By the end of 2026, in Moldova will be carried out a reform of the social assistance Restart.
As part of the reform, announced during a press conference on Monday, it is proposed to create 9 territorial social assistance agencies subordinate to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, which will uniformly implement the state's policy in the field of social services. The minimum package of social services will be increased, as well as the access of vulnerable segments of the population to them will be provided. The social assistance system will be digitized and access to services will be provided through the ajutor.gov.md platform. It is also planned to change the financing mechanism to ensure the effective implementation of investment plans in the field of social services and performance-based budgeting. In 2023-2026 it is planned to annually increase by 35% the access of vulnerable categories of the population (18 thousand people annually) to 15 types of the most popular social services. The reform is aimed at reducing the level of absolute poverty from 24.5% in 2020 to 20% in 2026. According to the Minister of Labor and Social Protection, Alexei Buzu, a quarter of the Moldovan population currently suffers from poverty, and social benefits and services have limited effect in the fight against it. Access to services is low and uneven: in 15 districts of the country, more than 40% of people with disabilities do not have access to personal assistant services; there are areas where the share of beneficiaries of social assistance during the cold season is 3%, and there are some that are more than 20%. On average, the beneficiaries of social assistance in the country are 11.7% of the population: the least - in Chisinau, Balti, Ialoveni, Cahul, Basarabeasca, Cimislia, and most of all - in Briceni, Floresti, Telenesti, Ocnita, Nisporeni, Donduseni. There is also the problem of the cost of social services and their quality - the difference in the cost of the same services in different areas is 3-4 times, while a higher price does not mean a higher quality. And a separate problem is the development of personnel in the system of social assistance. The salary of a social worker is only 16% higher than that of an unskilled worker in the public sector. And this is despite the fact that social workers have a huge responsibility, they perform an extremely difficult job. In some areas, more than 30% of workers leave the social system, and as a result, there are disruptions - beneficiary families are left without basic support. The initiated reform is expected to improve and increase the efficiency of the social assistance system. //27.03.2023 — InfoMarket.
