On the International Day of Older Persons, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection awarded the winners of the National Award “For an Active Life at Any Age”, which is at its eighth edition. A total of 14 applicants competed and eight were declared winners, IPN reports.
The winners were conferred the title of Laureate of the National Award “For an Active Life at Any Age” and a cash prize of 10,000 lei each.
In the opening of the event, Minister Alexei Buzu said that “we have a generation of wise and beautiful older people” and encouraged everyone to work, in the same way as they worked, so as to develop the Republic of Moldova. The official outlined the Government’s major priorities to provide the elderly with a decent life, nice and active aging. “Let’s make sure that we offer a decent pension to every older person in the Republic of Moldova. We understand that we are far from this goal, but we made efforts to establish the minimum pension for long careers. For those pensioners who have worked all their lives, the Government will guarantee a minimum pension of 3,300 lei starting next year,” stated the minister.
Quality social assistance close to every older person, especially those who remained alone, is another priority underlined by the minister. “Let’s make sure and encourage every older person to age actively. They accumulated wisdom, experience and we believe that we can exploit this potential so that the “young people of the third age” continue to be active. We have third-age students, who went to university and finished fasciitis in IT technology and other current fields. There are no reasons why the elderly cannot be part of and cannot have access to digital services,” said Alexei Buzu, specifying that the efforts are aimed at ensuring that each person has the opportunity “to age nicely and healthily”.
Present at the event, MP Maria Pancu mentioned the legislative initiative through which the amount of grants for the elderly was increased from 400,000 to 1 million lei and a larger number of people from all over the country can now benefit. “And I want to proudly announce that I recently visited Cajba village, where I opened a fitness center for seniors. Two months ago, we opened a specific activity center for seniors in Ungheni. During the next few days, we will go together with Minister Alexei Buzu to the State University, where we will open Year II at the University for the Elderly. During the next few days, we will launch the University for the Elderly in Cahul and Balti,” said the parliamentarian, encouraging the elderly to take advantage of the opportunities that are created for them.
Ecaterina Leu, from Ialoveni district, the winner of the 2024 National Award for Senior Citizens, has been a teacher since 1971. Although she retired, she continues to work. “I got on the train of life exactly on October 1st. For me, it is a great honor to celebrate my birthday like this. I was brought up by two golden parents, who were beautiful and very hardworking. I was a lively, naughty child, a little girl with curly hair. I think I wasn’t ugly as a young lady either as I married the best young man in the village. For over 40 years, I have been a teacher for several generations. In Zâmbreni village of Ialoveni district, the Republic of Moldova, I was born, I grew up, I worked and I recently marked my golden wedding. And I will say that I want this to be my final resting place. My house is in the middle of the country and a sprig of basil grows close to my doorstep. There is no other more beautiful country in the world. There is no other more beautiful land in the world. I love my country. I love the Republic of Moldova,” stated Ecaterina Leu.
The National Award for Senior Citizens was instituted in 2016. It is intended for people aged 60 and over, who achieved outstanding results in various areas of activity.
