizations. All of them are developed by the Ministry of Education and Research and implemented by the National Agency for Youth Affairs.
Funding will be provided mainly in the form of grants. Depending on the number of applications submitted by youth centers, local governments and youth organizations, the budget may be adjusted. Acceptance of applications this year starts much earlier so that contracts can be signed as early as January 1.
Director of the National Agency for Youth Affairs Alexander Petrov noted that the State Program for the development of youth centers-2030 envisages three directions: development of human resources, modernization of infrastructure and expansion of the network. The infrastructure will be financed from 100,000 to 200,000 lei. At the same time, 150 thousand lei for local centers and 300 thousand lei for district and municipal youth centers can be allocated for the creation of new centers.
The program of grants for youth organizations has been implemented for more than ten years. In 2026, 16 million lei will be allocated for it – almost 2 million more than last year. The projects should meet four objectives: employment and professionalization, healthy and inclusive lifestyle, democracy and European integration, culture and identity. The grants will amount to 200 thousand lei for local organizations, 400 thousand lei for regional and 600 thousand lei for national ones. The deadline for submitting applications is November 15.
Another initiative is the “Youth Capital” program. For the first time, the contest is held for two years at once, so that by the end of this year the winning cities for 2026 and 2027 will be known. “We want to show that local governments are the catalysts of local youth policy, and investment in youth takes place in villages, towns and municipalities. This program will be a competition of sorts for local governments. The deadline for applications is November 1,” Petrov said.
In 2025, the city of Edineti is the Youth Capital of Moldova. Within the program, the government invested almost 3 million lei, while local authorities doubled this amount.
