Ashgabat, 12 April 2021: New social work specialists advanced their competencies and knowledge in social work in the second round of 15-day intensive training organized by the UNDP in close cooperation with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population of Turkmenistan and with the technical support of the Participating UN Agencies in the UN-Turkmenistan Joint Programme on community-based social services. The advanced training for social work specialists followed their two-month field work in the 20 etraps across the country, where they implemented needs assessment and reached out to vulnerable people in the most remote areas to provide them social support.

The in-person trainings of social work specialists were held in all regions of the country by national trainers who completed online training of trainers provided by an international training institution. In the trainings, the social work specialists covered the aspects of social work related to child protection and social support of families, social support to people with disabilities and elderly people, social support to victims of gender-based violence, social work with parents using narcotics and alcohol, youth at risk and other vulnerable groups.

The social work specialists also enhanced their professional knowledge of preventive measures and multidisciplinary approach in social work when working with different target groups, learned  the best international practices in resource mobilization at community-level, as well as case management, social (re)integration of different groups in need of social support, social and biopsychosocial models of disability, developing individual support plans with social service receivers, quality standards of social services, types and symptoms of violence, understanding the nature of gender-based violence and many other important topics of social work.

According to trainer Rustam Geldiyev,  social work specialists made significant progress in their studies and practical work.  “I can see that they not only  managed to improve  skills and competencies in social work, but also  establish partnership relations with local authorities, who recognize and support them as new professionals in the system of social protection,” Rustam Geldiyev said.

The periodic training of social work specialists is an important part of capacity building activities of the Joint Programme that aim to improve the social protection system in the country by introducing community-based social services. These trainings aim to prepare advanced generalist social workers who employ their knowledge, skills, and ethics through multidimensional understanding of communities and vulnerable groups as they engage, assess needs, intervene, and support people in their communities.  

The Joint Programme “Improving the system of social protection through the introduction of inclusive quality community-based social services”, funded by the Joint SDG Fund, is being implemented by the partnering UN agencies, namely, UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, and UNODC and Government of Turkmenistan. The Joint Programme aims to introduce a new model of social services at the community level accompanied by relative legislative reviews and capacity building of national social service workforce. The lead national partner is the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Turkmenistan and the lead UN agency is UNICEF. Other key national partners include the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Medical Industry, and Ministry of Finance and Economy.

Implementation period: 2020-2022.