Every village could have by a social assistant by yearend

A number of 1,135 social assistants will be employed to work in the Moldovan villages by yearend. At least one social assistant will work in each mayor’s office. Minister of Social Protection, Family and Child Galina Balmos told Wednesday a news conference that about 600 people have been already hired and 80% of them started to work. The new employees receive compulsory training under a programme worked out by the Ministry with support from Unicef. The social assistant will identify the persons and families in difficulty, will assess their necessities and deficiencies and will take measures to improve their situation, Galina Balmos said. In such a way, the social assistant will facilitate the access of the disadvantaged families and persons to the social services. The reformation of this system also means a new way of distributing allowances, indemnities, compensations and material aid to the 13 categories of beneficiaries, the minister said. The expenses of employing, paying and training the social assistants as part of this project amount to 13 million lei. The salary of a social assistant is 540 lei. The minister said that the Government and the Ministry of Social Protection earlier this year negotiated a credit with the World Bank to train and provide the social assistants with informational equipment. Under the project, a sum of $5 million will be allocated for the next three years. The Unicef representative in Moldova Ray Torres said that Unicef will support the Government in its efforts to set up a professional and efficient network of social assistants in villages. According to him, the social assistants must become the voice of the most vulnerable people out of work that do not benefit from education, protection and medical services.