Asian Breeze

No.92

Online Newsletter

Asian Breeze
KITAKYUSHU FORUM ON ASIAN WOMEN (KFAW)

No.

92

August2022

Web-based Newsletter

KITAKYUSHU FORUM ON ASIAN WOMEN
Kitakyushu Otemachi Building 3F
Otemachi 11-4, Kokurakita, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka 803-0814 JAPAN
PHONE +81-93-583-3434 FAX +81-93-583-5195
E-mail: kfaw@kfaw.or.jp
URL: http://www.kfaw.or.jp/index.html.en

Introduction
We are pleased to announce that Asian Breeze, the newsletter of the Kitakyushu
Forum on Asian Women, will be distributed via the Internet fromthis issue, No.92.
This issue features the Pre-event of the 33rd Kitakyushu
Conference on Asian Women – entitled "Fleeing Ukraine toMoldova -Women and Children Refugees” held on July 7, 2022

Flag of the Republic of Moldova(online event).

The Republic of Moldova is located in Southeastern Europe between the rivers Prutand Dniester. Its neighbor to the west is Romania and to the east and south is Ukraine.
Sima Bahous, United Nations Under-SecretaryGeneral and Executive Director of UN Women,
described Moldova as “a small country with a bigheart” at the UN Security Council on themaintenance of peace and security of Ukraine.
Despite suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic,
Moldova

vigorously

providinghumanitarianassistance to displaced people fleeing Ukraine.
1Ukraine
Moldova
Romania

Source: Sekai Chizu, https://www.abysse.co.jp/maps/

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During the event, the panelists reported about the support extended by the Moldovan
government and general public, as well as decisions made by the Moldovan parliament
regarding support.

CONTENTS
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 1
Pre-event of the 33rd Kitakyushu Conference on Asian Women – entitled “FleeingUkraine to Moldova -Women and Children Refugees” ...................................................... 2
1. JICA’s Cooperation to Moldova － Satoshi Sugimoto (Chief Representative,JICA Ukraine Field Office) ......................................................................................................... 3
2. How Moldova national authority supports Ukrainian women and children refugees“Small Country with a Big Heart” － Vladimir Negura (Head, International
Relations and European Affairs Directorate, General Police Inspectorate, Ministryof Internal Affairs, Republic of Moldova) .............................................................................. 4
3. Notable debates on the refugee crisis at the Parliament of the Republic ofMoldova － Rodica Zadnipru (Senior Consultant, Department of Assistance andDevelopment, Secretariat of the Parliament, Republic of Moldova) ............................. 7

Pre-event of the 33rd Kitakyushu Conference on Asian Women –entitled “Fleeing Ukraine to Moldova -Women and Children
Refugees”

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1. JICA’s Cooperation to Moldova－ Satoshi Sugimoto (Chief Representative, JICA Ukraine Field Office)
I would like to talk about JICA’s cooperation efforts with the Republic of Moldova.
The Republic of Moldova, with its capital in Chisinau (formerly Chisinov), isslightly smaller than the island of Kyushu and has a population of 2.64 million. So far,the cooperation efforts have mainly focused on three areas: promotion of economic
development; improvement of living environment in the fields of health/medical care,education/human resource development, and others; and consolidation of democracy,
which is also known as good governance. In the area of health/medical care, for example,
JICA has replaced the medical equipment at the main hospitals in the capital city ofChisinau with the latest equipment using soft loans from Japan and other means. And inagriculture, a major industry in Moldova, JICA has been working on a project to provide
various agricultural equipment such as tractors.
Due to the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine beginning February 24th of this year, thenumber of Ukrainian refugees who entered or passed through Moldova is 500,000, andthe number of those who remained in Moldova is about 78,000 (as of July 6, 2022).
Since Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 are not allowed to leave the country
due to martial law, most of the displaced Ukrainians are women, children, the elderly,and people with illnesses. Of these, 90% are being hosted by private households and theremaining 10% are in refugee accommodation centers. While UNHCR, UNICEF, andother UN agencies play a central role in providing necessary supplies and living
expenses, the government of Moldova provides medical care and social support services
free or nearly free of charge.
Under these circumstances, the medical field in particular has encountered serious
problems. Medical resources in Moldova were limited even before the invasion, so
medical care for Ukrainian evacuees with illnesses, in addition to the medicine shortage3

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due to the interrupted supply of Ukrainian-made medicines, has become a critical issue.
In this situation, the Japanese government and JICA are cooperating with the Moldovan
government in order to deliver more medical equipment, as Japan excels in this field.
JICA will continue to expand cooperation in other areas beyond health and medicine,brainstorming ideas for what else Japan can do to support the Moldovan government sothat it can steadily tackle various issues in the midst of such difficult times.

