U-Report Moldova is celebrating its one-year birthday

Chisinau, 12 December 2018: It has been one year since U-Report Moldova, the first online survey platform dedicated to young people in the Republic of Moldova, was launched by UNICEF and the National Youth Council of Moldova. So far, more than 2500 young people have registered on the platform, while responding to the polls launched on a regular basis. Throughout 2018, U-Reporters participated in 30 online youth surveys, in which pressing issues they are facing were discussed: education, health, migration, but also their personal and artistic preferences. Those included not only national, but also several international polls, like the Global Health Care Survey, the results of which were presented at Astana's global conference with the same name in November 2018. The results of each poll are public in real time.

"U-Reporters contributed to the 2030 Development Strategy, with young people pointing out to the most pressing issues that the authorities need to focus on by 2030," said Valeriu Drăgălin, the President of the National Youth Council of Moldova. "With their help, we identified three most important needs of young people: education, health, and decent jobs."

Participation is especially important for teenagers and young people as on 24 September 2018, at the United Nations General Assembly the launch of the UN Youth Strategy 2030 took place, as well as of the Generation Unlimited partnership, spearheaded by UNICEF. The Generation Unlimited aims at ensuring that by 2030 young people are in education, training or employment, thus contributing to overarching results set by the UN Youth Strategy 2030.

"Like adults, children and young people have the right to contribute to the society," said Desiree Jongsma, UNICEF Country Representative in Moldova. "They have valuable and innovative ideas, and certainly they are not just our future. They live here and now, and we must not keep them out of the periphery of social life and decision-making. And we are happy, at UNICEF, to support with tools, not rules," Desiree Jongsma added.

Anyone can become U-Reporter. To register on this platform and take part in U-Report polls, young people need to track the Facebook, Viber or Twitter account of the platform and send a message to the platform..

"People in the street are already recognizing me as the U-Report Volunteer. That's why I consider U-Report a real opportunity for Moldova youth to engage and stay connected to one of the most efficient participatory platform in the country," says Vladlena Belostecinic, U-Reporter.

"You feel proud when you know you have a word to say. To have a bigger impact U-Report platform needs more  young people willing to participate! So, let's be active, be the generation of change!" says U-Reporter Victoria Maria Chilari.

Young people and teenagers in Moldova have the opportunity to become U-Reporters in the age when digital technology has changed the world we live in. As more and more children of the world become connected to the online environment, digital access can be a new chance for children and young people. We remind that, according to UNICEF Global Report "State of World Children 2017: Children in the Digital World," young people are the most active Internet users: 71 percent of young people worldwide are connected to the Internet, compared to 48 percent in the general  population.