AASW - Armenian Association of Social workers

Formulation and Protection of the Social Work Profession in Armenia

2015 December 16

This overall goal of the project is to protect and strengthen the profession of social work in Armenia through reinforcement of the social work professional community and the introduction of legal standards within the field.

The project seeks to foster the professionalization and networking of Social Workers' Associations in the Eastern Neighborhood countries with the aim of increasing their competency and leverage as advocacy, watchdog and monitoring players for social issues of public concern.

Project Funded by: UNICEF-Armenia

Period: August- December, 2015

AASW NEWS

2018 May 04

EU supports professionalization of social workers in Eastern Partnership countries

The European Union and the Austrian Development Agency support the project "Social Workers in Collaboration

2017 August 22

CHILDREN’S VOICE FOR AN ACCOUNTABLE SOCIAL STATE

How do children in Armenia participate in the decision-making process about their future? What are

2017 August 14

Accountable Social State: Citizen’s Voices from the Field

Do citizens of Armenia participate in local social protection reforms? To what extent they are involved in decision making processes? What prevents them from fully participating in this process? The Armenian Association of Social Workers (AASW) asked the aforementioned questions at 12 Town-Hall meetings with the participation of more than 800 citizens in all 11 regions of Armenia. AASW consolidated and analyzed concerns and recommendations expressed by the participants in regards to citizen perception and awareness of social reforms. The Town Hall format became a platform for them to provide recommendations on the current reforms in the social protection system. In particular the following topics were covered during those discussions: reorganization of childcare institutions; social protection for people with disabilities; prevention of domestic violence; and introduction of integrated social services. One of the common concerns raised by citizens during the meetings was the lack of social services in marzes, as well as the inaccessibility of and poor collaboration between existing local services. These and other issues directly affect the quality of provided services and consequently the possible resolution of local social problems. “ … there is a USUAL PRACTICE in this system, which will never make it function properly . We are not yet ready for those changes…” It was evident that the town hall participants were skeptical about systemic reforms to the social protection system. However citizens did express hope that new reforms would lead to desired changes and were enthusiastic to share their recommendations for supporting the reform processes. Based on some of the recommendations from participants at these meetings, AASW believes that citizens lack reliable information on the current social reforms. Information on legislative amendments are either inaccessible to citizens or provided to citizens after the legislation has already been implemented, meaning a participatory approach does not exist for citizens to express their views in those changes. “ … We would appreciate if there is at least an informational leaflet available to raise our awareness about the current processes….” Town hall meetings have been conducted through the support of UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF) in the frame of “Acting together for an Accountable Social State in Armenia” project. Consolidated results and complete analysis will be shared at a public hearing to be held in Fall of 2017.

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