On 30 June 2020 the Council of Europe project Combating violence against children in the Republic of Moldova held its first Steering Committee meeting to bring together the main actors to discuss the project activities, the results achieved in the first three month of the implementation and the way forward.

The meeting was held online with consecutive interpretation provided.

The main points discussed included the following areas:

• Interagency cooperation to respond to violence against children
• Legal and policy framework to be harmonised in line with Council of Europe standards
• Training of professionals to respond to violence against children and promote childfriendly practices
• Awareness raising and prevention on violence against children

The Secretary of the Lanzarote Convention, Ms Gioia Scappucci, delivered an introductory keynote speech on the effective implementation of the Lanzarote Convention and the importance of the national coordination mechanism in that respect.

This was followed by a presentation of project’s priorities and activities for the follow up period and a discussion with the participants on their specific needs.

The meeting addressed further adjustments necessary vis-à-vis COVID-19 restrictions that might affect project activities.

The project Combating violence against children in the Republic of Moldova supports strengthening the country’s child protection framework and judicial system with focus on the protection of children against sexual violence, promotion of child-friendly justice practices and the rights of the child in the digital environment. It is closely anchored in the Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2016-2021) and implemented in the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova (2017-2020) during the period of 1 April 2020 - 31 December 2021.