A new economic-empowerment project for survivors of violence was launched in Chișinău. One hundred women from Chișinău municipality, Rîșcani, Ungheni, Drochia and Gagauzia will get mentoring and training. Of them, 20 can take a 40,000-lei voucher for an income-generating activity. This is a launch, not a finished programme.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Protection runs it with the Women’s Law Centre, the National Employment Agency and UN Women, with money from Sweden. The project title: strengthening the economic autonomy and resilience of survivors in five districts. Today’s round table brought in authorities, social services, employment offices and civil society. It is not a tally of 100 businesses opened.

State secretary Felicia Bechtoldt said violence hits independence, not only safety, and that one’s own income can help leave abuse. Svetlana Andrieș, of UN Women Moldova, spoke of a new start for dozens of women and of front-line specialists. Those are launch remarks, not impact reports.

Participants talked about the pilot stage, about referrals between social assistance and employment, about women in shelters. Beneficiaries’ names were not announced. The 40,000-lei voucher is not for all 100, but for 20, after selection.

Radio Chișinău reported the same launch. MOLDPRES published the communiqué. An older programme, TransFormare, had other districts and other sums. Today is another project, another five regions.

A launch. The 100 women have not finished the course, and the 20 vouchers have not already been paid.

Image: Guttorm Flatabo, House of Government, Chisinau, 6 July 2006, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons; the building, not a photograph of the 21 October 2026 launch.

Sources consulted: Survivors of violence in five regions will be able to rebuild their lives - Radio Chisinau; Entrepreneurial training and mentoring; 20 vouchers of 40,000 lei - MOLDPRES, 21 October 2026.