BackCommissioner met with the Resident Advisor of the Twinning on social service provision in Azerbaijan, executive director of the Austrian Social Worker Association, Mr. Herbert Paulischin at his own request.
While talking about the aim of the Project H. Paulischin stated that the Twinning Project to be carried out in Azerbaijan aims to develop the existing situation of social services to elderly persons and cooperation between public institutions and non-governmental organizations and to train professional social workers in the country. Furthermore, he stated that it would be very effective to learn the ideas of the Commissioner in the concerned field.
E. Suleymanova told about the historical background of the Resource Center for the Elderly Persons operating under the NGO-Azerbaijan Women and Development Center, established in 2001 and about the activities done for the older persons such as free and regular legal, medical and psychological aid to the older persons, building bridge between the generations. All kind of elderly women widows of war, refugees’ and IDPs families living alone are members of the Resource Center.
It was also told that Ombudsman Office prepared the drafts of State Programs on the provision of the rights of elderly, PWDs and women’s rights with the participation of Ombudsman’s specialized advisors and Council of Independent Experts operating under the Ombudsman Office.
The Commissioner underlined the significance of provision of leisure time for the elderly. Taking into account some aspects, Ombudsman proposed involving the university and college students into the social work on a voluntary basis, provision of free legal consultations by the NGOs dealing with promotion of the rights of the elderly, encouraging international institutions to the Project within their mandate, identifying the needs of the elderly by determining their number, training of university students and social workers about their duties and involving them into the awareness raising activities, using of potential of volunteers created under the municipalities, within the project about the support to the families to be conducted, taking into the consideration the property and inheritance of the elderly, provision of persons in a low-income family caring after the older person, with a social aid, establishing the centers dealing with the protection of the rights of older persons not only in the capital city but also in the regions of the country and organizing of legal awareness events.
Expert thanked the Ombudsman for the wide information given and highly appreciated the work of the Ombudsman’s Resource Center on the Older persons. He also wished to visit the Resource Center.
At the end of the meeting, the guest was presented the booklet titled “Let’s benefit from the wise of the elderly!”
Source: Ombudsman Office, Azerbaijan
