Chișinău, 25 April 2018 - With one-third of its population aged 14-35, Moldova is poised to benefit from a demographic dividend: better tapping the potential of its youth would boost productivity and strengthen sustainable growth. This can be done by investing in the provision of professional, local youth services, argues the new OECD Development Centre study titled Youth Well-Being Policy Review in Moldova.

 

The results of the study were presented today in Chisinau by the Development Centre of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova, and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research of the Republic of Moldova.

 

In the past decade, the Republic of Moldova has made considerable socio-economic progress. However, young people continue to face multiple and interconnected challenges. The OECD Development Centre’s analysis of youth well-being in Moldova uses an innovative multi-dimensional approach to assess their situation in health, education, employment, civic participation and social inclusion. The study shows that 36.2% of young people suffer deprivations in multiple dimensions of well-being, in particular in employment, civic participation and, to a lesser degree, health.

 

According to the study, young Moldovans have limited access to decent employment. A third of Moldovan youth are not in employment, education or training. Most employed youth are paid below the average wage (86.3%) or in informal employment (30.7%), and more than a quarter (27.9%) are overqualified for their job. Given these challenges, 57.3% of youth are considering changing jobs.

 

Moreover, civic engagement and political participation by young Moldovans are limited. Only 18.1% are involved in volunteering activities and hardly 25% express their interest in politics. In 2014, only 37.1% of youth voted in parliamentary elections. Low youth turnout at elections stems from their alarmingly low trust in public institutions, including the Parliament (3.0%), the President (4.1%) and the Government (5.2%).

 

The study reveals that although the health situation of young people in the Republic of Moldova has improved in recent years, problems still persist. A lack of awareness of youth-friendly services and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) makes youth vulnerable to health risks such as HIV/AIDS – 20.5 per 100 000, significantly higher than the EU/EEAA average (5.7) and teenage pregnancies – 25.6 per 1 000 women, more than twice the EU average (10.9). The report highlights that gender stereotypes affect youth’s health, yet few youth policies include the gender dimension in their provisions.

 

Improving youth well-being is key to Moldova’s national development. Investing in the training of youth workers can foster a better inclusion of young people and enable them to actively participate in shaping their lives and society. This requires establishing structures dedicated to implementing Moldova’s youth policy at the local level; improving the outreach of youth centres; training local civil servants to better take account of youth well-being in their work; harmonising the responsibilities and profiles of youth workers; and considering youth work specialists as professionals within the education sector.

 

 

For more information or to obtain a copy of the report, journalists are invited to contact Bochra Kriout (+33 (0)1 45 24 82 96) at the OECD Development Centre’s Press Office.

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The Youth Well-being Policy Review of Moldova is part of the OECD Development Centre’s Youth Inclusion Project, co-financed by the European Union. The project covers eight other countries: Cambodia, Côte d’Ivoire, El Salvador, Jordan, Malawi, Peru, Togo and Viet Nam.

Find more about the study: http://oe.cd/1h0