From 17 to 19 May 2005, Koichiro Matsuura, the Director-General of UNESCO, paid his first official visit to the Republic of Moldova. During his stay, Mr Matsuura held talks with Mr Vladimir Voronin, President of the Republic; Mr Vasile Tarlev, Prime Minister; Mr Valerian Cristea, Deputy Prime Minister responsible for Education and Culture; Mr Andrei Stratan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and European Integration; Mr Artur Cozma, Minister of Culture and Tourism; and Mr Victor Tvircun, Minister of Education, Youth and Sports; as well as with Mr Bruno Pouezat, UNDP Resident Representative and UN Coordinator in Moldova. Ambassador Andrei Neguta, Permanent Delegate of Moldova to UNESCO, accompanied the Director-General throughout this visit.

UNESCO, in cooperation with UNICEF and UNDP, has assisted the authorities of Moldova in the preparation of the EFA National Strategy and National Action Plan aiming to identify and prioritise the country�s education needs and better define target areas for development policies in regard to EFA. The Director-General expressed his satisfaction about the recent inclusion of Moldova among the countries of the World Bank-led Fast Track Initiative for 2005, which will facilitate obtaining donor funding for the country�s education needs. Mr Matsuura said that apart from UNESCO�s Office in Moscow, UNESCO will henceforth extend its assistance to Moldova through its European Centre for Higher Education (CEPES) in Bucharest.

Mr Matsuura informed the authorities of his intention to strengthen UNESCO�s cooperation with Moldova in the field of culture, mobilizing UNESCO�s Office in Venice in addition to UNESCO�s Moscow Office, in particular as concerns the preparation of candidatures for inclusion to the World Heritage List. The Director-General highlighted the importance of cultural heritage in the development of cultural tourism and underscored the need to raise awareness, especially among young people, about the necessity of protecting heritage.

Finally, the Director-General encouraged the authorities of Moldova to participate in the Organization�s activities in the region of South-East Europe. He referred to the conference of Ministers of Culture of South-East Europe to be organized in Venice in November 2005 by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage.

Before leaving Moldova, the Director-General visited the site of Orheiul Vechi, the Monastery of Kapriana and the wine growing complex of Cricova.

Chisinau, 12 April 2005 � National Commission of the Republic of Moldova for UNESCO launched the National Center on Bioethics in the frame of the project: �The Promotion of Bioethics Knowledge in the Republic of Moldova�.

There were 107 invited persons on the launching ceremony, representing the Government of the Republic of Moldova, Ministry of Health of RM, National Committee on Assuarence of RM, Ministry of Education of RM, Ministry of Ecology and National Resources of RM,  State University of Medicine and Pharmacology �N. Testemiteanu�, Moldavian State University, Moldavian State Agricultural University, Moldavian Technical University; International Organization with offices in the Republic of Moldova: UNICEF, Helsinki Fund, Soros Foundation, World Health Organization; NGOs. Meeting was also attende by the Directors of Republican and municipal hospitals, doctors, filosofians, lawyers, students, mass-media. 

Welcome speech was presented by Professor Constantin Rusnac, General Secretary of the National Commission of the Republic of Moldova for UNESCO  who stressed attention paid by UNESCO to the bioethics issues, taking into account its great actuality for future development of human civilization.

The National Center on Bioethics has the next tasks: (a) promotion the knowledge of bioethics, based on international and national experience; (b) promotion rising of the quality of education in the field of bioethics; (c) promotion of the permanent access to the scientific materials in the field of bioethics; (d) promotion exchange of the experience in the field of bioethics on national and regional levels; (e) promotion of dessimination of knowledge in the field of bioethics for different target groups of experts, doctors, researches, laywers, teachers, mass-media, members of the Parliament, NGOs, etc.

UNESCO Moscow Office for Armenia, Azerbaidjan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation has provided financial support for the development of the project. The partners of the National Commission of the Republic of Moldova for UNESCO were the Internet Access and Training Programme of the US State Depurtment in the Republic of Moldova, the State University of Medicine and Pharmacology �N. Testemiteanu� and the Center �Intercultural Dialogue�. 

Participants of the meeting recieved informational materials and posters on the bioethics issues. National Commission of the Republic of Moldova for UNESCO supplied the National Center on Bioethics with  equipment for activities in the frame of the project.

Next stage of the project will be the development of the web-site concerning bioethics issues, preparing for edition, publishing and free of charge dessimination of popular version of the book, where bioethics issues related to environment, ecology, medicine aspects, human rights will be presented.
 
 

Members of the National Center of Bioethics of the Republic of Moldova. In the center - Luminitsa Corbu-Drumea, Ph.D, Expert in Social, Human and Natural Sciences of the National Commission of the Republic of Moldova for UNESCO; manager of the project, Constantin Rusnac, Secretary General of the National Commission of the Republic of Moldova for UNESCO, Prof., Dr.H.C., Theodore N. Cirdea, director of National Center of Bioethics, Head of the Department of Philosophy and Bioethics of the USMF �Nicolae Testemitsanu�

In all scientific fields, ethical reflection and debate have been stepped up everywhere in recent years in view of the issues raised by scientific progress and technological development. Identification, analysis of and searching solutions for these problems require application of universal ethical principles and norms based on shared humanitarian values. In practice this process involves undertaking relevant measures on the identification of emerging challenges in science and technology, involvement of decision-makers and the realization of educational and awareness-raising programmes. In this regard there is a need in the development of regional cooperation, exchange of experience, methodologies and research results, especially since a growing international dimension of ethical and bioethical issues highlights the necessity of effective coordination among multiple stakeholders.

