KULOB, April 6, 2011, Asia-Plus — A new module of international organization Mission East on work with children with disabilities – mobile outreach units – has been presented in Kulob.
Sohinbek Shokirov, coordinator of the Mission East mobile outreach unit on work with parents, says the new program is being implemented in four jamaots of the Kulob region under financial support of the European Union.
“The program is dedicated to minimize financial expense of specialized rehabilitation center for children with disabilities, with simultaneously raising efficiency of work with the children,” said Shokirov, “23 employees work with such a center at which 20 children simultaneously undergo rehabilitation plus transport expenses for carrying the children to their houses, while the mobile outreach unit consisting of 9 persons, including three employees of Mission East and six employees of local NGO Zarshedbonu, may serve at least 140 children.”
According to him, the main focus is put on training parents in how to treat children with disabilities. “The mobile outreach service takes care of 524 such children in the city of Kulob and 793 children in the district of Kulob,” Shokirov noted.
Children with disabilities and their families have a need for good rehabilitative care and access to social service support and the project on enabling civil society to promote the rights of people with disabilities, being implemented by Mission East in Kulob, is dedicated to address this through the development of the existing Family and Child Support Services, the provision of and training in quality rehabilitative care and improved access to such services through the mobile outreach units, which will be expanded to cover the target.
Mission East has worked in Tajikistan since 1997. Its strategy in Tajikistan focuses on improving livelihoods for vulnerable households and communities, with a particular emphasis on community mobilization and community management. Current programming focuses on the strengthening of the civil society structures to ensure self management and development sustainability.
