The collapse of the Soviet Union has led to financial hardship across Eastern Europe. Moldova, a small country sandwiched between Romania and the Ukraine, has been particularly hard hit. Loss of traditional markets has led to rapid emigration, with up to a quarter of the population now living abroad.

More than one in six of those remaining in Moldova are pensioners. Older people face serious difficulties: pensions are very low, providing only a quarter of what they need to buy food. Services that used to be provided by the government have been reduced or withdrawn and older people cannot afford to pay for health care and medicines.

Reliance on the state during the Communist era means that there is no history of community self-help. But, out of necessity, small self-help groups and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have started to emerge.

Aims

HelpAge International, with support from the European Commission TACIS Institution Building Partnership Programme and Irish Aid, has been working with our Moldovan partner, Second Breath, since 2002 to build the capacity of older people’s groups in Moldova.

Activities

About 2,000 older people have received training in developing, implementing and evaluating ways to address neglect, isolation and the abuse of rights.

We produced a manual on older people’s support groups in Russian and English. It was distributed to local NGOs and communities to help them implement community-development activities with older people. The manual also serves as an advocacy tool to show how older people can help themselves and their communities.

Achievements

Older people know more about their rights and their self-confidence has increased. Advocacy work means that the government now has a greater understanding of older people's issues, and cooperation has increased with older people’s groups.

Older people who took part in the project reported the following:

• Many felt more useful to society as a result of volunteering in the project.
• Contact with younger people made them feel an integral part of their communities again.
• Learning new skills enabled them to train other older people.
• They had better access to social, medical and legal services.
• They felt more optimistic about the future.

Lessons learnt from the project were shared with other regional older people’s groups at a national conference. Older people from southern Moldova asked for a similar programme to be set up in their area. This started in April 2005 and is managed by Second Breath and the local NGO Rural Social Initiative.

The future

HelpAge International and Second Breath will carry on targeting rural communities in southern and northern Moldova.

Community-based organisations from the north are acting as mentors to their counterparts in the south, sharing learning and experiences.