Radio România Internațional

Tag: children

  • December 30, 2019

    December 30, 2019

    GOVERNMENT The Government of Romania convened today for its last meeting this year. At Fridays meeting PM Ludovic Orban instructed his ministers to make sure the bills regulating the activity of ministries have all the required approvals in place, so that they may be endorsed today by the Cabinet. Orban explained that these bills must be approved so that the new Cabinet formula may be operational as of January 1. The number of deputy prime ministers has been reduced from 3 to 1, and the number of ministries has been cut from 24, as previous, to 16.




    CORRUPTION Nicolae Robu, the Liberal mayor of Timişoara (the largest city in western Romania), and the former Christian Democratic mayor Gheorghe Ciuhandu, have been sent to court by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate under charges of abuse of office. According to anti-corruption prosecutors, between September 1996 and January 2014, 9 civil servants in the Timişoara City Hall overstepped their powers and illegally sold 207 buildings owned by the mayoralty to individuals who had no right to purchase them. The affair caused the state to lose over 9.5 million euro.




    TOURISM Winter tourism is on the rise in most EU member countries, but the biggest increase is reported in Romania, where the number of nights spent in accommodation facilities in the 2018-2019 season was 8.6% higher than in the previous winter, according to data released today by Eurostat. The increase rate reported for Romania is almost 4 times the EU average of 2.6%. The most popular destinations in the EU in the 2018-2019 winter season were Spain, Italy, the UK, Austria, Germany and France.




    STRIKE France sees the 25th day of strikes against a planned pension reform, with the next negotiations between the Government and trade unions scheduled on January 7. According to Radio Romanias correspondent in Paris, the Transport Minister promised that there would be enough trains for all passengers who had purchased tickets. Unions are currently divided over the provisions of the pension reform legislation. Meanwhile, ministers carry on talks with the employees with whom they have reached some agreements. Airline personnel have already cancelled a strike planned for January 2 and 3, after they secured derogations regarding their retirement age. Other professional categories, such as the police and gendarmes, have also got some advantages in the negotiations.




    CHILDREN The number of attacks on children in conflict areas has nearly tripled over the past decade, UNICEF warns in a news release issued today. The agency documented over 170,000 severe violations of childrens rights in conflict zones since 2010, including killing, maiming, sexual violence, abduction, aid denial, recruitment into armed groups, and attacks on schools and hospitals. UNICEF also says that the number of countries affected by war is the highest in 30 years. According to the organisation, Attacks on children continue unabated as warring parties flout one of the most basic rules of war: the protection of children. In Afghanistan, Mali, Syria or Yemen, conflicts are costing millions of children their health, education, future and lives, UNICEF also said, and called for an end to childrens rights violations and to attacks on civilian infrastructure.




    HANDBALL Romanias mens national handball team Sunday lost 24 to 20 to North Macedonia in the final of the 42nd Carpaţi Trophy. The Netherlands defeated Algeria and finished 3rd. The games were part of the training campaign for the first stage of the 2021 Egypt World Championships qualifiers, the first in which 32 teams will take part. Next month in the preliminaries in Italy, Romania will be playing against the host country, Georgia and Kosovo.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • May 31, 2019

    May 31, 2019

    POPE FRANCIS Pope Francis is on a 3-day state and apostolic visit to Romania, starting today. The visit, whose motto is “Lets Walk Together, takes place 20 years after John Paul II was the first Pope to come to this mostly Orthodox country. The programme in Bucharest today includes meetings with political officials and civil society members, and with the leaders of the Romanian Orthodox Church. A liturgy will be performed at the St. Joseph Catholic Cathedral. As many as 50,000 believers will be present, in and around the cathedral, and 15 screens will be mounted in Bucharest streets for people to be able to watch the ceremony, performed by the Pope in Latin. On Saturday, Pope Francis will be in Şumuleu Ciuc, in a part of Transylvania mostly inhabited by Hungarian Roman Catholics, and in Iasi, in the north-east, a city that is home to a sizeable Romanian Catholic community. On Sunday, His Holiness will travel to Blaj, in central Transylvania, the spiritual capital of Romanian Greek Catholics, where he will beatify 7 Greek Catholic bishops who died for their faith during the communist regime. The Romanian Greek Catholic Church was outlawed and deprived of its assets shortly after the communists seized power, and many clerics and believers were imprisoned. Also in Blaj, the Pope will have a meeting with members of the local Roma community. The visit entailed high-level security measures in the capital city Bucharest, where road traffic restrictions have been introduced and all schools have suspended todays classes.




    FILM Cluj-Napoca in north-western Romania is hosting, starting today until June 8, the 18th edition of the Transylvania International Film Festival. Running in the TIFF official competition are 12 productions, but more than 200 films will be screened as part of the Festival. This years edition celebrates 3 major film industries: the French, Chinese and Albanian. Romanian filmmakers are also well represented, with over 40 productions. Actor Nicolas Cage will receive an award for his contribution to the development of world cinema.




    EU European Union member states spent in 2016 more than 350 billion euros (2.4% of the Unions GDP) on families and children, accounting for 9% of the total social protection spending, according to data made public on Friday by the European Statistics Office (Eurostat). The lowest annual expenditure for family and child protection, below 200 euro/capita, was reported in Romania and Bulgaria (120 euro each), Lithuania (150 euro) and Greece (170 euro), and the highest in Luxemburg (3,000 euro/capita), Denmark (1,700 euro), Sweden (1,400 euro), Germany and Finland (1,200 euro). The Eurostat data were made public ahead of the International Childrens Day, celebrated around the world on June 1.




    ARRESTS Four Romanian and 2 Bulgarian citizens are being investigated for migrant smuggling and for forming an organised crime group, after being apprehended by the Calafat Border Police in south-western Romania trying to cross the Danube on a boat with 7 Iranian citizens attempting to enter Romania illegally. The Border Police Inspectorate General announced on Friday that the 4 Romanians said they were helping the group travel to the west of the country, from where they could get into a Schengen country. The police also said that under a Romanian-Bulgarian protocol, the 7 Iranian citizens were handed over to the Bulgarian border authorities.




    TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, the defending Roland Garros champion and seed no. 3, qualified on Thursday into the tournaments 3rd round, after defeating Magda Linette of Poland in 3 sets. In the next stage, Halep will play against the winner of the match between Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia and Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine. The game was suspended on Thursday for light. Irina Begu is the other Romanian player qualified in the Roland Garros singles 3rd round. She will take on Amanda Anisimova (USA).



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • A library for the Roma children in Bucharest

    A library for the Roma children in Bucharest

    An underprivileged ethnic minority in economic, social and other respects, the Roma can overcome this condition, and one of the ways to do this is through culture and education. This is the idea behind the Roma Childrens Library, a project that started 3 years ago with the collaboration between the Swedish writer Gunilla Lundren, the Romanian-born Swedish book illustrator and publisher Arina Stoenescu, Thomas Acton, a Romani studies professor from the UK, and a Swedish journalist and ethnic Roma, Fred Taikon.



    The library is hosted by a building which is also home to another, broader social and cultural project, called the Museum of Roma Culture, located in Giulesti, a neighbourhood in the Romanian capital city Bucharest where a lot of Roma people live. Originally, the library consisted in books, furniture and toys donated by various contributors.



    It is there, on the neglected outskirts of Bucharest, where urban space merges into an underprivileged rural atmosphere, that we met writer Gunilla Lundgren. Known mostly as an author of childrens books, Gunilla set up a PEN Club, a creative writing club, for the Roma children in her home country. Based on the experiences, readings and talks within the club, she wrote 3 books and created a radio series together with the children she is working with. Given her relations with the Roma minority in Sweden, the writer found it easy to connect with the Roma children in Eastern Europe, in spite of the differences between the 2 communities.



    Gunilla Lundgren: “Its many different groups in Sweden. We have what we call the Swedish Roma, who lived there for many, many years, and we have also newcomers now. We have Roma from former Yugoslavia, when the war was up they came there. We have many other groups of Roma, we have Russian Roma, and Finnish Roma, who have different religions and different languages. We have now in Sweden many people from Romania and Bulgaria, who beg on the streets in Sweden, and the Swedish Roma children found that very sad. They are not beggars, the Swedish Roma children. They live in apartments and their parents are working, and they feel lucky, they cant identify with the people who are begging. And then we discussed this a lot and we asked, ‘what is happening with the children whose mothers sit and beg in the streets? The Swedish Roma children said, ‘we must help the children, the children are in Romania. And they should not become beggars. We should give them books.‘ So the income from the books we write now in Pen Club goes into making these books that Arina helps us release, to give to the children here, because they should not become beggars.



    Pioneer Press, the publishing house founded by book illustrator and translator Arina Stoenescu, marked the 3 years of life of the Roma Childrens Library with the release of a bilingual, Romanian and Romani book entitled “Happy Easter! This is the 3rd bilingual book launched by this publisher and intended for Roma children. Their author, Gunilla Lundgren, told us about the involvement and support needed for the Roma Childrens Library:



    Gunilla Lundgren: “What I see is that the library is here and I think its hard work here as well, we work hard on both sides. We call this library ‘our friend library. And Arina comes here, she writes letters to our children and we write letters to the children here. So, they really feel that we are friends, they write to each other. We make exhibitions, in our library, with the letters that the children here in Giulesti write. Also, now, our children are here in photos, there are photos of the Swedish Roma children here in your library, and this makes them feel this friendship.



    Luminita Ancuta, from the Museum of Roma Culture in Giulesti, sees this library as a sort of club of the children in the neighbourhood:



    Luminita Ancuta: “This initiative has been beneficial, because many of the children here have parents who, for various reasons, do not have time to spend with their kids, to read to them and to help them develop this kind of skills. Since we opened the Roma Childrens Library, we have focused especially on reading activities. We simply read stories to them or together with them. The most important thing was that weve brought them here, because in this neighbourhood there is no playground or bigger park. We only have a small park next to one of the 2 schools in our neighbourhood.



    Reading helps children, irrespective of their social or cultural background, to develop in several respects. It helps them concentrate, ask questions, give answers and communicate.



    Luminita Ancuta: “We have been reading stories related to the history of the Roma people. When the library opened, Gunilla Lundgren also launched one of her books, entitled Sophia, which tells the story of a Roma Holocaust survivor. The book is actually designed as a bilingual, Romanian and Romani cartoon. And when we read this story with the children, we noticed that they know very little about Roma history. They were very moved by the story of the little girl who lived in a concentration camp and went through dramatic experiences. Children are very curious by nature. When they see the books on the shelves, they take them out, browse them and ask all sorts of questions. Many of them have problems reading and ask us to read for them. Sometimes they bring along their younger siblings who, even though they cannot read, copy our moves and attitudes. What we want to do here is whet their appetite for reading, because only through reading can they discover who they are.



    Children discover themselves, but they discover the others as well, because the Roma Childrens Library is also open to the children who do not belong to this ethnic group and who lived in this overlooked part of Bucharest.



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • Romania supports the idea of involving children in decision-making

    Romania supports the idea of involving children in decision-making

    The future belongs to the young people and this reflects in the social
    policies promoted by the European Union. Holding the rotating presidency of the
    Council of the EU, Romania supports the idea of getting children involved in
    decision making.