Taking into account the topicality of these challenges, a meeting of experts was held in Minsk, organized by the UNESCO Moscow Office for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation, Belarus National Commission for UNESCO, Forum of Ethics Committees of CIS states (FECCIS), Institute of Genetics and Cytology of Belarus National Academy of Sciences, and Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The participants of the meeting, who gathered in Minsk to discuss ways of development of regional cooperation in the sphere of ethics and bioethics,
Representing CIS and Baltic states (Armenia, Belarus, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, Ukraine), UNESCO Headquarters and UNESCO Moscow Office,
Sharing the opinion, that commitment to universal ethical norms and principles is a pre-requisite for the protection of human rights and dignity in the era of rapid progress in science and technology and expanding scales of use of their results in various spheres of human and social life,
Aiming at the implementation of the Universal Declaration on Human Genome and Human Rights, International Declaration on Human Genetic Data and other international documents in this sphere,
Recognizing and taking into account the accumulated international experience in identifying, analysing and addressing ethical challenges in science and technology,
Recognizing the necessity to improve the quality of education, to expand access to existing information resources and to encourage communication among experts in the sphere of ethics of science and technology and bioethics,
Emphasizing the necessity to develop and apply into practice educational programmes, approaches and methodologies, which provide for the awareness-raising and deeper insight both among specialists and the most diverse social circles into basic ethical problems emerging as a result of the development of life sciences, progress in healthcare, and practical application of relevant knowledge,
Considering capacity-building of national bodies, which deal with ethical issues, as a pre-requisite for the implementation of ethical norms aimed at the protection of human rights and dignity in the sphere of biomedicine,
Recognizing the significance of international cooperation and potential capacities of the countries of the region in the development and practical application of universal ethical principles and norms,
Recognizing high scientific potential and taking into account specific ethical traditions peculiar to the countries of the region,

Summarizing the results of the consultations, adopted the following decisions:
� to continue holding regular meetings in the countries of the region at international, regional and national levels with participation of experts in ethics of science and technology and bioethics;
� to recommend national governments and parliaments, relevant ministries and institutions, public organizations and trade unions to support national initiatives, in particular those related to the development of educational programmes on ethics, as well as the establishment and activities of ethics and bioethics committees, with respect to national and international experience;
� to consider it advisable to elaborate and further apply educational programme modules in accordance with regional needs in the sphere of differentiated ethical education and awareness-raising among various social groups including decision-makers and those responsible for conducting ethical expertise of scientific projects, practicians, social workers, social services consumers, researchers, teachers, students, etc.;
� to utilize and multiply cumulative intellectual and information resources including those available in the framework of existing mechanisms of international and regional cooperation, such as UNESCO Global Ethics Observatory, Information and Educational Centre for Bioethics in Vilnius, Forum of Ethics Committees of CIS states, and to initiate a project aimed at the establishment and support of a �Discussion Forum� on bioethics;
� to initiate and support the project aimed at identifying, studying and addressing ethical problems related to the collection, storage and use of genetic data in the countries of the region, taking into account the norms and principles of UNESCO International Declaration on Human Genetic Data;
� to consider necessary and to support cooperation on issues related to ethics of science and bioethics with international organizations, such as UNESCO, World Health Organization, the Council of Europe, the European Commission, World Medical Association, European Forum for Good Clinical Practice, etc.;
� to address CIS executive bodies, the countries of the region and relevant national organizations and institutions inviting them to interaction and cooperation in the sphere of ethics of science and technology and bioethics;
� to apply to the Division of Ethics of Science and Technology of UNESCO Social and Human Sciences Sector requesting to provide on a regular basis related information through national commissions for UNESCO, national ethics and bioethics committees and FECCIS;
� to apply to UNESCO with a request to consider the possibility of granting support to the regional project with the participation of FECCIS, which is aimed at summarizing experience in the development of ethical expertise of biomedical research in the region with respect to their cultural and historical specifics;
� to support initiatives of interdisciplinary projects in such fields as ethics of science and technology, environmental ethics, bioethics, human rights, social responsibility, legal and ethical aspects of the most topical issues, such as HIV/AIDS, patients� rights, reproductive health, etc.;
� to express their gratitude to the organizers � UNESCO Secretariat, UNESCO Moscow Office, FECCIS, Belarus National Commission for UNESCO, Institute of Genetics and Cytology of BAS, Institute of Philosophy of RAS � for the organization of consultations;
� to apply to the UNESCO Moscow Office with a request to finalize this document jointly with the co-organizers of the meeting, to disseminate it among the participants and agree on the text, and to forward the text in Russian and English languages to relevant national organizations and UNESCO Headquarters.

Minsk, 11 March 2005

e-mail: unesco@moldova.md
 

Partners
The State University of Medicine and Pharmacy 
�Nicolae Testemitanu�
Center �Intercultural Dialogue�
National Center of Bioethics of Republic of Moldova