Tulip Youth Ambassador Awards in Moldova: Supporting Young People for Positive Change
Since 2016, our embassy in Moldova has been working on initiatives that support young people to make a difference in their society. Through these programs, young people learn new skills, develop impactful projects, and are helped to realize their ideas. Recently, the Ambassador for Youth, Education and Work was in Moldova for the Tulip Youth Ambassador awards.
The Tulip Youth Academy
The awards are part of a broader initiative, namely the Tulip Youth Academy. Launched in 2021, the academy supports and empowers young people with ideas for positive change in their communities or society at large. Admission is competitive, requiring participants to demonstrate motivation to become agents of change. The selected individuals attend eight one-day courses addressing social and economic challenges, alongside training and mentorship in project development, proposal writing, and implementation.
At the end of the program, participants with realistic and impactful proposals receive small grants of up to €3,000 to implement their projects. Over four editions, more than 60 participants have graduated, with 11 projects successfully completed.
Graduates who excel may earn the title of Tulip Youth Ambassador, joining a growing network of trusted Embassy partners. During his visit, the Ambassador for Youth, Education and Work attended the award ceremony for the newest Tulip Youth Ambassadors.
Award Ceremony
‘This is the continuation of one of our most impactful initiatives, the Tulip Youth Academy,’ explains Fred Duijn, ambassador in Moldova. 'During eight sessions over eight weeks, young Moldovans learn to turn their ideas into concrete projects. They learn to write and present a project plan, and pitch their ideas at the end of the course. The best initiatives receive a start-up budget of a few thousand euros. This year, we organized the fourth edition.'
Ecatarina Valcu speaks enthusiastically about the awards: ‘People from this program who stand out, we appoint Tulip Youth Ambassadors. They are at the beginning of their careers, and often have proposals that are bigger than what is possible within the program. For example, Diana Mazniuc, a young woman who has set up a project to support the reintegration of young convicts. She works with several correctional institutions in Moldova, making a big difference in the lives of these young people.'
The visiting Ambassador emphasized the broader importance of youth engagement: ‘With Youth at Heart, Foreign Affairs has set a positive agenda of investing in and listening to young people. That works in Africa and the Middle East, but also in countries with a big brain drain, such as Moldova.'
'We like to share the lessons learned from five years of Youth at Heart with Europe's neighbors, to show them that it pays to invest in young people through education, employment and entrepreneurship, but especially by involving them meaningfully in decision-making. Moreover, by showing commitment in difficult times, the Netherlands shows that they are welcome in the European family.'
Visiting Alumni
To understand the career paths and endeavors of past award winners, the Ambassador for Youth, Education and Work also visited some alumni of the program. He met the program coordinator, Victoria Nemerenco (an alumna of the first edition), and visited a project by Tulip Youth Ambassador Diana Mazniuc. Her initiative focused on the reintegration and resocialization of young convicts from Goian Penitentiary, offering psychological support and career-orientation sessions.
A visit to the educational, sport and healthcare facilities of the penitentiary provided a valuable insight into the impact of the initiative, where juvenile delinquents spoke with the Ambassador of Youth, Education and Work about the support they receive to reintegrate in society.