    Very often,
    children and teenagers are unable to make their voice heard in public and to
    stand out for their opinions. Some of them though, overcome their fears and
    become representatives of a generation. This is the case of Rares Voicu, a
    16-year old teenager with the Nicolae Iorga High School in Braila, who
    represents his colleagues and is a Junior Ambassador of Romania to the EU:


    Throughout the years, both
    inside and outside school, I felt that my voice was not listened to, when I was
    trying to make my opinions known. I must admit that, most times, I did nothing
    to change that and I chose not to react. Things changed two years ago, when I
    ran for the Students’ County Council, whose motto was Be Your Colleagues’
    Voice. I was terrified at first. Up to that point I had problems with making my
    own voice heard, and I did not know how, all of a sudden, I was supposed to be
    the voice of tens of thousands of students. Little by little, my fears disappeared
    and I learned to be more vocal, tell my opinions out loud and be more firm when
    it comes to voicing them. To my great surprise, I started to be listened to. I
    could not understand what had happened and why, all of a sudden, my opinion started
    to matter. And then I realized that was because I was part of the Students’
    County Council. I had an entire platform supporting me, which allowed me to
    speak on behalf of my colleagues with a certain guarantee that I would also be
    taken seriously.


    To Rares
    Voicu, what is essential is for Europe to take into consideration the opinions
    of its youngest citizens. Rares believes that the right to consultation must be
    defended and promoted in all the EU member states:


    I myself have had this chance, but there are
    millions of children facing the same problem, although our right to be
    consulted and to participate is among our fundamental rights, as it is
    stipulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We are here to speak
    on behalf of the Romanian and European children. We, as junior ambassadors,
    will draw up Bucharest Children’s Declaration, which is a call on all European
    leaders, and not only. Given the current social background, it’s our duty, as
    citizens in the making, to take a stand and to fight for our rights, children’s
    rights. We want all children in the EU to benefit from the tools that would
    make their voices heard. Dear children, if you hear this message, fight for
    your rights. Speak up, say what you
    think, but at the same time be fair and honest. Keep a critical eye on our
    society, because this is the only way to improve Europe and to render it better
    and really cohesive.


    Pieter
    Bult, the UNICEF representative in Romania, has been in touch with Romanian
    children and he believes that one of the most important duties that the
    European community has is to make sure their expectations, as grown-ups, will not
    be broken:


    Imagine what will happen
    if these issues don’t get addressed, the children grow up and are disappointed
    in kind of what is happening. Imagine what will happen to the future of Europe
    if that is the case. One in four people in Europe are children. They are not
    really engaged in the decision-making processes of the European Union. Yet,
    they have a right to participate. Already 30 years ago we ratified the
    Convention on the Rights of the Child. Every member state of the EU has
    ratified the Convention. Article 12 talks about participation. Yet we have done
    very little to make that right actually reality. It’s not only about the right
    of the child to participate, actually it’s a lot more. When children
    participate, they raise issues, they come with solutions, and yes, they may be
    a little bit out of the box, but they could be thought of and they could
    actually come up with things that are less biased, less in terms of imbued with
    stereotypes less informed by preconceived ideas. Their ideas are actually quite
    relevant. So it is actually in our interest that we have children participate
    in our decision-making processes.


    Gabriela
    Coman is the president of the National Authority for the Protection of Child
    Rights and Adoption. She also gets involved in national programs targeting
    children’s consultation and participation. It was also Gabriela Coman who
    supported such an endeavour in Brussels as well.


    We’re speaking, at long last, about a fundamental
    right of children, which is the right to express their opinion, an opinion which
    the adults need to turn into the opportunity to get involved in a decision. I
    participated, together with the children and Pieter Bult, at the meeting in
    Brussels, where we all heard the opinion of the European Commission, of the
    European Parliament, as regards Romania’s initiative to start such an
    undertaking as part of its presidency of the Council of the European Union. A
    strong Europe is impossible to conceive without taking cohesion into account,
    and we cannot speak about cohesion without the involvement of all citizens. We are
    happy with our accomplishment. We intend to go at all lengths, in our capacity
    as a child protection authority and as a ministry, in order to support the
    turning of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child into a mechanism by means
    of which they can really participate and get involved in the decision-making
    process at European level.


    A
    cohesive European Union needs the participation of youngsters in the process of
    the important decisions that are taken for our continent. Their ideas can be
    the driving engine as regards stability in a society of the future. By the same
    token, youngsters can contribute to promoting the European values all around
    the world.

  • Social activism against poverty

    Social activism against poverty

    It is that time of the year when relaxation and joy must combine with generosity and care for the less privileged. This is particularly important in Romania, where there is a large number of poor people. According to statistics made public by the Social Monitor, a project of the Friedrich Ebert Romania Foundation, more than 1.5 million Romanians earn less than 3 Euros per day. These figures place us first among the Europeans found in vulnerable situations. The revenues of the 10% poorest Romanians are by 10% smaller than the revenues of the 10% poorest Europeans. In the countryside, there are entire communities marked by multiple vulnerabilities, according to the study “The wellbeing of children in the rural communities conducted by the World Vision Romania Foundation. Oana Serban, a communication director with World Vision Foundation, explains:



    Oana Serban “There are all sort of problems in the rural area. The school dropout rate there is high, because children do not have financial resources to go to school, they do not have moral support either, they do not have footwear or clothing. There are also other types of problems, such as the lack of opportunities for adults. These childrens parents cannot find a job in the rural area. Hence, they leave the country to find work abroad or are day workers here, for very little money. Given the fact that people in rural areas have many children, it is very difficult for them to provide for them.



    Consequently, one in every 11 children goes to bed hungry while 19% of the total number of children in Romania do not got to school. 74% of the children who give up school are from the rural area. For this reason, charitable organisations such as World Vision, initiate projects aimed at curbing this phenomenon which is also a consequence of poverty:



    Oana Serban “The project “Bread for tomorrow as well is a programme aimed at reducing the worrying school dropout rate. Under this programme, we offer them a hot meal at school and two hours of help with the homework. Over 1,250 children from the counties of Dolj, Valcea and Vaslui are included in the programme. At the beginning of 2019 we will also expand it to a community in the county of Cluj. We have been developing this programme for two years, because there are big problems with the nutrition of children in the rural area. Children dont eat or eat unhealthy food, usually in small amounts. The warm meal we offered was welcomed by both kids and teachers. Children are doing their best not to miss school and are getting better integrated. They are even happier in school.



    This program follows another one, that has run for the past 10 years. It targets high school students and is called “I want to be a 9th grader.



