CRDC Brought the Community Together for International Youth Day in Cahul

On 12 August 2026, Grigore Vieru Park in Cahul became a shared space for young people, children, parents, organisations and local institutions during a community event dedicated to International Youth Day.

For A.O. Centrul Regional de Dezvoltare Comunitară, the event was the result of a process that had begun well before 12 August. The initiative to organise this activity came from CRDC as early as June, when we started discussions with local stakeholders, developed the concept of the event and mobilised institutions, organisations and partners that could contribute to creating a programme that was as diverse and accessible to the community as possible.

Throughout the preparation process, the CRDC team coordinated the mobilisation of partners, worked on arranging the space, integrating different activities into the programme and organising the interactive areas. We wanted the event to be more than a formal celebration of International Youth Day and instead become a space where young people and members of the community could interact directly with local organisations and institutions.

A large number of partners were therefore mobilised around the initiative: Cahul Municipality, Cahul Municipal Youth Centre, the General Inspectorate for Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs – Southern Regional Directorate, Community Center Cahul, EduJoc, Nicolae Botgros Palace of Culture, Cahul District Youth Centre, Cahul Emergency Situations Directorate, AGAPE Youth-Friendly Health Centre Cahul, Cahul Chess Centre, the Children’s School of Fine Arts of Cahul Municipality, AO Perspectiva and the Cahul Youth Fund, the Regional Inspectorate of Carabineers, the Border Police – Southern Regional Directorate, the Association for Combating Information Isolation ECOU and AO ActiveWomen.

The involvement of such a large number of local stakeholders made it possible to create a diverse event where participants could move from games and educational activities to dialogue, information sessions, music and direct interaction with the institutions present.

Another important role of CRDC was arranging the community space and providing its own activities within the event. The organisation allocated resources for preparing the area, the necessary materials and interactive activities, while CRDC volunteers were mobilised both for logistical support and for direct engagement with participants.

One of the most active areas was the space dedicated to educational games provided by EduJoc, where our volunteers supported the organisation of activities and interaction with children and participating families.

The food-court area was also arranged through the direct involvement of the CRDC team and volunteers. Together, we prepared pancakes, hot dogs, lemonade and potatoes for participants. Beyond its practical purpose, this area quickly became a place for socialising and interaction, where people stopped, talked and spent time together.

For us, these details were particularly important: to create an event where people were not merely spectators, but had reasons to stay, participate, discover new activities and interact with one another.

The artistic programme, organised with the support of Cahul Municipality and local partners, complemented the community activities in the park. Young performers from the “Music Galaxy” Music Studio – Arina Klimenco and Anastasia Morari – took to the stage, along with Martina Bondareva, “Drăgălina și Band-ul” and the band “E Cartier”. The evening concluded with an open-air film screening organised by the Cahul Municipal Youth Centre.

The atmosphere and diversity of activities were also appreciated by participants, who particularly noted that the event brought together so many organisations, institutions and activities for different age groups in one place. For many of those present, the value of the event lay precisely in the opportunity to participate freely, discover local initiatives and spend time in an open and welcoming space.

At the end of the event, Irina Bejan, Administrator of A.O. Centrul Regional de Dezvoltare Comunitară, congratulated the young people and thanked everyone involved.

“For us, this day did not begin on 12 August. We started building this idea back in June through discussions, phone calls, meetings and the mobilisation of partners. We wanted International Youth Day to be about young people, but also about the community that supports them. The fact that today we see so many institutions, organisations, volunteers, children, parents and young people here shows what we can achieve when everyone brings their own contribution and we build something together.”

She also highlighted the role of the volunteers and the team that worked on preparing the space:

“Behind an event like this, there are many things that cannot be seen from the stage: arranging the space, preparing materials, mobilising volunteers, coordinating partners, games, the food court and dozens of details that have to be brought together. I would especially like to thank our volunteers, who stood by us and once again demonstrated how much difference can be made by the energy of people who choose to get involved.”

For CRDC, organising this activity also meant a direct investment in the community – of time, resources, energy and mobilisation capacity. We contributed to arranging the space, provided materials and activities, mobilised volunteers and created the conditions necessary for several partners to bring their own initiatives into a shared framework.

The result was a day in which Grigore Vieru Park became a concrete example of what local cooperation can mean: public institutions, civil society organisations, volunteers and the community working together in the same space.

For A.O. Centrul Regional de Dezvoltare Comunitară, such activities are part of how we understand community development: initiating processes, connecting people and institutions, mobilising resources and transforming ideas into shared experiences for the community.

We thank all the partners, volunteers and participants who contributed to this day, and especially the young people who gave it its energy and meaning.

The activity was also carried out within the project “Strengthening the Capacity for Socio-Economic Integration of Displaced Families and Host Communities”, financed by the Global Concessional Financing Facility (GCFF), administered by the World Bank, and implemented by Terre des hommes – Moldova in partnership with the General Inspectorate for Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Moldova.