2. How Moldova national authority supports Ukrainian womenand children refugees “Small Country with a Big heart”－ Vladimir Negura (Head, International Relations and European
Affairs Directorate, General Police Inspectorate, Ministry of Internal
Affairs, Republic of Moldova)

A friend in need is a friend in deed. So is characterized the Republic of Moldova
since the starting of the war in Ukraine.
The conflict in Ukraine has created a regional humanitarian crisis and has forced
millions of people to flee their homes - some seeking safety in other parts of the country,others in neighboring countries.
Moldova is one of the main refugee-hosting countries and a transit country foronwards.
More than 461,480 forcibly displaced persons have come into and throughMoldova since February 24th, 2022.
Most refugees are women and children because of the crisis’s circumstances.
Women make up 80% of the adult population of refugees (18+), with 1 in 2 women aged
25-44 years. The breakdown of adult women refugees by age cohorts reveals that 1 in
10 are woman aged 65 and above. An estimated 140,000 children have passed throughMoldova and 36,000 remain on the territory.
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The Government of the Republic of Moldova took the entire coordination of therefugee response, as following:－ dopomoga.gov.md was launched as new information sources on the refugee
crisis－ 78 Refugee Accommodation Centers across the country were launched－ cash-based assistance program for refugees from Ukraine and Moldovan hostcommunities were implemented jointly with UN organizations.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs has played a crucial role in the refugee
management process. The main measures concerned: setting up of the National Center
for Integrated Coordination of Public Order Actions, setting up 3 temporary Triage
Centers to provide basic humanitarian assistance, opened additional lines to facilitate
the entrance of refugees, established crisis cell with Romania, tripled the patrols andmissions with particular focus on the borderline, created the Moldova Group for Peace,
opened temporary bus station for transfer of refugees, ensured daily communication data.
The refugees have been treated equally as the citizens of the Republic of Moldova.
All refugee children coming from Ukraine have full access to:－ protection against discrimination－ necessary psychological support－ health care
－ children protection, including women protection－ access to education

Image of a child going to school－ employment.

Since 15 March Ukrainian children from refugee families have access to general
education institutions in the Republic of Moldova. 1,856 children were integrated into
general education institutions.
Ukrainian women, like Moldovan citizens, receive free assistance:－ before and after childbirth;－ family planning services;－ births, caesarean operations;
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Online Newsletter－ treatment of various infections;－ cytological testing for cervical cancer prevention.
80 refugee women gave birth in Moldova. Another 1,700 are pregnant.

Newborn baby’s hand

413 women are employed in the labor market as:－ programmer,－ engineer,－ sewer,－ sales consultant,－ cook,－ doctor,－ educator,－ nurse,－ operator in the production sector,－ customer service agent,－ manager in various fields.

Image of doctors

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3. Notable debates on the refugee crisis at the Parliament of
the Republic of Moldova－ Rodica Zadnipru (Senior Consultant, Department of Assistanceand Development, Secretariat of the Parliament, Republic of Moldova)