    Oana Serban “We practically offer scholarships to children coming from very poor families who want to go to school and learn. We provide them with help, which is not only material help. Part of the money goes to them, for them to manage it themselves, and the other part goes into different activities included in the project. Besides the support they receive for school supplies, accommodation and transport, there is another component that helps them become more independent. It is not easy for a child to move from the countryside to the city to be able to go to high school. We organize various activities for them to socialize and we also help them with their homework. It is a complex program and for each student there is an individual intervention plan. We take different actions for different students. In the 10 years in which the project has run, we have had 1,395 high school graduates. The percentage of our students who passed the Baccalaureate exam is 74% at national level. And 260 of them are higher education graduates. They are being supported by individual donors and also by means of partnerships with various companies.



    Since the winter season brings along specific problems that add to the childrens other problems, a season campaign has been recently launched, which targets footwear donation. In the poor rural communities, children dont have appropriate boots for winter:



    Oana Serban “It is a sad reality, but this is the truth. Quite frequently a single pair of boots is worn by all siblings in a home, when they need to go outside or when they to go to school. That is why we decided to so something about it. We are raising money to buy footwear for all the children in the communities where we run the project. I am talking about 14,500 children. How can we support them? Through donations made by a text message to 8849 with the text BOOTS, a message that costs 4 Euros. We intended the campaign to last until the end of January.



    For the life of these people to improve on long term, they need constant, system-provided support.


    (translated by: Lacramioara Simion, Elena Enache)

  • No Child Alone in Hospital volunteer programme

    No Child Alone in Hospital volunteer programme

    The increase in the number of cancer cases in
    Romania in recent years has also affected children. What makes things worse in
    children’s case is when they have to go through this alone. Children’s
    hospitals in Romania, few in number and usually very crowded, are also home to
    an increasing number of infants and children who are either abandoned or are
    rarely visited by their relatives or who have to stay in hospital for many
    months. Although the medical staff do their best to help them, children often
    miss their parents’ affection, which is sometimes critical in their healing.




    In order to make up for the missing affection,
    the Children’s Heart Association started a project entitled No Child Alone in
    Hospital. The initiative belongs to Adelina Toncean and the project is
    currently being implemented at the Maria Sklodowska Curie Children’s Clinical
    Emergency Hospital in Bucharest. Adelina Toncean explains:




    I’m a volunteer in the neonatal intensive care
    unit. I began my volunteering activity after I took two kids with serious
    medical conditions in foster care. Unfortunately, one of them has not made it.
    The other one was left alone in hospital for one year and a half. He has now
    recovered from a medical point of view, but the trauma of being left alone is
    still visible. I have always said to myself that, maybe one day, there will
    more of us volunteering to spend time with kids in hospital. At present, there
    are 3,200 people who have signed up for the project, all of whom want the same
    thing: to help children left alone in hospital. We have named the project No
    Child Alone in Hospital in order to create a functional model that can be used
    anywhere else.




    Adelina Toncean has kept many children in her
    arms, has fed them and helped them during treatments and the most difficult
    periods of their illness. She grew attached to each and every one of them, and
    on the day when we spoke to her, one of the children she was taking care of was
    going through some bad moments. Adelina Toncean:




    It’s one of the children I have fed every day.
    I have visited David every day. First I fed him with a syringe and then with a
    feeding bottle. And today I saw him again in hospital. It happened to him what
    usually happens to lonely children: they are discharged from hospital and go
    home, but come back because they don’t feel well. I saw him again being fed
    through a tube, sick with measles. Then there is another child who hasn’t have
    much time left in this world, which is a very sad time for volunteers and the
    hospital staff.




    Lots of people have already volunteered to be
    part of the programme, from young people over 15 years of age to elderly people
    with grandchildren of their own. The minimal requirements for being accepted
    into the programme are for the volunteers to have no communicable diseases and
    to attend a training session teaching them how they can help in the intensive
    care ward and preparing them for coping with a place where the thin line
    between life and death may be crossed in any moment. Adelina Toncean tells us
    that the training is done with the help of Petruta:




    Petruta is a manikin used for simulation. It
    looks just like a doll weighing as much as a newborn, and has a backbone and
    collarbone, and the head needs to be properly supported, just as with
    newly-born children. Petruta is supposed to resemble as much as possible the
    state of the children in our wards: it’s fed through a tube, it has catheters,
    cannulas, etc. It helps volunteers to learn, without the fear of harming the
    children, how babies can be touched, what the most important forms of touch
    are, and how to hold them, because all babies need to be held. This is what our
    reality looks like: an intubated baby in the arms of someone who allows them to
    fall asleep listening to somebody’s heartbeat instead of listening to a
    machine.




    Andrada Constantiniuc is one of the volunteers
    who have trained with Petruta:




    I have volunteered for a long time in other
    cities, and when I came to Bucharest I tried to find something that would suit
    my interests. When I read an article about this project, I immediately realised
    that this is where I belong. At the Marie Curie Intensive Care ward there are
    several babies without parents and who are always alone, and for this reason
    they recover a lot slower. Our role is to spend time with them, to help the
    healthcare staff feed them, because some babies take as long as one hour to
    drink 100 ml of milk, and simply to be with them. A child that feels physical,
    human touch recovers a lot quicker, their brain develops a lot faster and they
    want to live, unlike those who are lonely and just give up the fight.




    Because a lot of volunteers are enrolled in the
    programme, each of them spends there 2-3 hours a week, particularly during meal
    times. But this is enough for them to feel that they have received something in
    return. Andrada Constantiniuc:




    In principle, it’s not just the children that
    benefit from this, but the volunteers as well. It makes you see what the truly
    important things are in life, and it helps you to no longer feel stressed by
    minor problems.

