Moldova's legislation on the social protection of persons with disabilities is good, but we do not have the capacity to implement it, doctor of sociology Tatiana Cojocari stated in a public debate centering on the social inclusion of persons with disabilities hosted by IPN News Agency.
According to Tatiana Cojocari, this is a problem of economically vulnerable states. A less good indicator is the visibility of people with disabilities in the public space, in society. The Republic of Moldova performs badly in this regard as the people with disabilities are still isolated. This problem is felt most strongly in small localities, where the social assistance system is not the most efficient one.
"We have a social worker in the locality, but if this is a person of good faith, he/she goes, perhaps, two or three times a week to that person. But it may be the other way around and he/she may not reach that person who needs help for months. The people with disabilities represent about 6.5% of the total population. The number has decreased. In 2019, the figure was about 170,000 and now we have a figure of 162,000," said the doctor in sociology, permanent expert Tatiana Cojocari.
According to the sociologist, in order to have people who want to work in the social sector, the state must create better conditions, for example, more scholarships at universities for people who would study this profession and, of course, higher salaries for those who would like to work as social assistants.
"We have a high demand, but few people who choose this job. Why? Because it is not attractive. We must ensure the position of social worker is a dignified one for the country, and rethink things a little so that there is no more stigmatization," added Cojocari.
She noted that the salary of the people with disabilities is another problem. If the salary is sometimes the same or even lower than the social allowance, some people choose not to work. There is also a problem related to training.
"There are these benefits. Companies receive subsidies to hire people with disabilities. But the people with disabilities are not ready to compile a CV, for example. It is a process in which someone must be there next to you to support you and if you do not have people to help you prepare, if there is no education system to prepare you, vocational schools for example, it is very difficult", Tatiana Cojocari sated in the debate.
The public debate titled "Social inclusion of persons with disabilities" was organized within the project "IPN News Agency for Social Cohesion and Pro-European Moldova", funded by IMS (International Media Support).
