From 19 September to 2 October 2015 in Sliema, Malta has conducted UNFPA Executive Training Course on Population, Ageing and Development, organized by the Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science, in cooperation with International Institute on Ageing United Nations – Malta (INIA) and UNFPA Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Office. The course included 76 academic contact hours, consultations and group discussions, and a conference based on country reports presented by the training participants.

The training program was focused on selected demographical themes (family and fertility development in Europe, reproductive health, mortality, migration, statistical problems in the population study, population forecasts etc.). Particular attention was given problems related to demographic ageing, international and regional politics aimed to ageing, national capacity on ageing, policy development in the field, experience and good practices of other countries in developing services geared to the elderly, etc.

Twenty people, including researchers, representatives of civil organizations, officials and policy makers from nine countries (Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Serbia and Turkey), attended the training. From academic environment of Moldova, Dr. Mariana Buciuceanu-Vrabie, senior research fellow at the Centre for Demographic Research of the National Institute of Economic Research (NICE), participated at the training.

Training was held by professors of Charles University in Prague: T.Kucera, B.Burcin, J.Rychtarikova, S.Drapal, D.Drbohlav, E.Janska, J.Kocourkova, L.Sykora; professors of the International Institute on Ageing United Nations – Malta (INIA): M.Formosa, R.Farrugia Bonello; Professor A.Zaidi University of Southampton; Dr.A.Sidorenco from European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research, Austria, Vienna.

On the 1^st of October, 2015, in the International Day of the Elderly, participants and lecturers training attended the launch event of the book Ageing and Later Life in Malta, author prof. Marvin Formosa (Director INIA), held in the International Institute on Ageing United Nations – Malta (INIA).

We note that Moldova's participation in this training aimed and consultation with international experts on Active Ageing Index calculation (AAI) based on selected data available at national level.Thus, through direct consultation with Professor A.Zaidi, author of Active Ageing Index (AAI), Moldova's present results in adjusting the available data to AAI methodological requirements, were discussed. Our country was the only one of those attending the training that made the first step in collecting the 22 composite indicators and adapting the methodology for calculating AAI at the national level. 

Results of the Moldovan - Czech cooperation project “Complex support for development of the population statistics and demography in the Republic of Moldova (2013-2015)”

On January 21, 2015, some results of the Moldovan - Czech cooperation project “Complex support for development of the population statistics and demography in the Republic of Moldova” (2013-2015) were presented at the Centre for Demographic Research of the National Institute for Economic Research. The Project is implemented with the support provided by Charles University in Prague, Department of Demography and Geodemography and coordinated by Dr. Tomáš Kučera.

Beneficiaries and project executors in the Republic of Moldova are the Center for Demographic Research of National Institute for Economic Research, the Moldova State University,  (Department of Sociology and Social Assistance), the National Bureau of Statistics and the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova (Department of Economic Thought, Demography and Geoeconomy).

The event welcomed Academician Gh.Duca, President of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova; Academician Gheorghe Paladi; Kateřina Šilhánková from the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Moldova; Project coordinator Dr. Tomas Kucera, Charles University in Prague; Dr. Boris Gâlca, Eduard Mihalaş, UNFPA; Aliona Cretu, Head of Demographic Policies Department of the Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Family; Dr.hab. Valeriu Sainsus, ASEM; Prof. Maria Bulgaru, Dr. Oleg Bulgaru, Dr. Diana Cheianu, Moldova State University, Ecaterina Jardan, Head of Demographic Statistics Department of the National Bureau of Statistics.

Prof. Alexandru Stratan, Director of the National Institute for Economic Research, mentioned the importance of establishing the Center for Demographic Research in frame of the Institute (from October 1, 2013), which aims at improving population studies and providing the government structures with the information regarding population dynamics and demographic projections. During this period, the human potential of this subdivision was consolidated and the implementation of the Moldavan - Czech cooperation project “Complext support for the development of population statistics and demography in the Republic of Moldova” improved a lot working conditions. In this context, the Director expressed his gratitude to the representatives of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Moldova and to Dr. Tomáš Kučera for their granted support.

Academician Gheorghe Duca, President of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, emphasized the importance of the demographic research in the contemporary society, its practical aspect, and thanked the Czech representatives and the project coordinators for their support for the Center for Demographic Research in alignment to European standards in the research sector.

The representative of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Moldova, Kateřina Šilhánková, mentioned the progress during the project, which is de facto the result of a joint effort of the implementers from the Czech Republic and the Moldovan beneficiary institutions, including the Center for Demographic Research.

Dr. Tomáš Kučera, the Project coordinator, mentioned on his turn, that an important phase of the Project related to the arrangement of the workplaces and providing them with the necessary equipment was completed, and this year the Project will be oriented more to the demographic researches. Thus, the scientific researchers from the Center for Demographic Research have already established several urgent research topics. Currently the training course on the demographic projections is in progress, which enhances the institutional capacity in this field.

Dr. Olga Gagauz, Head of the Center for Demographic Research, expressed her gratitude to the partners from the Czech Republic for equipping 15 workplaces with the necessary furniture, advanced technical equipment and specialized licensed software. The Centre was also fully equipped with a scientific methodological laboratory and up-to-date specialized literature.  Within the project, for the National Institute for Economic Research there has been provided an open access to the electronic sources Ebrary (online digital library with over 70,000 full scientific texts: www.ebrary.com ).

Ms. Prof. Maria Bulgaru highlighted the importance of the national cooperation in the field of demography and appreciated the involvement of scientific researchers from the Center for Demographic Research in the pedagogical training process.

Representatives of the media also attended the event.

On January 20-23, 2015, within the Moldavian - Czech cooperation project “Complex support for development of the population statistics and demography in the Republic of Moldova”, the second training course on "Population Projections in Demography" was held for the specialists from partner institutions. The course was held by the specialists from Charles University in Prague, Department of Demography and Geodemography: Dr. Tomas Kucera, Dr. Boris Burcin and Honza Kuranda. The aim of the course was to improve the participants’ knowledge regarding the projection methods in demography and their practical application.

The course was attended by the researchers of the Centre for Demographic Research of the National Institute for Economic Research, the specialists from the National Bureau of Statistics, the teaching staff from the Moldova State University and the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova.

The course was aimed at developing the practical skills indemography using different software programs such as MS Excel and DeRaS. The participants learnt a series of methods for calculating abridged and complete life tables based on data for different countries, including the Republic of Moldova. Moreover, in frame of the theoretical part of the course, the participants obtained valuable knowledge on such topics as the differences between population forecasts and projections, stages, types and models of population projections.