In 2018 more than 700 jobs for people with special needs created in Kazakhstan — Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population

October 9 at the Government meeting chaired by Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev, the issues of ensuring social protection of people with disabilities were considered.

The Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population Madina Abylkassymova reported that ensuring the rights and social protection of people with disabilities are among the most important areas of the state’s social policy.

“In 2015 Kazakhstan ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Special Needs, thereby accepting obligations to implement international standards for the exercising economic, civil, social and cultural rights of persons with disabilities without discrimination and on an equal basis with others,” said Abylkassymova.

Currently, there are 674,200 people with disabilities in Kazakhstan, of whom 62% are of working age, 25.4% are people of retirement age, 12.6% are children under 18. Since January 1, 2018, due to the change in the structure of the subsistence minimum, the amount of disability benefits has been increased to 16%.

“The number of recipients of state social benefits as of October 1 was 508,700 people, the average size was 40,769 tenge. July 1, 2018, on behalf of the Head of State, a new allowance has been introduced for persons caring for adults with disabilities of the first group since childhood. For today the grant is appointed 10,000 families. The guaranteed volume of special social services was provided by 881 organizations to about 100,000 people with special needs, including 8,800 people received services through 130 NGOs. In general, social security and assistance to persons with disabilities in 2018 provided for 302.8 billion tenge,” the minister reported.

According to the ministry, 17,270 road signs were installed in the country, pedestrian crossings are equipped with sound devices in the locations of organizations focused on serving people with disabilities. Fifteen Invataxi services were created, which have 280 specialized cars that cover 34,800 people. Signal interpretation was provided for broadcasting news programs on 26 regional television channels.

“The norms of providing disabled persons with essential hygienic means more than doubled for 51,100 people, the time for sign language specialist services to 4,000 persons with hearing impairment has been doubled, and the list of technical means of rehabilitation to 55,200 people has been expanded from 32 to 55 types of items, including modern gadgets,” said Abylkassymova.

At the same time, the National Plan proposes seven priority directions with the indication of target indicators aimed at implementing the state policy in the field of observance and protection of the rights of persons with disabilities.

The first priority is the further improvement of measures to prevent disability. The second priority is the development of inclusive education. According to Abylkassymova, today more than 147,000 children have limited educational opportunities.

“In accordance with the Action Plan for the implementation of the State Program for the Development of Education and Science, by 2019, it is planned to create conditions for inclusive education: 30% of preschool, 70% of secondary and 40% of technical and professional educational organizations. Presently, conditions have been created for inclusive education in 15% of kindergartens and 55% of schools where more than 40,000 children with special needs are educated and brought up,” said the minister.

The third priority is the formation of a barrier-free environment for people with disabilities by 2030. As Abylkassymova noted, today 32,600 social infrastructure facilities are subject to certification, of which 32,000 objects are planned to be certified for compliance with the accessible environment for persons with disabilities, 21,100 objects are to be adapted. Certification was carried out on 31,500 objects, 19,500 objects were adapted.

The fourth priority is the improvement of measures to ensure quality employment and increase the level of economic independence of people with disabilities.

“Today, among 417,700 people with disabilities of working age, more than 30% — 127,100 people work. As of October 1, 15,900 people applied to employment centers, of which 6,400 were employed in permanent jobs. Another 1,300 people are undergoing short-term courses, 39 people received microcredits to start their own business," informed Abylkassymova.

It should also be noted that in order to stimulate employers to hire people with disabilities, subsidies to equip a special workplaces for people with special needs were introduced from 2018. About 770 special jobs have been created in 2018.

The fifth priority is increasing the effectiveness of social rehabilitation and habilitation.

“Local executive bodies need to ensure the allocation of funds from the budget, taking into account the real needs of people with disabilities, technical facilities and rehabilitation services,” said Minister Abylkassymova.

The sixth priority is the modernization of the social service system. In order to improve the system, work has begun on the implementation of the Social Services Portal, which will provide an opportunity for independent selection of service providers and means of rehabilitation based on individual needs. This will allow the provision of social services to citizens on the principle of "one window."

The seventh priority is to conduct a broad outreach campaign.

In his turn, the Minister of Healthare Yelzhan Birtanov reported that the provision of medical care to people with disabilities is carried out within the framework of the Guaranteed Amount of Free Medical Care in accordance with Article 34 of the Code "On Health of the People and the Healthcare System" and includes preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic medical services. By the principle of free choice of medical organization, persons with special needs are entitled to receive outpatient and inpatient medical care in any medical organization.

“In the framework of the guaranteed medical care, socially vulnerable groups and socially unprotected persons, including people with disabilities, have the right to receive expensive types of diagnostic examinations,” reported Birtanov.

Currently, 192 organizations of rehabilitation treatment and medical rehabilitation function in the country, of which 129 are public and 63 are private.

In addition, annually over 26,000 people with disabilities, on the basis of an individual rehabilitation plan, are sent to private sanatorium-resort organizations through local social protection agencies.

According to the Minister of Education Yerlan Sagadiyev, today in education about 27,000 children who need special education are enrolled in pre-school organizations. At the same time, by 2020, conditions for inclusive education will be created in 30% of kindergartens and 70% of schools.

Minister for Investments and Development Zhenis Kassymbek reported on the conditions created in the country for people with disabilities. In the field of railway transport, there are National Passenger Service Standards and Passenger Transport Regulations g. e. transport, in which appropriate conditions are created for persons with special needs. So, 37 special coupe cars designed for people with limited mobility run on 22 railway routes in various directions.

“In the Tulpar-Talgo trains there are 70% discounts for specialized places. To increase the level of transport accessibility, specialized passenger cars are procured annually,” said Kassymbek.

Meanwhile, today 136 stations are fully aligned with the requirements of the National Standard. In the field of road transport at the legislative level there are mandatory standards for car and bus stations, which are aimed at ensuring accessibility and comfort for people with disabilities. For the current period, there are 36 bus stations and 110 car stations. In accordance with the Rules for the organization of passenger services at airports in Kazakhstan, passengers are serviced by an authorized agent in accordance with the Provisions of passenger service standards related to people with limited mobility at the airport.

“For example, since 2012, a new position has been introduced in the service of Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport JSC — an agent for passengers with disabilities. Currently, there are 17 agents on the airport staff,” the minister reported.

In addition, during the construction of the facility and its commissioning, all requirements for creating favorable conditions for people with limited mobility are taken into account by law.

At the meeting, the Chairman of the Center for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled "Chance" V. Shimansky spoke about current issues of education and employment of people with special needs.

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