Keystone Moldova partners with civil society organizations and local public authorities to strengthen their capacity to support the social inclusion of people with disability and reform public policy based on people’s needs and rights. We provide training and technical support on the development and implementation of innovative, individualized social services, as well as expertise in promoting the rights of people with disability.

Recent projects:

• Civil Society Voice for Inclusion
• Better Social Services through a Sustainable Partnership between Civil Society and the Government
• Gender Budget Watchdog Network in the Western Balkans and Republic of Moldova

Keystone Moldova has helped to build a strong network of advocates, including people with disability and their families. Advocates learn about and exercise their rights, including the right to health, work, family, legal capacity, and life in the community, among many others.

Advocates have participated in several international conferences, where they discussed their rights and advocacy activities:
• Hear Our Voices, the European conference of self-advocates by Inclusion Europe: 2015, 2017, and 2019
• Conference of States Parties to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: 2019
• Europe in Action 2017, Inclusion Europe
• Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting: 2016

Recent project: Self-Advocacy 2.0

Since 2008 , Keystone Moldova has provided legal and technical assistance to local authorities to move people with disability out of institutions to live in the community with their families or in community-based services. In addition to developing the legal framework for sustainable community-based services, Keystone Moldova supports national and local public authorities to evaluate the needs of people with disability and their families; map existing social services within the community; develop new and responsive services; integrate people with disability into typical educational, medical, and social care services; and monitor the progress of people who have left institutions.

Keystone Moldova developed the following services and continues to provide consultation for their sustainability:

• Family Support Services
• Supported Living
• Community Homes
• Foster Care
• Shared Living
• Mobile Teams
• Respite Services
• Personal Assistance
• Community Centers/Day Services
• Support services for inclusive education (multidisciplinary teams, support teachers, resource centers for inclusive education)

Since the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD), Keystone Moldova has provided support to the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Social Protection (MLSPF) for building inclusive policies and legal frameworks for supporting and including people with disabilities in Moldova. Keystone Moldova provided technical support to the MLSPF in developing and approval of the Law on Social Inclusion (2012), Strategy of Social Inclusion (2010-2013), National Program on the Social Inclusion of People with Disabilities (2017-2022), National Program on the Deinstitutionalization of People with Disabilities (2018-2026).

Keystone Moldova piloted inclusive education in 22 schools and 15 kindergartens from 2010-2018. These pilots served as models for extending inclusive education nationwide, so all children receive age-appropriate education.

Keystone Moldova addresses discrimination and other barriers to creating a truly inclusive community through the interactive Alternativ Forum Theater. Actors in the three Alternativ Forum Theater troupes engage students and teachers in performances to teach them to recognize discrimination and take action to include all people.

Since 2012, Alternativ has performed more than 150 Forum Theater sessions to prevent and stop bullying in schools and discrimination of people with disability.

Learn more about Alternativ Forum Theater