Success stories of Ukrainian refugees in Moldova's society unveiled at parliament

Chisinau, 29 June /MOLDPRES/ - The World Refugee Day has been marked at the parliament through the holding of a video and photographic project titled, Twelve  new beginnings. The project included 12 success stories of Ukrainian refugees, who integrated into the society of Moldova.   

The heroes of this project are refugees from Ukraine – entrepreneurs, volunteers, students, physicians, trainers, disabled people, mothers and children. Facing a complicated situation, triggered by the war, the protagonists informed about the decision to flee the horrors or the war, as well as about the nice experience they had in Moldova.     

In his speech, Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu highlighted the courage of the Ukrainians to overcome the horrors of the war and to remake their lives in Moldova.  The speaker also emphasized the authorities’ effort to back the refugees. ‘’I am happy to see accomplished people in the business and media sectors, art people, physicians, sportspeople. Dear Ukrainian friends, your contribution is essential; you represent an example for us, for our children and for next generations. Ukraine will win!,’’ Igor Grosu said.     

At the same time, Igor Grosu awarded the Diploma of Parliament to the wife of Ukraine’s ambassador, Olesea Shevchenko, as a token of appreciation and gratitude for her significant contribution to the development of the Moldovan-Ukrainian relations, active involvement in the process of turning to good account of the national traditions, as well as for the continuous effort of raising the society’s awareness and promotion of the values of peace.   

Several protagonists of those 12 stories, who attended the event, expressed thanks to Moldova on behalf of thousands of Ukrainians for the support provided to overcome the humanitarian crisis situation triggered by the war.

Presently, there are more than 120,000 Ukrainian refugees in Moldova. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Moldova has received the largest number of refugees per capita in Europe.  

Attending the event were the representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Andrew Painter, the head of the Intersos Mission Moldova, Marco Buono, MPs, civil servants of the parliament’s secretariat.   

The project, Twelve new beginnings, was created by the team of the programme, ȘchoTyzhnevyk and the Moldova 1 TV station, in partnership with the National Congress of the Ukrainians from Moldova and with the financial support of the UNHCR Moldova, Intersos Moldova, UNESCO, the government of Japan and the European Union. Also, six refugees from different regions of Ukraine worked in shooting teams. The event was organized at the parliament’s headquarters, in partnership with the National Congress of the Ukrainians from Moldova and the PTASCA Association of Culture and Art of the Ukrainians from Moldova.