On November 5, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev gotacquainted with the presentation of proposals onsupporting children in need of social protection andinvolving people with disabilities in sports.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child states thatupbringing in a family environment is an inalienableright of every child. According to UNICEF, half of the world’s orphans are not covered by socialprotection services.
The “From Poverty to Prosperity” program, adoptedby presidential decree on September 23 of this year, also sets goals for preventing social orphanhood andcaring for children deprived of parental care. Thedocument focuses on the creation of conditions asclose as possible to a family environment and on anindividual approach to each child. Accordingly, measures have been developed to place such childrenin foster care and provide them with social services.
In particular, priority is given to preserving thefamily setting when placing a child in foster care. The main forms of placement are guardianship, trusteeship or adoption. Placement in a specializedinstitution is considered only as a measure of lastresort.
In addition, the practice of placing children inmerciful homes and orphanages on the grounds of family poverty has been abolished. In the case of employment of parents from low-income families, the costs of kindergarten until the child reaches theage of three will be reimbursed from the SocialSecurity Fund.
Special units for women planning to abandon a childwill be organized in orphanages. They will beprovided with social, legal, psychological andmedical support, as well as training in maternal skillsand assistance in learning a profession.
Non-governmental organizations will also be widelyinvolved in the provision of these services.
Children in difficult life situations will betemporarily placed in family orphanages by the InsonCenters before being placed in foster care. Anindividual development plan will be drawn up foreach child placed in foster care.
The “Social Protection” system will keep records of identified orphans and persons who have expressed a desire to foster them. Inson Centers will act as legalrepresentatives of the children, protecting their rightsand interests.
The centers will also monitor the living conditions of the children placed in foster care, the targeted use of the assistance provided and the fulfillment of theguardians’ obligations.
Citizens who have established a family children’shome will be registered as self-employed persons. Children raised in such families will be reimbursedfor living and care expenses until the completion of secondary general and specialized secondaryeducation.
Earlier, Parliament adopted the Law “On theProtection of Children from All Forms of Violence”, which was developed based on the experience of developed countries. It sets out the legal frameworkfor the protection of children from violence andclearly defines State bodies and their powers. ThePresident signed this law.
The presentation also considered proposals toinvolve persons with disabilities in sports.
Conditions have been created in Uzbekistan forpracticing 19 types of para-sports, and about 25 thousand people with disabilities regularly engage insports.
In order to expand opportunities in this direction, a number of measures are proposed. In particular, thecreation of adaptive sports sections in State sportsschools and the adaptation of sports grounds inmahallas to the needs of persons with disabilities.
The electronic system “ERP-sport” will keep recordsof persons with disabilities, which will make itpossible to automatically select sports appropriate totheir abilities. The use of modern rehabilitationmethods such as physical therapy, mechanotherapyand physiotherapy will be strengthened inrehabilitation centers.
At the same time, attention will be paid to thetraining of specialists in the field of adaptive physicalculture and sport. There are plans to introduce a system of financial incentives for winners of international competitions and their coaches.
The Head of State gave instructions to improvelegislation in this area and create conditions forpeople in need of social support.