ASTANA – The Kazakh Ministry of Labour and Social Protection plans to establish the Family Support Institute in 2018, said Vice Minister Svetlana Zhakupova at an Aug. 7 Central Communications Service briefing in the capital.
Local executive bodies will identify families living below the poverty line and help them find jobs and increase their income.
“We are currently working to create an institution for family support. For example, people independently apply for social benefits and prove the level of income of their family now. Next year, local executive bodies have to identify families in a risk zone whose income is below the poverty line,” she said.
A set of measures will be provided to support the families and find solutions to cut poverty. Special assistants and consultants at the institute will work with the families, focusing on low-income ones and those with members with disabilities. Assistants will interview each person and develop a set of measures to ensure the families are able to reverse a difficult life situation.
More than 628 physically challenged children attended the day rehabilitation centre and their mothers found jobs as part of the pilot project.
With the participation of international organisations, the Scientific Social Work Training Centre is also expected to open next year.
The approach to social work’s professional and educational standards will be changed. Universities will offer programmes in demanding areas promoted by the volunteer institute.
“The idea of volunteering is important for job seekers in the social sphere. Graduates should have volunteer experience if they apply for a social work programme. They must necessarily work in medical and social institutions and have experience working with people who have disabilities,” said Zhakupova.
Human resource management providing training and retraining of personnel is an important issue of the social security modernisation concept.
Measures are provided to ensure early retirement for citizens involved in harmful and dangerous working conditions. The amount of compulsory pension contributions deducted by the employee since 1998, employer contributions since 2014 and voluntary pension contributions should be enough to buy an annuity, allowing the individual to retire at age 50. The amount is approximately 7 million tenge (US$21,035) for men and 10 million tenge (US$ 30,050) for women.
