People's perceptions of the degree to which human rights are respected in the Republic of Moldova have not changed fundamentally over the last two years

December 10, 2018

Photo: UNDP Moldova

7 out of 10 inhabitants of Republic of Moldova consider their rights to be systematically violated. This is evidenced by the results of the study "Human Rights Perceptions in the Republic of Moldova", presented on December 10, 2018, on the International Human Rights Day. The research was conducted by the iData Company for the People's Advocate Office. It was aimed at observing the dynamic of human rights perceptions as compared to 2016 when a similar research was conducted.

The development of the study was possible with the support form UNDP Moldova, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Population Fund in Moldova.

"The study presented today reflects what people think about the respect for human rights in Moldova and provides a roadmap for the promotion of human rights in the country. This is the second study on human rights perceptions, developed with UN support, the first being conducted in 2016. Data on people's perceptions will be used to develop policies to better channel UN human rights interventions in Moldova and assessing their impact on the country's development and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals" said Dafina Gercheva, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative to the Republic of Moldova.

"The results of the 2016 and 2018 studies have helped and will help us to verify the degree of consistency of the Ombudsman's vision of the state of affairs in the area of ​​human rights and to direct our efforts in the necessary direction. We hope that the authorities will perceive things in the same way and capitalize on the information to re-evaluate some of its priorities, identify new possibilities, use new leverages and mechanisms to change things for the better" said the Ombudsman, Mihail Cotorobai.

Among the most important findings of the study are:

- The human rights situation has not changed, according to 43.8 percent of respondents. At the same time, in 2018, the respondents reported that the human rights situation had improved (35.8%) rather than worsened (16.4%);

- As in the study of 2016, in the participants' opinion, the main right that requires society's attention is the right to health, but the proportion of respondents is higher in 2018 - 71.6% compared to 61% in 2016. The right to education is the second in this list, a significant increase compared to 2016 (31.5%) - 43.5% of respondents placing it among the most sensitive three rights that deserve more attention.

- The third position in the top of the rights that requires more attention, the same as in 2016, is social protection, followed by the right to work and favourable working conditions, the right to information, freedom of opinion and expression. The right to information, the freedom of opinion and expression show an increase in the number of people (from 7.9 to 14.5%), who place it in the category of those who require increased attention.

- The survey of 2018 shows a better perception of the population regarding the right to social protection and a slight improvement in the situation regarding the protection of the rights of socially vulnerable people. However, most of the respondents (43.7%) continue to believe that the rights of this category of people are virtually not protected by state authorities.

- The least respected right in the Republic of Moldova is the right to a fair trial, only 21.8% of the respondents consider that it is respected.

- The most respected rights in Moldova are: the right to culture, cultural identity, free movement, property, personal liberty and private life. As in 2016, according to the respondents' perception, 57.7% consider that children's rights are among the most respected, to a large or very large extent.

- Of the total number of respondents, about half said they had at least one right violated in the past two years. Most frequently, same as in 2016, the right to health was violated the most, which cited by 22.6% of respondents. Compared to 2016, the proportion of those who believe that their right to vote and to be elected has been violated has increased (from 3.1% to 12.8%).

- More than 80% of respondents believe that older people with disabilities, children, women and victims of domestic violence need the utmost care to have their rights protected.

- In the opinion of two-thirds of the respondents, as in 2016, Parliament and Government most frequently violate human rights, and over 62% of respondents consider that two other institutions violating human rights are the Justice Courts and the Police.

- In the last two years, the perceptions of the population have changed regarding the way institutions ensure the respect for human rights. Thus, the media remains the first place as a human rights respecting institution (41.9% vs. 35.1%), the role of NGOs seems to be more significant nowadays (36.5%, compared to 19.7% %). The country's president ranks third with 36%, compared with 5.6% in 2016. During this period, people's trust in the People's Advocate Office increased from 20.7% to 35.1%.

- The information level of the population regarding the human rights in the Republic of Moldova has not changed considerably compared to 2016. There was an insignificant decrease in the share of those who believe to be very well informed on the matter, but also an increase in the share of those who consider themselves more informed.

- According to the Study, the Internet has become a more important source of information on human rights, being insignificantly surpassed by media (print media, TV and radio).

The study in Romanian (original), Russian and English can be accessed on the web pages: www.ombudsman.md (thematic reports) and www.un.md (in publications).

Download here the study "Perceptions of Human Rights in the Republic of Moldova (2018)"