  • Children and the digital world

    Children and the digital world

    Children’s access to technology and the Internet from
    a very early age is an obvious and widespread phenomenon today. This is also
    confirmed by official statistics, a recent survey compiled by UNICEF has revealed.
    Worldwide, young people aged between 15 and 24 represent the most connected age
    group, with children and adolescents accounting for an estimated one in three
    Internet users around the world. For them, the Internet brings a lot of
    advantages, but it also exposes them to dangers. Moreover, young people who
    miss out on the benefits of technology are at a disadvantage.




    Also according to UNICEF, roughly 28% of the world’s
    youth, accounting for around 345 million people, do not have access to the
    Internet. Around 60% of Africa’s young people do not even have online
    connection, compared with only 4% of young people in Europe. So access to
    Internet also mirrors economic and cultural gaps, which is an obvious state of
    affairs in Romania as well, according to Pieter Bult, UNICEF representative to
    Romania:




    This affects especially children living in remote
    locations, or those held back by poverty, exclusion and emergencies. Also in
    Romania, which ranks among the countries with the fastest speeds, we see major
    differences in access. Last week’s report that was released by the Romanian
    Government shows that the share of people ever having used the Internet ranges
    from about 90% in the Bucharest region to less that 70% in the northeastern
    region, a region that is much more rural and which already has a much higher
    level of poverty.




    The digital gap is therefore another reason for
    concern when it comes to the access to the Internet, to add to the known issues
    such as aggression and cyber crimes, as Peter Bult has also pointed out:




    Wealso know that technology can make
    children more susceptible to harm, online and offline. Threats include cyber
    bullying, new forms of child violence, abuse and exploitation, such as the mail
    to order and live streaming of child sexual abuse, and predators can more
    easily contact unsuspecting children through anonymous and unprotected social
    media profiles in game forms. Again vulnerable children, so as for example those
    with a low level of literacy, may be at greater risk of harm.




    In Romania,
    according to a survey conducted by the Save the Children foundation, 78% of
    children access the Internet daily or almost daily, while 90% of them use at
    least one social network. Only 17% of them say, however, that they devote less
    time to their families, friends and homework because of the time spent online.
    At the same time, 45% of them said they experiences some form of harassment
    online. Under the circumstances, protecting children on the Internet is a must,
    precisely because the Internet should become more of an educational resource
    and an opportunity for a harmonious development. Children themselves are aware
    of the ambivalence of the Internet. Constantin Eugen Gheorghe, who in year 6 at
    the Ferdinand I School in Bucharest:




    For me the Internet is a source of inspiration and
    information. I believe the Internet can be a useful tool but at the same time
    it can be dangerous. We can use it, for example, to do our homework and find
    the right information for various projects as it provides quick access to
    complex information and data. We can also socialise with other young people,
    like us. On the other hand, we should be careful with it because there are some
    websites that can be harmful. I think it’s important that our parents and
    teachers don’t forbid us to use the Internet but support us in using it.




    In order to come to the aid of adults, parents and
    educators and help them better monitor children’s online activity, the Romanian
    authorities have published a guideline entitled The First Safe Steps in the
    Digital World. Published by the National Centre for Response to Cyber Security
    Incidents (CERT.RO), the brochure contains basic information and guidelines for
    safe Internet surfing. Let’s find out more from Catalin Arama, the director
    general CERT.RO:




    We have structured the information and the
    activities children engage into on the Internet into three large groups: online
    relationships, sharing personal data and accessing content data. The guide
    presents for each of these categories a series of identified threats, suggests
    measures and draws some conclusions. Of course it only comes up with technical
    solutions. The guide contains useful addresses and links, which adults can
    access for an improved monitoring of their children’s online activities.




    At the same time, UNICEF recommends placing
    children’s safety at the core of digital policies, both in terms of optimal use
    of the Internet and reducing online threats.

  • Children with Learning Disabilities

    Children with Learning Disabilities

    We all know, either from our own school, professional or parent experience or from hearsay, that some of the children with lower marks are considered lazy, or inattentive or disinterested. That is the old-fashioned approach to the problem. But ever since specific learning disorders were clearly defined and diagnosed, that approach has started to change in Romania as well.



    One of the best-known learning disabilities is dyslexia. A reading and writing disorder, taking the form of dysgraphia or dyscalculia, dyslexia cannot be cured. Children suffering from dyslexia can only hope that by steady practice their condition can improve. Linguist Roxana Din, a therapist for dyslexic children, explains this disorder:



    Roxana Din: “These children use their right brain more than their left one. So, they dont learn to read as normal kids do. The first signs appear when children start learning to read and write. They read backwards: for instance, they read “no instead of “on, “n instead of “m, “b instead of “p and so on. Some of them have an attention deficit too. There are theories according to which dyslexic people have memory problems too and that is why, sometimes they have mathematics learning disability.



    But dyslexia is not accompanied by intellectual disability. On the contrary, many diagnosed dyslexics are creative people, with above-average intelligence quotients. This is why specialists recommend early diagnosis, if possible in the first years of pre-school or school, precisely in order to enable these children not only to improve their condition, but also to fully use their true potential. Mirela Nitu is the mother of a five-grader diagnosed with dyslexia in his second year at school. Here is what she told us about her experience:



    Mirela Nitu: “In the second grade, his teacher advised us to see a speech therapist, and there we basically started therapy for dysgraphia, because he was mixing up the letters when writing. He had no speech problems whatsoever, and until that moment we had never thought there could be a problem. He had got top scores in kindergarten and school assessments. It was only during the second grade, when the more complicated homework and the longer dictations came up, that we noticed that certain mistakes were recurrent.



    After the diagnosis, therapy followed, and gradually the results as well.



    Mirela Nitu: “He still tends to play more and to avoid more difficult situations, like homework. He still makes mistakes when he is tired or not focused enough. However, he has good marks, because he pays attention and is active in class, he has no problems at school overall. But he will probably continue to make spelling mistakes.



    Mirelas son goes to individual therapy once a week, and has weekly group therapy sessions, with other dyslexic kids, as well. It is a constant effort, for him and for his parents, but an effort worth making.



