Rezina – a city located on the Nistru riverbank at a close distance from Ribnita, is one of the main partner-communities of the EU “Confidence Building Measures Programme” implemented by UNDP.

As the two cities are located nearby, many workers from Ribnita live in Rezina, while half of doctors working in Rezina hospital live on the other side of the Nistru river. Many families residing on one side of the river have relatives on the opposite side.

Hence, Rezina has benefited over the last years from several social infrastructure renovation projects. The Infectious Diseases Department, as well as the Surgery and Intensive Care Department of the Rezina Hospital were renovated with the financial support provided by the European Union. The Chief Doctor of the hospital Nina Postu noted that after all these interventions the number of persons asking for assistance in these two subdivisions of the institution has increased up to 20% and is of 1000 persons a year.

“The EU and UNDP confidence-building measures focus on promoting social infrastructure and strengthening people-to-people connections. As part of this support, the Contagious Disease Ward and Surgery Department were renovated at Rezina Hospital, the chess schools in both towns were repaired and received technical assistance, and public lighting was installed across a connecting bridge for the first time since 1993. And we are happy to note that all these are well maintained and benefit people,” said Agi Veres, Deputy Director of UNDP for Europe and CIS, being in a visit in the region.

Another important project was carried out for the chess school from Rezina, which is attended by almost 100 children. The institution was repaired and endowed with all necessary equipment. At the same time, a chess club was renovated in Ribnita, and a tournament was organized between these two schools in 2018.

The lighting system on the bridge over the River Nistru, which links Rezina and Ribnita, was repaired by the end of the last year. Being 500% more energy efficient than the Soviet type ones, the bulbs were switched on for the first time after a period of 26 years of darkness. Now the residents of the two cities may travel safely from one side to the other side of the river even during the nighttime.

“The European Union Confidence Building Measures Programme has been delivering better living conditions for more than 10 years. Being in Rezina today is a good opportunity to show how this long-term EU programme developed cooperation and interaction between both banks of the Nistru river. It significantly and concretely improved the daily life of all citizens,” stated Marco Gemmer, Head of Operations Section of the EU Delegation in the Republic of Moldova.

European Union has allocated for all these projects almost half a million euro (428,000 euro) and about 60,000 persons benefit from them.  

“We are grateful to the European Union and the UNDP for their valuable contribution to improving the lives of Moldovan residents and especially those living in the Security Zone, and also for their productive contribution to promoting confidence-building measures between the population on both sides of the Nistru river,” notes Alin Gvidiani, Head of the Reintegration Policies Bureau of the Republic of Moldova Government.

The Deputy Director of UNDP for Europe and CIS Agi Veres is paying a two-days visit to the Republic of Moldova. She had meetings with the representatives of the Government, development partners, civil society, as well as UN Country Team, participating as well in the launch of the Human Development Report for 2019.