Vladimir Penin: "Support for vulnerable segments of the population is a priority area in the work of the social protection sector"
– We are all on the eve of an important event in the life of our country – a referendum on the adoption of the new Constitution, – emphasized Vladimir Petrovich. – Both in the current and in the new Constitution, the state remains socially oriented. As for social protection, the regional committee pays great attention to people in difficult life situations – the unemployed, those living alone, disabled people, lonely pensioners, so that they feel comfortable and are in-demand members of society. We also pay due attention to strengthening the material and technical base. In particular, to the repair of boarding houses, of which there are 15 in our region, and territorial social service centers. In 2021, we began the repair of the Babinichi boarding house in the Orsha district, which we plan to complete this year. Design and estimate documentation for the reconstruction of the Alexandrovsky boarding house in the Sharkovshchinsky district has already been prepared, it will be repaired in 2023, and a number of other projects. Funds are allocated in the regional budget for these purposes. I am confident that we will cope with all the problems we have.
Before discussing the results of the work for 2021 and determining the tasks in the field of labor, employment and social protection, the participants of the meeting were able to familiarize themselves with the activities of the territorial centers, which organized a large-scale exhibition on their main areas of activity.
The presentation of each Territorial Center for Social Services (TCSS) deserves a separate publication – they implement and use so many interesting projects and innovations in their work. For example, in the day care department of the TCSS of the Pervomaisky district of Vitebsk, elderly people reveal their potential by learning English, mastering computers, sand drawing, and dancing. Looking at the ladies who elegantly expressed themselves in beautiful dance costumes to music, I involuntarily thought: "They can give the young a run for their money!"
In the Novopolotsk TCSS, thanks to the initiative of the former mayor, and now Chairperson of the Council of the Republic, Natalya Kochanova, a center for the rehabilitation of people with severe and multiple disabilities has been opened and is successfully functioning. A new teaching methodology for disabled people using the "clear language" system has been implemented here, which allows them to master even playing the piano.
However, if people in need of help, bedridden, undergo such rehabilitation with the help of numerous simulators and devices developed by the staff of the Lunacharsky psycho-neurological boarding school, then everything is possible.
Many centers have labor and creative workshops where visitors of day care departments engage in socially useful work, creating branded products – dolls, mugs with Belarusian symbols from "Rossanochka" or linen products from the TCSS of the Orsha district. By the way, after undergoing rehabilitation in this day care department, 18 people have been employed.
The activities of the Lepel District Social Service Center, which operates workshops for visitors of the day care department, deserve special praise.
No project, no program is possible without qualified personnel. The Committee for Labor, Employment and Social Protection of the Regional Executive Committee clearly understands this and builds its work in close integration with the staff of PSU named after P. Masherov, who help to train social workers and orderlies through the mastery of a special program. After all, an individual approach is important in their activities.
Our region is one of the aging ones, and this imposes a certain burden on the social sphere. In his report, the chairman of the committee, Alexander Khristoforov, dwelled on the fulfillment of the main performance indicators, emphasizing that the trend of decreasing applications to the employment service persists in the labor market. 4.5 thousand people were employed in newly created jobs, 1.5 thousand were particularly in need of social protection. The region has ensured positive dynamics in wage growth. And a number of management decisions have ensured comprehensive and systematic work in the field of labor protection. Organizations in the region spent over 32 million rubles on technical re-equipment and modernization of production. Working conditions have been improved for more than two thousand employees. The measures planned for 2021 were completed ahead of schedule and in full.
The Vitebsk region holds a worthy place in the social services system, emphasized Marina Artyomenko, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Belarus, who participated in the collegium meeting. The experience and innovations in the region's social protection sector, especially in working with disabled individuals, will be disseminated throughout the republic. It is particularly commendable that people with disabilities are involved in the work of territorial centers. Last year, 10 people in the region regained full legal capacity. It should be noted that a special emphasis is currently placed on citizens with disabilities. In the draft of the Basic Law, they are highlighted as a separate category deserving of special state support. The creation of labor and creative workshops, the opening of production enterprises providing jobs for disabled individuals – all these developments are worthy of emulation and dissemination to other regions of the republic, emphasized Marina Artyomenko.
The Vitebsk region ranks second in terms of coverage of incapacitated citizens (over 27,000 people) with social services and first in providing surrogate family services. Approximately 40% of day care services nationwide are provided in the Vitebsk region. Nearly 50% of all home-based club activities for people with disabilities are also conducted by social workers in the region.
At the same time, the regional committee, as emphasized by the Deputy Minister, should pay attention to the growth of average wages in manufacturing organizations. In the Vitebsk region, this indicator was not met by 12 organizations (86 such organizations exist nationwide). It is necessary to more actively engage with disabled individuals who have indications for work; only 47% of such citizens are employed in the region.