Salient features in political field－ Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, XI legislature – a unicameral,supreme representative and legislative authority.
－ 101 Members of Parliament, elected for a period of 4 years.
－ Working bodies – Standing Bureau, 11 Standing committees.
－ Women members – 39 (38.6%), the largest number of women MPs thelegislature has ever had.
－ Woman President was elected in 2020 and woman Prime minister in2021.
－ Parliament adopted legislation that ensures the 40% gender quota in thepolitical parties, on the parties’ candidates lists and in the Government
Cabinet (Law no. 71/2016, Law no. 113/2019).
－ In June 2022, Platform of Women Deputies from the XI legislature waslaunched.
The invasion of Ukraine on February 24th led to concerns of regional as well as
national security for the Republic of Moldova, which borders Ukraine to the north andeast. At the Government’s request, the Parliament declared a state of emergency for 60
days on the same day, which was extended several times, and on July 28th, it wasextended for another 60 days.
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While the government Committee for Exceptional Situations was established topromptly intervene in the refugee crisis, the Parliament directed its efforts to secure
foreign funds and support programs for the management of the humanitarian crisis.
MPs ratified the Memorandum with the World Food Programme for humanitarianassistance to refugees from Ukraine in host families from the Republic of Moldova, inthe form of import and delivery of food products, and direct provision of funds both torefugees from Ukraine and to host families from the Republic of Moldova. Parliamentalso ratified a loan Agreement with the Government of Poland in the amount of 20
million euros for the purpose of financing the needs of the state budget, including forthe management of the flow of refugees from Ukraine. Ratification of the Agreementwith the European Union regarding the operational activities carried out by theEuropean Border Police and Coast Guard Agency in the Republic of Moldova(FRONTEX) created the legal framework for the deployment of FRONTEX experts toprovide with the necessary support in managing the regional crisis and the flow ofrefugees from the Moldovan-Ukrainian border.
In July, Parliament ratified two financing agreements for the implementation of theProgramme of Emergency Measures, Resilience and Competitiveness for Moldova andits Development Policy. The resources from the International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development and the International Development Association will be used toimplement the strategies established to mitigate the negative effects of the war, allowing
refugees from Ukraine to enter the territory of the Republic of Moldova with theirnational identity card and facilitating their employment in the labor field, the inclusionof children from refugee families in educational institutions in our country, thestrengthening of social protection programs, etc.
The Standing committees monitor the situation with the refugees and endorse
important laws regarding the initiation of negotiations and the approval of the signingof the agreements mentioned above. The public hearing of the Report on the dynamics
of the migration process and the management of the flow of refugees emphasized theefforts made to facilitate the crossing of the border of the increased flow of refugees, tothe provision of primary assistance to Ukrainian citizens in difficulty, but also to the8Asian Breeze

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applications, and 88% of them were submitted by refugees from Ukraine.
As in many countries, the deputies held a minute of silence in memory of thevictims of war in Ukraine, and the flags on the official buildings were lowered to halfmast on April 4, 2022, which was a day of mourning to commemorate the victims of thewar, and as a sign of compassion and solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
The subject of Ukraine refugees was discussed by officials from the two
Parliaments during bilateral visits on May 4, 2022. President of the Parliament, Mr. Igor
Grosu, met with the President of the Verkhovna Rada, during a working visit to Kyiv.
They also visited the localities of Bucea, Gostomel and Irpin, which suffered war
atrocities.
At the same time, deputies from Parliament of the Republic of Moldova discussedwith the delegation of the Verkhovna Rada, visiting Chisinau, on the management of thesituation related to refugees from Ukraine. The Ukrainian deputies were informed about
the actions taken by our country to help the people of Ukraine fleeing the path of war,
including accommodation, medical assistance, access to labor market, integration ofchildren into the educational system.
The Parliament also hosted exhibitions of drawings of refugee children, in thecontext of the International Day of Child Protection, and the President of the Parliamentaddressed a call for solidarity with children from refugee families.

Parliament of Moldova

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On 29 July 2022, Parliament concluded its spring session for 2022, as provided bythe Constitution. The special guest of the closing ceremony was the Choir of theRegional Philharmonic from Vinnytsia, Ukraine, participating in the European project
to promote solidarity with Ukraine, which, through music, conveyed a strong messageof peace.

Thank you for reading. Any comments and suggestions are welcome.
Email us!
info@kfaw.or.jp

Upcoming KFAW event (online):The 33rd Kitakyushu Conference on Asian Women“Let’s travel to a world with feminists” ~Featuring SDGs~(Simultaneous interpretation in English / Japanese is provided)
Friday, 30 September, 2022 / 2:00p.m. – 4:30 p.m. (JST/GMT+9)
KFAW will be hosting an online tour and we will visit Bhutan, Malawi, Moldova
and Fiji on this event.
Eight speakers from four countries will participate.
These central themes will be achievements and challenges to SDG 5 targets.
2023 is a mid-point for the 2030 SDGs goals, so let’s learn about each country’s
effort to targets.
If you are interested in, please apply fromour Website.
We are looking forward to meeting you all there.

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