In a creche (childcare center) in Rîșcani, Moldova, 2-year-old Madalina constructs a castle with colorful blocks with her friend Dmitri from Ukraine, age 3. Their laughter rings across the room in an extraordinary expression of the power of play to erase language barriers and to build better lives for children.

Madalina and Dmitri attend one of 20 employer- and entrepreneur-run creches established as part of a pioneering effort to enhance and expand early education in Moldova, in response to the flow of refugees from Ukraine.

The Moldova Early Education Initiative proves what is possible when partners, policies and programs converge around a powerful vision: ensuring that every child, regardless of their circumstances and countries of origin, has access to childcare.

Responding to crisis

Since 2022, 1,186,847 refugees have arrived in Moldova from Ukraine. Over 125,000 refugees have remained and resettled, accounting for 5% of the population of Moldova, and the highest refugee population per capita in Europe.

The majority of arrivals (95%) are children and women, putting significant strain on scarce resources: 33.6% of children are in poverty; only 40.8% of women are employed; and only 15% of children are able to access childcare services and support in Moldova.

In 2022, the government of Moldova made an ambitious commitment to address these challenges to ensure access to childcare for children from both Moldova and Ukraine, and to achieve 45% participation per the 2030 Barcelona Targets for Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC).

The Moldova Early Education Initiative - a consortium comprising Centrul Parteneriat pentru Dezvoltare (a public policy think tank), Centrul Voinicel (a local level organization engaged in early intervention), andProgramul Educational Pas cu Pas (a local level organization engaged in early education) and coordinated by Street Child—made critical contributions to this commitment in alignment with global efforts towards equitable, quality early education enshrined by GPE.

This resulted in the remarkable 2023-2026 National Program for Child Care Services for Children Age 0 to 3 (Programul Național privind Serviciile de Îngrijire a Copiilor cu Vârsta Pânăla 3 Ani). It provides a powerful platform for partnership and the pooling of efforts and funds, and a purposeful roadmap for the rapid enhancement and expansion of creches, childcare services and support.

The program articulated a clear commitment to childcare and a National Steering Committee was convened to advance collaboration and coordination across critical stakeholders from civil society and the state.

Together, partners catalyzed critical changes in policies and piloted programs including advancing amendments to the law to introduce and incorporate creche enterprises; approving occupational standards for childcare service providers and service provision; conceptualizing costing instruments; and coordinating childcare plans and programs with over 20 local public authorities.

To date, the program has enhanced and expanded 38 public childcare centres catering to approximately 2,350 children (90% Moldovan and 10% Ukrainian) and established, for the first time ever, 20 creche enterprises with 19 serving 78 children (92% Moldovan and 8% Ukrainian) and 1 catering to 600 children of employees at Orange Moldova.

These employer and entrepreneur-run creches are a significant contribution to scale and sustainability by serving children in their communities. This means more and more children like Madalina and Dmitri will have access to safe, secure and stimulating spaces and international-standard, specialist care—it means every child will have the opportunity to play, learn and thrive.

To this end, the program has also trained 74 early educators employed in public childcare centers and 25 early education entrepreneurs and potential providers in early childhood care, early education, and early intervention using accredited approaches of the International Child Development Program and International Step by Step Association.

This training has invested in early education practitioner and provider proficiencies, to integrate and implement play-based pedagogical practices in their programs and harness the power of play to improve physical and psychosocial outcomes for children.

This has produced a profound transformation in early education and a transition towards child-centered, inclusive learning through play that provides children with engaging, enriching early educational experiences as they prepare for primary education.

Foundations for the future

The Moldova Early Education Initiative illustrates how innovative partnerships, policies and programs can achieve immediate impact for children and caregivers and the importance of intensified interest and investment in early childcare from practitioners, providers and policymakers.

These achievements are reflected in the Moldova Growth Plan, which commits to the creation of a further 5,000 childcare placements as one of its proposed growth strategies across sectors.

In 2025, the program is poised to train 500 early educators employed in creches and child care centers that will receive additional resources and expansion supported by the government of Moldova, GPE and the World Bank.

The Moldova Early Education Initiative provides a blueprint for countries responding to crisis to invest in child care and transform challenges into crucial opportunities and concrete outcomes for young learners.

In particular, it emphasizes the importance of integrating play-based pedagogies into early education, to ensure children acquire creativity, curiosity and critical skills, such as communication, collaboration and conflict resolution, to enable readiness for further education, and to establish the foundations for lifelong learning.

As we mark the International Day of Play, Madalina and Dmitri remind us of the power of play and the power of prioritizing children and their care, one colorful block at a time.