    Mirela Nitu: “Indeed, extra effort is required, both from the child and from the parents. It includes taking part in various activities and going to therapy. Moreover, homework takes longer than with other children. We need to do extra work on a regular basis. And you always think about what other learning methods to use. As a parent, you need more patience and you need to support these children permanently. We hope he will be okay and will reach his maximum potential and become the adult he wants to be.



    A lot of work is also necessary in terms of self-confidence, because the labels attached by the others leave deep traces. Speech therapist Roxana Din has more details:



    Roxana Din: “In many cases we need to work with them to strengthen their self-confidence, because many times they are seen as lazy and they must live with this stigma. Sometimes even their class mates believe them to be lazy. So dyslexic children need to be encouraged and to feel listened to and understood.



    Roxana Din and Mirela Nitu met at the EDULIER centre, one of the few centres in the country devoted to therapy for dyslexic children. Last year, when it was opened, director Cristiana Ionescu discovered that she could not find the expertise required for such a centre in the country, so she had to resort to foreign experts.



    Cristiana Ionescu: “We first asked experts in Norway and the UK. They all told us that they can show us the basic principles of this kind of therapy, but that it must be adapted for the Romanian language. After one years work, on April 7, 2016, we opened our first centre, and we have been working ever since to put together learning and therapy kits for Romanian and maths for children with dysgraphia and dyscalculia. We are trying to set up teams made up of the child, parents, therapist and the teachers. We thought about bringing in linguists, speech therapists, psychotherapists. We have been searching extensively for such experts, because we wanted to have not only people who are familiar with the problems entailed by dyslexia, but also who are not afraid of new, ground-breaking projects.



    At present, 20 children come to EDULIER every day. Cristiana Ionescu tells us what they do there:



    Cristiana Ionescu: “They take part in either educational therapy, or animal-assisted therapy, or work in the digital hall where they use the interactive digital wall to learn to assess their own work and correct their own mistakes. Similarly, we pay a lot of attention to psychotherapy. The earlier we evaluate the children, the more attention we pay to the signals our children try to convey, the more we can help them. And this is how the gaps between them and the other kids can be bridged more quickly.



    The centre also offers support group sessions, where the parents of dyslexic children can come and share their experience with each other.

  • February 22, 2016 UPDATE

    February 22, 2016 UPDATE

    ADDRESS – Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, on Monday addressed a plenary session of Parliament, saying that the 2016 election year should not be populist, nor lost for the major themes of public interest. He called on the MPs to assume some major projects, among which regaining peoples confidence in politics and the functioning of the big public systems. In this context, the president said the authorities have a delayed response to issues on the citizens agenda, such as the sustainability of the pension system, the demographic issue and the integration of young people on the labour market. In another move, President Iohannis expressed discontent about the fact that in some cases, parliamentary immunity is further used to block requirements made by the judiciary, in files in which MPs are investigated for corruption. As regards the countrys foreign policy, the president said the wave of migrants, the increased terrorist threat, security risks coming from the East and the very questioning of the community project make of 2016 a crucial year for stability in the region and for Europes future. Attending the plenary session of Parliament during the presidents speech were also the members of the technocratic cabinet in Bucharest and the foreign ambassadors accredited to Bucharest.



    FINANCIAL – Romanias technocratic Prime Minister, Dacian Ciolos, on Monday called on the mayors of communes in Romania to spend public money more efficiently. Ciolos said that although 2016 is an election year, the budget is the same, so it is impossible to earmark more funds for local projects. The prime minister says attracting direct investments and a better collection of taxes, by eliminating tax evasion, are the main solutions to increase the local authorities incomes. The statements were made at the 19th session of the General Assembly of the Association of Communes in Romania.




    ENERGY– Romanian energy minister, Victor Grigorescu, on Monday announced that the national strategy in the field will be finalised in autumn. In his opinion, the Romanian state should choose some projects to develop properly, to show clarity and commitment in a key domain, which should be regulated. The coal sector, the line minister says, will be included in this strategy, because it is part of Romanias energy security. In another move, the relevant minister gave assurances that all actors in the field will be asked their opinions during the consultations.



    HOSPITAL CARE – The medical condition of the seven children receiving treatment at the “Marie Curie hospital in Bucharest has slightly improved. One child remains in intensive care, while two children will be released this week. According to the chief of the nephrology department, Mihaela Balgradean, the children right now are eating normally, which signals a positive step in their recovery. An epidemiological investigation is underway. Health Minister Patriciu Achimas Cadariu has paid a new visit to the hospital, calling on the medical team to treat this case with responsibility and respect for regulations and to better communicate with the local authorities. We recall that 3 children died this month to serious digestive disorders.



    GREAT BRITAIN – British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday presented to Parliament the new agreement he negotiated with his EU partners, four months ahead of the referendum on the United Kingdoms EU membership. Great Britain got major concessions from EU leaders in terms of social benefits for European workers settled in the country and advantages for the City. Cameron, who has to face mounting Euro-skepticism even in the ranks of his own party, underlined that he will advocate for the UKs EU membership. According to a first poll conducted for “Mail on Sunday, after the agreement was negotiated, 48% of the Britons dont want their country to leave the EU, 33% are in favour of an exit, while 19% didnt express a point of view. Also on Monday, the European Commission announced it will not get involved in the debate on this issue, held in Great Britain.



    EUROPOL – The Europol on Monday opened a new special centre for combating trafficking in human beings. The centre will seek to assist member states in the identification and eradication of criminal networks trafficking refugees and will employ experts in counter-terrorism.



    TENNIS –Romanian tennis player, Monica Niculescu, WTAs no. 37, on Monday qualified for the second round of the Doha tournament, with 2.5 million dollars in prize money up for grabs. She defeated German Sabine Lisicki, 6-2 / 6-2. Also in the singles, another Romanian, Simona Halep, the competitions second seed, will play Elena Vesnina of Russia on Tuesday, in the second round. In the doubles, Simona Halep alongside Raluca Olaru of Romania lost in the first round, to Andreja Klepac and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia, in two sets.


