UNICEF and USAID BUILD PARTNERSHIP TO PROMOTE COOPERATION BETWEEN STATE AND CSO SERVICE PROVIDERS

January 18, 2023 Ashgabat, Turkmenistan – The Office of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Turkmenistan and The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Turkmenistan (MLSP), held a meeting on the 18 January 2023 where the inter-sectoral support to vulnerable families and children and capacity building of the state and non-state social service providers on applying rights based approaches was discussed. 

The meeting was an excellent platform of communication and cooperation among policy makers, social work specialists, civil society organizations and Office of the Ombudsman to further introduce and expand specialized services to other regions of the country where not currently available.

Trainers from Turkmen NGO “Yenme” presented a session on the introduction of trauma sensitive rights-based services to victims of trafficking and combating trafficking in person. The social work practitioners gained practical knowledge on prevention issues and methods of working with families of migrants and victims of human trafficking.

A guest speaker presented by the US Embassy Public Affairs Section, Professor Stephen Kuusisto from Syracuse University, NY, USA presented his video speech on the importance of social services in meeting specific needs of people with disabilities. Professor Kuusisto is a poet, writer and a professor who is blind and he wanted to share his vision on the role of social workers in creating inclusive opportunities, empowering every person and integrating them into employment, training, education and independent living in their communities.

Organizations involved in Social Service Provision of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population presented the case management approach in social service delivery and the specialized child sensitive services supported by UNICEF on the example of services for families with disabilities. As one of the complex support measures, the importance of cross sectoral approach to social service delivery and methods of delivery of psychological support to the families with children were highlighted.

Additionally, the participants gained an opportunity to learn about the work of Ombudsman’s Office in addressing the needs of vulnerable population and ways to approach their services. 

 “UNICEF together with other UN agencies will continue to jointly provide strategic support to the Government of Turkmenistan for sustainability of the social protection reform through the multisectoral approach and timely scale up of inclusive social services to every etrap (district) in the country, to reach out to the most vulnerable and ensure that no one is left behind.”- said Mohammad Fayyazi, the UNICEF Representative in Turkmenistan in his opening remarks.

The meeting was co-organized by the UNICEF and USAID funded “Safe Migration in Central Asia Program” Program.