They are addressing the needs of children and adults with disabilities, young people at risk, the elderly, and women.
The United Nations, with the support of the government of Turkmenistan, has launched 12 new specialized social services in the Central Asian country. They are addressing the needs of children, youth, adults and the elderly who are facing life difficulties. It was reported by the UNDP press office October 18.
The representatives of Turkmenistan’s governmental and non-governmental social service providers and new social work specialists from Ashgabat, Turkmenabat and Mary took part in an online seminar. They discussed the implementation of the UN-Ashgabat Joint Program «Improving the system of social protection through the introduction of inclusive quality community-based social services».
Representatives of the Bulgarian Social Activities and Practice Institute, employees of UN agencies, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Turkmenistan were the experts of the session.
The virtual consultation focused on the most difficult cases of service users from new social services. Specific attention was paid to alternative ways of overcoming difficult life situations of pilot service users.
The video seminar completed a 10-month long training program for the newly emerging national social service workforce of the country. The social services are mainly aimed at supporting children with disabilities, children without parental care, young citizens at risk of separation from parents, people with disabilities and older persons in need of support, women facing gender-based violence.
The program is funded by the Joint SDG Fund, UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC and the local government. The main partner of the United Nations in this direction is the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Turkmenistan. The program will be implemented in 2022.