    (Translated by Vlad Palcu and Diana Vijeu)

  • February 17, 2016 UPDATE

    February 17, 2016 UPDATE

    HEALTH– Experts from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, based in Stockholm, will arrive in Romania on Thursday, in an effort to cast light on the cases of the children with haemolytic-uremic syndrome, an acute kidney failure, the Romanian health minister, Patriciu Achimas-Cadariu, has told a press conference. Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos has called on the line minister to provide information on a daily basis on the results of the investigation in the case of the children hospitalised at the “Marie Curie“ Hospital in Bucharest. Two weeks after the first cases were reported, the authorities fail to identify the source of the infection, but they further conduct epidemiological tests and intend to collect new samples. Three children have died of haemolytic-uremic syndrome at the “Marie Curie Hospital. Seven others are still hospitalised, some of whom in critical condition.



    MEASURES AGAINST POVERTY- The Romanian government on Wednesday launched for public debate a package of measures aimed at cracking down on poverty in Romania. The document includes 47 measures, destined for all age brackets. Increasing the employment rate of people in the 20-64 age bracket from some 66% in 2014, to 70 % in 2020, as well as reducing, until 2020, by at least 580,000 people, the number of those running a risk of poverty and social exclusion are among the objectives of the package. The measures and goals are in line with the Europe 2020 Strategy. According to the Romanian government, the efficient use of funds, as well as humaneness are needed to crack down on poverty. The cabinet intends to strike an anti-poverty partnership between public authorities and NGOs.



    PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT– Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, on Monday is addressing Parliament on domestic policy issues, the Senate Speaker, Calin Popescu Tariceanu announced on Wednesday. That is going to be the first message conveyed by President Klaus Iohannis this year. The Romanian President has addressed Parliament five times since he won the presidential election of November 2014.



    VISIT – Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, has held talks with the President of the ex-Soviet Republic of Moldova, with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population, Nicolae Timofti, on a visit to Romania. That is the Moldovan presidents last important visit before the expiry of his term in office, in about one month. He will have talks with Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos and the Senate Speaker, Calin Popescu Tariceanu. The talks will focus on the European agenda of the Republic of Moldova and the economic, political and social cooperation between the two states. Timoftis visit takes place after the newly appointed Moldovan Prime Minister, Pavel Filip, has called on Romania to give financial aid to his country. Romania has conditioned the unblocking of the loan promised to Moldova by the speedy adoption of reform measures. On Friday, Filip announced that Romania would give Moldova a humanitarian aid consisting of foodstuffs and fuel oil, against the backdrop of the economic and social crisis his country is confronted with.



    MOLDOVA – Over February 23rd-29th, an IMF expert team will pay a working visit to Chisinau, the media in Chisinau reports. The IMF delegation does not have the mandate to negotiate a financing programme with the Republic of Moldova, but it will focus on the recent economic developments and will discuss the policies promoted by the new government with a view to maintaining macroeconomic stability. The IMF, the World Bank and the EU stopped lending to the Republic of Moldova because of the Moldovan officials failure to abide by their pledges. The IMF said it would resume lending to Moldova if the three banks involved in the theft of one billion dollars from the countrys banking system at the end of 2014 were liquidated. But the banks got an emergency loan from the National Bank of Moldova to elude bankruptcy.



    CORRUPTION – The Romanian deputies on Wednesday rejected the request made by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate for the detention and taking into custody of MP Madalin Voicu, a member of the Social Democratic Party. In exchange, they approved the request for the taking into custody of Nicolae Paun, the representative of the Roma minority in Parliament. Because of a lack of quorum, the deputies didnt however make a decision on Pauns temporary arrest, and therefore the voting is due next Wednesday. Both Paun and Voicu have been accused of unfair use of European funds under projects for Roma communities. According to prosecutors, over 2010-2015, under the pretence of assisting thousands of Roma people in finding a job or becoming entrepreneurs, the two deputies conceived a plan through which they embezzled over 6 million euro worth of funds in their own interest. In another move, the anti-corruption prosecutors have called on the Senate to lift the parliamentary immunity of former interior minister, senator Gabriel Oprea, in order to start prosecution against him, for malfeasance in a second file.



    MEDIA– The Romanian technocratic Prime Minister, Dacian Ciolos, assured the Romanian Senators on Wednesday of the governments cooperation in finding a solution to the financial situation the Romanian Television Company is in, but he recalled that the public television broadcaster is subordinated to Parliament. Recently, the interim President and CEO of the Romanian Television Company, Irina Radu, has sent a letter to the leadership of the Romanian Parliament, drawing attention to the fact that the financial situation of the Romanian Television Company has worsened considerably. She also called on the MPs to make a decision on whether or not Romania still needs such a public service provider. The talks on the Romanian Television Company are held in the context in which the Romanian Prime Minister was invited to the Senate to provide explanations on the request made by the National Fiscal Administration Agency, ANAF, regarding the evacuation of the buildings where the TV channels that are part of the Intact private media trust operate. Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos said he had not been informed and should not have been informed about ANAFs action. He made it clear that the five-day deadline was the only one stipulated by law and if it had not been observed, ANAF might have been accused of discrimination. Moreover, Ciolos assured that the freedom of expression would be firmly defended. In turn, President Klaus Iohannis said the ANAF inspectors approach to the issue was debatable and inadequate. He underlined that following the talks he had held with the line authorities, its clear there is openness to solve the case. The buildings housing the Intact television trust belong to businessman Dan Voiculescu, who was sentenced to prison in 2014, on corruption charges. The court also ruled that the buildings he owned be seized to make up for the loss incurred by the state. The total loss stood at 60 million euros. A little over 1% of that loss has so far been recovered.


    Translated and edited by Ana Maria Palcu and Diana Vijeu

  • February 16, 2016, UPDATE

    February 16, 2016, UPDATE

    As of Tuesday the President of the Republic of Moldova Nicolae Timofti is on an official visit to Bucharest. On Wednesday he is to have talks with his counterpart Klaus Iohannis, with PM Dacian Cioloş, with the Senate Speaker Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, as well as other Romanian officials. The topics to be discussed in Bucharest include bilateral relations, the European accession efforts of the Republic of Moldova, and the economic, political and social cooperation between the two countries. Timoftis visit comes after on Friday the Moldovan PM, Pavel Filip, announced that Romania would provide aid to Moldova in the context of the economic and social crisis that this country is struggling with. The aid will consist in food products intended for underprivileged people and heavy fuel to increase Moldovas reserves in case its natural gas supply is discontinued.



    The Romanian PM Dacian Cioloş presented the priorities of his term in office to the head of the European Parliament Martin Schulz, during a visit to Brussels on Tuesday. On this occasion, PM Ciolos said Romania must be a more active EU member state and become more deeply involved in the issues on the EU agenda. In turn, in the joint press conference after the meeting, the EP President said that talks had approached, among others, the refugee crisis and the situation in the Republic of Moldova. On Monday, the first day of his visit to Brussels, the head of the Romanian government had a meeting with the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker.



    The head of the National Centre for Infectious Disease, Dr. Adriana Pistol, said on Tuesday that Bucharest requested international assistance for the hospitalised children from Arges County in the south. The cases involve severe digestive infection followed by complications in children aged up to two years, but the source is yet unknown. Three children died since the beginning of the month, and ten are treated in Bucharest. The Prime Ministers Control Corps announced it would initiate its own investigation in the case. Meanwhile, the Health Minister, Patriciu Achimaş-Cadariu, will present a report on this case to the Committee on healthcare and family in the Chamber of Deputies.



    The Government of Romania will present on Wednesday, in a public debate, a programme designed to fight poverty. The plan, entitled “Integrated Package on Poverty Reduction, consists in around 50 measures, primarily addressing children. These measures include the funding of ultrasound tests for pregnant women, of vaccines, the set-up of day-care facilities for pre-school children and the granting of facilities to reduce school dropout rates. According to the Government, some 1.7 million children in Romania are threatened by poverty, especially in rural communities.



    The former UN Secretary General, Butros Butros Ghali, has died at the age of 93. He had been admitted to a hospital in Cairo, last week. The Egyptian Butros Butros Ghali was the first African to hold the post of secretary general of the United Nations, and served between 1992 and 1996.

  • Billions of listeners and viewers will follow the Romanian Radio National Orchestra

    Billions of listeners and viewers will follow the Romanian Radio National Orchestra

    The Romanian Radio public broadcaster has been in the last years a true cultural ambassador of Romania in the Asian area through the tours undertaken by the Romanian Radio Orchestras and Choirs in such countries as Japan, China and, from September 2014, Malaysia. The Romanian Radio National Orchestra has been invited to attend a major musical event: World Summit on Media for Children, where, on



    September 9th and September 10th 2014, the Romanian artists will be welcomed by the audience from Kuala Lumpur — the capital of Malaysia.



    According to the organizers of the event, the two concerts performed by the Romanian Radio National Orchestra are the “main attraction” of the 7th edition of the summit. This is the first time that the international event is organized on the Asian continent, after Melbourne, London, Thessaloníki, Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg and Karlstad.



    The two concerts will be audio and video recorded by the public radio and TV broadcaster from Kuala Lumpur and will be broadcast by all members of ABU – Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union, reaching thusly a potential audience of several billions of listeners and viewers , in a geographic area which covers half of the planet. The tour is organized by Radio Romania and ABU.



    The concerts will be held in the Kuala Lumpur Philharmonic Hall, hosted by the legendary Petronas towers, an emblematic building of the city, two twin skyscrapers which have been considered to be the highest building in the world from 1998 to 2004. The first concert, scheduled on September 9th, will be dedicated to the summit participants, while the second performance will be addressed to the wide audience.



    The Romanian Radio National Orchestra will perform under the baton of TIBERIU SOARE, the principal conductor of the Romanian Radio Orchestras and Choirs, who has conducted the ensemble on all tours undertaken in the last seasons. The soloists of the two concerts will be GABRIEL CROITORU — violin and


    HORIA MIHAIL — piano, two musicians widely acclaimed in numerous events held at the Romanian Radio Hall.



    The programme will be a special one: two Romanian compositions, true “business cards” of the Romanian culture, namely the Rhapsody no. 1, Enescus famous work, and Ciocârlia, composed by Angheluş Dinicu and made famous by the exceptional performance and arrangement carried out by his nephew, violinist


    Grigoraş Dinicu. Besides these two works, the Malaysian audience will also listen to several pieces from the international repertoire: the Swan Lake suite by Tchaikovsky, the Burleske for piano and orchestra, signed by Richard Strauss and the Gypsy Melodies, by the Spanish violinist and composer Pablo de Sarasate. The two concerts will also feature two original Malaysian compositions. The tour is organized with the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute.



    OVIDIU MICULESCU, President Director General of Radio Romania: “We will go there to build a new bridge, a subtle and important one, between our European – rooted culture and the surprising Asia. When voices so different speak with so much love, generosity and talent the same language, which is music, we can say throughly that there is still hope for a better world”.



    The participation of the Romanian National Radio Orchestra in Malaysia is an important step in the frame of extending Radio Romanias partnerships beyond the European Broadcasting Union.


    “I think that this tour is important especially in terms of media. We are permanently focusing on maintaining our cultural and informative mission and this international attendance brings them together very well. We are speaking about an Asian media summit of great importance and about a concert which will be broadcast by the major Asian televisions, which reach potentially billions of listeners and viewers, therefore our artistic message will be multiplied”, stated Oltea Şerban — Pârâu, the artistic director of the Romanian Radio Orchestras and Choirs and director of Radio Romania Media Cultural Centre.



    Organized between September 8th and September 10th, World Summit on Media for Children (WSMC) will have as main topic Mass-media for the 21st century children, will host 2000 participants and is organized by Asia — Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), the Malaysian Radio Television and the WSMC Foundation.